Dobro guitars (Also known as resonators) are another type of guitar used for slide playing, commonly held horizontally. The name ‘Dobro’ came from the Dopyera brothers, who were the first to produce this type of guitar. Instead of the sound being produced by the hollow body of a normal guitar, with Dobros and resonators the vibrations from the strings are transferred to a metal cone in the body of the guitar. ‘Weissenborns’ are also a famous descendant of the Dobro.

Tunings:

• Open G is one of the most commonly used tunings for Dobro slide guitar playing.

From string 1 to 6 that is: D B G D B G

An added advantage to this tuning is that three pairs of strings are spaced an octave apart so you can play a melody an octave higher or lower with ease and to great effect.

• This tuning is also commonly transposed a full tone up to Open A.

From string 1 to 6 that is: E C# A E C# A

The Tuning known as Hawaiian A or Low Bass A is a tuning that was commonly featured in old instruction books.

• This is also tuned down to Low Bass G:

From string 1 to 6 that is: D B G D G D

This tuning lends itself very well to soloing.

• Open E can also be used for Dobro guitar playing:

From string 1 to 6 that is: E B G# E B E

• Others may use Open D using the same pattern:

From string 1 to 6 that is: D A F# D A D

This tuning lends itself to power chords since the root note (D) is present on three strings and the fifth is present twice (The fifth of the chord D is A.) This is quite a powerful tuning for driving guitar rhythms.

• The Am7 or C6 tuning is also commonly used.

From string 1 to 6 that is: E C A G E C

There is a great advantage in using this tuning in that there are many different harmonic intervals in the straight line underneath your slide. However it can be difficult to master the muting of individual strings so that it doesn’t consistently sound like you are playing Hawaiian guitar.