Dobro players who tune their instrument with open G tuning can easily create nearly every major chord imaginable on their instrument, adding the flattened third to create minor tones.
Exploring minor chords and their formulas will do more for your musical skills than you realize. This lesson relies heavily on theory so take it slow!
Open G Tuning
Resonator guitars typically used in bluegrass are tuned to open G, giving a set of intervals that follow the 1-3-5 pattern of G-keyed instruments – similar to what banjo players are used to playing.
This alternative tuning has found its way into other genres of music as well, most notably blues and folk. Robert Johnson’s cover of Son House’s 1930 original “Walkin’ Blues” made use of open G tuning – for example Robert Johnson used this approach when performing it himself!
This tuning can open the door to some exciting chord combinations and offers a nice bluesy sound. Tuning this tuning by ear can easily be accomplished using Peterson’s Strobe Tuner; these tuners use pure interval tuning rather than Equal Tempered tuning methods; try one and you will hear how much better your guitar sounds than in ET tuning!
Two-Note Chords
Two-note chords can either be minor or major depending on the scale, depending on where they fall on the fretboard. When both notes fall on one string they form a minor chord; otherwise if one note is higher than another they become major chords. You will find two-note chords all across your dobro’s neck!
Basic chord shapes for minor and major chords are similar: open for minor chords, bar across second fret for major ones. Additional options exist for creating simple minor chords: Slant the bar for two string minor chords*; play relative major (which usually works but might sound strange in jam sessions); if playing in a group with other dobro players just take turns playing either 1st or 4th strings at any one time.
A tertian chord contains only intervals from the diatonic seven-note scale; an extended chord, such as an m9 or m7 chord, often includes notes outside this scale as evidenced by additional accidentals such as sharp ninth or diminished fifth notes.
Three-Note Chords
If you want to play a three note minor chord on dobro, there are a few approaches you can take: Slanted the bar towards an Em or Bm at the second fret and leave strings 1 and 2 open; playing relative major (sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t); or simply playing just the two lower notes of the chord; this approach works particularly well if playing alongside other instruments or in a band where context or song will establish its root note as you play with them together.
Another strategy for creating triads can be found within scale patterns, beginning from each note in turn. A triad is defined as any chord made up of three notes; major 7 chords do not count because they contain four notes. If you want to try to cheat with this approach, simply avoid flattening the fifth string when changing tonality from minor. I call this strategy “cheater’s rule”, and it should work most times; though not as effectively than simply barring across all strings.
Passive Chords
At this stage, it can be great fun to use open chords from major scale patterns to form minor movable chord shapes. Check out the diminished chords lesson for some theoretical insight; or just experiment by playing these movable minor chords with any open string (just be sure to avoid strings 2 & 5!).
As an alternative, you could play relative major and minor chords to add variety. A relative major is defined as any major chord played three frets higher than its root note, while relative minor is any minor chord played four frets lower.
Dobro players can also create two-note minor chords by slanting the bar for two string minor intervals. For instance, they could bar across the second fret on strings 3 & 4, leaving off strings 1 & 2 while playing Bm chord – something Mike Auldridge and Greg Booth do when performing Greensleeves.