Traditional Dobro: Closed Position Chord-Based Licks, Part 2
by Ivan Rosenberg

Review

Last month we covered some straight-bar chord position licks that work well on traditional bluegrass and old country ballads. With this style, you can make good music without having to move the bar too fast. Learning out of closed positions also makes it easy to transpose something you know in one key to another key. This month, we're going to use similar licks in a chord progression, and if you can play last month's licks, you'll have most of the tools you need for the following music.

I'm also going to introduce some music terminology this month. If it's new to you, try to work through it; learning these concepts will improve your musicianship and your ability to jam with others.

The Nashville Number System

The concepts in this lesson have to do with licks you can play going from chord to chord in any key. Most bluegrass and country musicians communicate about chord relationships and notes by using the Nashville Number System. The system presents a way of naming chords by number in reference to the key you're in, and it's a handy concept for jamming, transposing to other keys, and playing with a capo in place. On resonator guitar, where finding straight-bar chords is just a matter of counting frets, the Nashville Number System gets you in the habit of learning the important spatial relationships between chords. Here's a quick introduction to the Nashville Number System using a 1-4-5 chord progression in case you're not familiar with it.

A Very Common Chord Progression: 1- 4- 5

Examples of songs that use the 1-4-5 chord progression include: "Blue Ridge Cabin Home", "Don't Give Your Heart to a Rambler", "You're Cheating Heart", and "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes". In the Key of G the 1-4-5 progression is G-C-D. Here's how we arrive at the numbers that correspond to the chords.

To use the Nashville Number System in the Key of G, let's first look at the notes in the G major scale:

G     A     B     C     D     E     F#

• G is the 1^st note of the G major scale, so using the Nashville Number System in the Key of G, we call the G chord the "1 chord."
• C is the 4^th note of the G major scale, so we call the C chord the "4 chord".
• D is the 5^th note of the G major scale, so you guessed it- the D chord is called the "5 chord".

Make sense? A reference to the scale degree is all that's meant when someone calls out chord numbers in a jam session. An easy way to remember the 1-4-5 chord progression on resonator guitar is to find your key (G in this case; just play the open strings) and count up 5 frets for the "4 chord" (C: 5^th fret) and two more frets from there for the "5 chord" (D: 7^th fret). If you start up the neck on the 12^th fret G chord, it's 7 frets back to get to your 4-chord (5^th fret) and 2 frets up from there for your 5-chord (7th fret).

I know I just gave you a lot of numbers all at once, but they'll only be confusing if your guitar is in the case. If you try these out on your instrument as you read them, the numbers will make a lot more sense. Remember, in counting frets that that fret markings indicate half-tone increments and that the natural half-tones in the half-tone or chromatic scale are E-F and B-C; so in practice at least, there is no E-sharp/F-flat or B-sharp/C-flat.

1-4-5 in the Key of C

To make sure you get it, let's look at the 1-4-5 chord progression in the key of C. The notes in the C major scale are:

C     D     E     F     G     A     B

As C is the 1^st note of the C major scale, F is the 4^th note and G is the 5^th note of the scale, the 1-4-5 chords are C, F, and G respectively. Get your instrument and bar out and practice this progression starting with the C chord at the fifth fret; then try it from any fret, counting up 5 frets to the "4 chord", and then going two frets higher for the "5 chord." If you understand this concept, you're already using the Nashville Number System and learning the spatial relationships (how many fret degrees of separation) between these important chords.

Traditional Resonator Guitar Licks in a 1-4-5 Chord Progression

If you learned the tab selections from last month's article, you shouldn't have any trouble playing the following licks over a C-F-G chord progression in the key of C. In this article, I'll basically take licks from last month and add some notes that lead into each chord of the 1-4-5 progression.

Click to hear May_reso1 mp3.



1-4-5 Chord Progression in the Key of C with "C7" Sound: C-F-G

On the resonator guitar, it's convenient to think of the fretboard in relation to the fret location of the straight-bar 1 chord which determines the key. Let's call this fret the "home fret." In the key of C, the straight-bar C chord is on the 5^th fret, so the 5^th fret is our "home fret." Just 3 frets up from the home fret is a nice repository of notes that will give you a bluesy "C7" sound and lead nicely to the F chord, or "4 chord," on the 10^th fret. You'll traverse a couple of these 8^th-fret notes in the following Tab.

Click to hear May_reso2 mp3.


Example in the Key of G: 1-4-5 chord progression starting up the neck

Here's a great trick used by many of your favorite resonator guitar pickers: When going from a 1 chord higher up the neck to a 4 chord lower on the neck, you can play 2 frets back from your 1 chord during the transition. You may have heard this sound in resonator guitar arrangements of "Maiden's Prayer" and "Panhandle Country".

• Start off by playing licks based around the G chord at the 12^th fret (in the chord progression, the G chord would be sounding at this time).
• While the tune is still on the G chord at the 12^th fret, go down 2 frets and play the 1^st and 2^nd strings at the 10^th fret (C and A notes respectively).
• Stay on those two 10^th-fret notes while the rhythm guitar changes to a C chord, and then finally slide down to the 5^th fret to play the 1^st and 2^nd strings (G and E notes respectively).
• Hanging on that 10^th fret during the 1-4 chord change creates a nice tension, as your ear really wants to hear you go down to that 4 chord! Try this one out with guitar accompaniment or ^{Band-in-a-Box} to really get the feel of it.

Click to hear May_reso3 mp3.



More Practice with the Nashville Number System

This lesson provides a good start with the Nashville Number System, the 1-4-5 chord progression, and how to play melodic lines on the way to and from straight-bar chord positions. Once you've learned the tab from this lesson, see if you can learn some other chord/number relationships.

For example, to find the "minor 6" chord for a song in the key of G, just count up to the 6^th note of the G major scale, which is E; therefore, your "minor 6" chord in the key of G is an Em chord. Now take it a step further. What's the "minor 6" chord in the key of C? What do you think a "minor 2" chord is? What's the 1-4-5 progression in the key of A? How about the key of D? That should give you plenty to work on until next time.

Now that you've been exposed to the basics of a more traditional style, next time we'll get started on some modern-sounding resonator guitar sounds.

Until next month,
Ivan Rosenberg

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About the Author

Ivan Rosenberg

Now based in the San Francisco Bay Area in California, Ivan Rosenberg has released 4 acclaimed CDs of mostly-original instrumentals plusan instructional DVD. He has toured with Chris Stuart & Backcountry, Hit & Run, The Breakmen, and Mighty Squirrel and has recorded with Chad Manning, Jake Schepps, Julie Elkins & David Thompson, Ben Winship, and Mike Grigoni among others. His original music has appeared in several film and television scores including Kangaroo Jack, Deadwood, The Daily Show, and The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Bluegrass Unlimited described Ivan as "one of the more prolific masters of the resonator guitar," and in his Banjo Newsletter review, Donald Nitchie wrote that Ivan's Clawhammer and Dobro CD was one of the best instrumental recordings of the year. A new CD from Ivan and resonator guitar whiz Billy Cardine (with members of Billy's band, The Biscuit Burners) will be released in the summer of 2007.

Known for his systematic and enjoyable approach to teaching, Ivan has instructed at the British Columbia Bluegrass Workshop (BCBW) in Canada, the California Bluegrass Association Music Camp in Grass Valley, and the Sore Fingers Week bluegrass workshop in the UK. 2007 workshops include the BCBW-for which Ivan is also the new program director-and The Puget Sound Guitar Workshop. Ivan teaches resonator guitar and clawhammer banjo in both private and group lessons in the Bay Area.

To learn more about Ivan Rosenberg and his music please visit his official website: www.ivanrosenberg.com and www.myspace.com/ivanrosenberg.