Dobro Scale Exercises
Through the generosity of Pete Reichwein we are able to offer
you this in-depth learning tool.
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Scale Exercises
For the Standard Tuned Resonator Guitar
By Pete Reichwein
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Contents
AUTHOR’S
FORWARD
INTRODUCTION
HOW THIS PAPER IS ORGANIZED
FUNDAMENTALS
OF SCALES
Diatonic
Scales
MODES
Pentatonic
Scales
NOTATION
AND TERMINOLOGY
Tab Description
Bar Movement
Neck Positions
Root Chord Locations
Right Hand Techniques
Open Strings
SCALE
EXERCISES
Open
position
Key of G
Key of D
Key of C
Key of A
Melodic
Techniques
Key of G
Key of D
Key of C
Key of A
Closed
Positions
I Position
IV Position
V Position
IV-V Position
Diatonic
Modes
Triplet
Exercises
Scale
Patterns
2 Note Patterns
4 Note Patterns
3 Note Patterns
SCALE
EXERCISES BY KEY
Types of Exercises
Fretboard Diagrams
Exercises
for the Key of G
Exercises
for the Key of D
Exercises
for the Key of C
Exercises
for the Key of A
Exercises
for the Key of F
Exercises
for the Key of Bb
Exercises
for the Key of Eb
Exercises
for the Key of E
Exercises
for the Key of B
Exercises
for the Key of F#
Exercises
for the Key of Ab
Exercises
for the Key of Db
AUTHOR’S FORWARD
The information in this
paper is available for your unrestricted use. Feel free to copy or print all or
any part of it, or reuse the information as you see fit.
The development of this
paper was started in response to a thread about “practice techniques” on the
resoguit-l mail list. It got out of control… When I started to write this
stuff down, I realized that there were significant gaps in my knowledge of the
resonator guitar neck. So I set out to fill them in for my own purposes. The
result is this somewhat dry discussion… over 70 pages worth, most of which is
tablature. I have no illusions about the contents. Anybody with a small
knowledge of music in general and the resonator guitar in particular could have
written this down, provided he had the patience (or obsessive compulsive
behavior). The process has been very helpful to me and has added significantly
to my list of practice routines. I hope it will be of some help to others.
I kept this paper in a
relatively simple a format without graphics, so that it would be easy for
someone to display, edit, reformat, etc. The tab requires a fixed width font so
columns line up properly. Courier New, 8 point was used. If you want to use a
bigger point size, you may want to view or print it in the landscape mode, to
avoid line wrapping.
I am sure that there are
mistakes, so please let me know if you find any (petereichwein@comcast.net).
I plan to continue work on this paper in an attempt to make it a reference tool.
INTRODUCTION
Practicing scales and scale
patterns on the resonator guitar can be helpful to your playing in many ways.
Improvement to timing, tone, and knowledge of the neck are just a few of the
benefits these exercises can provide. If a player intends to play single note
melody lines on the instrument, and especially if one wishes to improvise melody
lines, these exercises are invaluable. An attempt is made to describe the
resonator guitar neck as thoroughly as my experience allows. The discussion may
seem dry and somewhat academic because its main purpose is to document my
practice exercises for myself and anyone else who might be interested. There may
be other, superior exercises for accomplishing what these are intended to do. I
do not suggest that every player should practice all the exercises described,
but I do feel that any player can benefit from some form of practice of scales
in the keys in which he intends to play. Some of the exercises described are
very difficult. I do not claim to be able to execute all of them perfectly at
high speed, but I have performed all of them, and they are playable. I believe
it is possible for a player to master all of these exercises, and that player
would have great command of the resonator guitar neck. I aspire to be such a
player.
How
This Paper Is Organized
The second section
(following this Introduction) provides brief descriptions of Diatonic and
Pentatonic Scales, which can be ignored by those who are familiar with that
information. Music theory it is not discussed in great detail, since my
knowledge is limited and there are numerous web sites that provide such
information. The reader only needs a rudimentary knowledge of scales to use the
exercises contained in this paper.
In the interest of clarity,
the third section describes the tab method and various terminology used in the
ensuing discussion. This section also provides a description of how I have
chosen to “organize” the neck of the standard tuned resonator guitar. Much
of the ensuing discussion assumes the reader has an understanding of this
information.
The fourth section provides
tabulation of exercises for the more commonly used keys, which are G, C, D, and
A.
The techniques involved in
these exercises are discussed in detail.
The fifth section includes a
subsection for each key in which scale exercises are provided. The section is
intended as a reference, so exercises from the earlier sections are repeated.
Discussion is sparse and directed toward finer points. This allows one to print
a complete set of the exercises presented for a given key.
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