The Dobro is a resonator guitar that you play flat on your lap. You slide a steel bar along the strings with one hand and pick with the other. In a bluegrass band it takes breaks, plays fills behind the singer, and adds a sound no other instrument can make. Bluegrass players say “Dobro” for any guitar of this kind, but the name started as a brand.
Want names to listen to? See our big list of Dobro players, from Brother Oswald and Josh Graves to every IBMA winner and today’s players.
What the Dobro does in a bluegrass band
The Dobro has three jobs in a band.
It plays fills. While someone sings, the Dobro answers each line with a short phrase in the gap. Then it gets out of the way for the next line.
It takes breaks. When the singer stops, the Dobro can play the melody as a solo, just like the banjo, fiddle, or mandolin. For more on this, see how to take a break in a bluegrass jam.
It adds sustain. The Dobro’s notes ring and slide from one pitch to the next. That long, singing tone fills space that the other instruments leave open.
The Dobro is not one of the five core bluegrass instruments, and many bands play without one. Others, such as the Seldom Scene and Alison Krauss and Union Station, have had a Dobro player in the lineup for decades.
How a Dobro works
A regular acoustic guitar gets its sound from a wooden top. A resonator guitar gets its sound from a thin, spun metal cone inside the body. The strings press on a bridge, the bridge shakes the cone, and the cone pushes the sound out. It works much like a speaker. A round metal cover, often called the pie plate, sits over the cone.
Resonator guitars were built in the 1920s to be louder than regular guitars. Electric amplification was not common yet, and guitar players needed to be heard over horns and drums.
There are three main resonator designs:
The tricone, with three small cones, was the first design. The single-cone biscuit design puts the bridge on a small wooden disk at the top of the cone. The single-cone spider design puts the bridge on an eight-legged metal “spider” that rests on a cone facing the other way.
The Dobro brand used the spider design, most often in a wooden body. Most bluegrass players have chosen this style.
Square neck or round neck
Resonator guitars come with two kinds of necks.
A square neck is thick and set up with the strings high off the fretboard. You can only play it flat on your lap with a bar. This is the bluegrass Dobro.
A round neck looks like a regular guitar neck. You can play it upright with your fingers, upright with a slide, or flat on your lap. Blues players often use round necks.
If you want to play bluegrass Dobro, buy a square neck.
A short history of the Dobro
In the 1920s, steel guitar player George Beauchamp asked instrument maker John Dopyera for a louder guitar. Dopyera built the first resonator guitars, and in 1927 the two men started the National String Instrument Corporation in Los Angeles.
In 1928 John Dopyera left National. He started the Dobro Manufacturing Company with his brothers. “Dobro” is short for Dopyera brothers, and it also means “good” in Slovak, their native language. The company’s early slogan was “Dobro means good in any language.”
In country music, Brother Oswald played the Dobro in Roy Acuff’s band on the Grand Ole Opry. In 1955 Josh Graves joined Flatt and Scruggs and brought the Dobro into bluegrass. He built his picking from Earl Scruggs’s three-finger banjo roll.
In 1971 Mike Auldridge helped start the Seldom Scene. Jerry Douglas won the first six IBMA Dobro awards, starting in 1990. Today Gibson owns the Dobro name. “Resophonic guitar” is the general name for this kind of instrument, and the IBMA calls its award Resophonic Guitar Player of the Year.
Open G tuning
Most bluegrass Dobro players use open G tuning. From the lowest (thickest) string to the highest, the strings are:
G B D G B D
Strum the open strings and you hear a G chord. This tuning makes chords simple. Lay the bar straight across all six strings and you get a major chord at every fret:
Open strings: G 2nd fret: A 5th fret: C 7th fret: D 12th fret: G, one octave up.
So the three chords in most bluegrass songs in G are the open strings, the 5th fret, and the 7th fret.
Some players use other tunings, such as open D (D A D F# A D). Start with open G. It is what you will hear on most bluegrass records, and it fits well with the banjo.
The bar and the picks
The bar. Your left hand holds a heavy steel bar, also called a steel. The bar rests on top of the strings. You do not press the strings down to the fretboard. To play in tune, hold the bar right over the fret wire, not between the frets like on a guitar. Choose a bar with sides you can grip well, since you will lift it on and off the strings.
The picks. Most players wear a thumb pick and two finger picks, on the index and middle fingers. This is the same setup banjo players use. A few players, such as Tut Taylor, used a flatpick instead.
How to sit. Sit with the Dobro flat across your lap, strings up. Let the neck rest on your left leg. Push it a little away from your body so your arms stay loose.
Five basic techniques
Straight bar chords. Hold the bar straight and pick the strings at one fret. This is your first chord shape and your most used one.
Slides. Pick a note, then move the bar up or down without lifting it. The note glides to the new pitch. Slides are the Dobro’s signature sound.
Vibrato. Rock the bar a little back and forth over the fret wire while a note rings. Keep the motion small so the note stays in tune.
Hammer-ons and pull-offs. Pick an open string, then drop the bar onto it at a fret without picking again. That is a hammer-on. Lift the bar off a ringing note so the open string sounds. That is a pull-off.
Rolls. Pick three strings in a steady pattern with your thumb, index, and middle fingers, the same way a banjo player does. Josh Graves built bluegrass Dobro on this idea.
Your first tunes
Start with slow songs in G. They use the open strings and the 5th and 7th frets, so you can play them with a straight bar from day one.
I’ll Fly Away, a gospel song in G Will the Circle Be Unbroken, another gospel standard in G Foggy Mountain Breakdown, a fast banjo tune in G to try once your rolls are steady.
Learn each melody by ear first. Hum it, then find it on the strings. Once you can play the melody, try playing short fills between the lines while a friend sings.
Playing the Dobro in a jam
At a jam, listen first. Find the chords with the bar, and play soft fills between the singer’s lines. When someone nods to you, take a break. Keep your break close to the melody.
Most jam tunes sit in a few common keys. See what keys bluegrass jams use most often. In open G, the keys of G, C, and D are the easiest to start with.
Players to hear
Every Dobro player learns by listening. These players are a good place to start:
Josh Graves, who brought the Dobro into bluegrass with Flatt and Scruggs Mike Auldridge, a founding member of the Seldom Scene Jerry Douglas, winner of 14 Grammys and 10 IBMA awards Rob Ickes, winner of 15 IBMA awards, more than anyone Justin Moses, winner of seven IBMA awards since 2018.
For dozens more, see the big list of Dobro players. The Great Dobro Sessions, a 1994 album with ten Dobro players, won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album and makes a good first listen.
FAQs about the bluegrass Dobro
Is a Dobro a guitar?
Yes. It is a resonator guitar with six strings. The bluegrass kind has a square neck and is played flat on the lap with a steel bar.
Why is it called a Dobro?
Dobro was a brand name made from Dopyera brothers, the family that started the company in 1928. The word also means “good” in Slovak. Bluegrass players now use it for any guitar of this kind.
What tuning does a bluegrass Dobro use?
Open G, tuned G B D G B D from the lowest string to the highest.
Can I play Dobro on a regular guitar?
You can try it. Raise the strings with a nut extender, tune to open G, and lay the guitar flat. It will be quieter and less bright than a real Dobro, but it is a cheap way to see if you like the instrument.
Do I need a square neck?
For bluegrass, yes. A square neck holds the strings high and steady for the bar. A round neck is better if you also want to play it like a regular guitar.
Sources
Resonator guitar, Wikipedia Dobro, Wikipedia John Dopyera, Wikipedia What do Dobro and Kleenex have in common? Elderly Instruments Resonator guitars, Lark in the Morning All about the Dobro, Peghead Nation Awards by Category, IBMA