All About the Dobro

This lesson is part of the course Beginning Dobro with Mike Witcher.

Get immediate access to this lesson and all of the lessons in this course when you subscribe.

Start Course
Browse Courses

About This Course

Learn the basics of the lap-style resophonic slide guitar, with essential tips on right- and left-hand technique as well as arrangements of classic tunes and songs.

Try a Sample Lesson

Amazing Grace

In this lesson, you'll learn the popular gospel classic "Amazing Grace." The melody can be played almost entirely on the first string of the dobro, and besides being a great melody, makes a great exercise for practicing your intonation on the first string. It's also a great way to start developing the natural "singing" quality of the dobro in your playing. The best way to do that is to work on playing on one string at a time, which this arrangement does, of course. Once you've learned the melody see if you can play the melody on the first string cleanly without lifting the bar. Mike also talks about using a shallow vibrato on certain notes, adding texture to the note without really changing the pitch very much.

Try a sample lesson

The Beginning Dobro Subscription Includes:

More than 25 Beginning Dobro video lessons
17 complete songs to play.
Tablature for all lessons
High-quality video with multiple camera angles so you can see closeups of both hands in action.
Play-Along Tracks so you can practice what you’ve learned.

$20/Month For One Course

Additional courses only $10/month each! • Save 20% with an annual subscription

Start Course

Get started now!
Use promo code MikeLand at checkout

and get your first month free or $20 off an annual subscription.

ALL ABOUT THE DOBRO

All About the Dobro

Welcome to the wonderful world of the dobro, or resophonic guitar. In this video, Mike gives you an introduction to this popular lap-slide instrument, showing you how it’s tuned and how to get it set comfortably on your lap. He also talks about the strings (D'Addario EJ42 Resophonic Guitar strings), picks (Propik fingerpicks and Blue Chip thumbpick), and steel/slide (Tipton) he uses, and gives advice on tuning the dobro. If you're still getting your accessories in order, check out your local music store or Elderly Instruments and Resophonic Outfitters online.

Next Lesson

Picking-Hand Technique, Part 1: Basic Position & a Roll Pattern →

Next Lesson

Picking-Hand Technique, Part 1: Basic Position & a Roll Pattern →

Next Lesson

Picking-Hand Technique, Part 1: Basic Position & a Roll Pattern →

Dobro Articles

“Saint” Nick D'Addario Takes London

In the spirit of the season, "Saint" Nick D'Addario hits the streets of London to give back to those who give us the gift of music.

Dobro Videos

Mike Witcher: “Shenandoah”

Peghead Nation’s dobro instructor plays a beautiful version of the traditional folk favorite.