The Dobro Workbook Book/Online Audio

not worth the price

David Hamburger has produced a fine book here. As is sometimes the case with instructional books from this and some other publishers, however, there are some conflicts between the tablature and the traditional musical notation. The first pitch of fig. 4 at the top of pg. 20, for example, is an F-sharp in the standard notation, but the tab suggests an F-natural. Since the exercise deals with blues figures in G, it appears that the natural sign simply is missing from the traditional notation. This is not a big deal; however, the player needs to be vigilant and trust his or her ear wherever there is a discrepancy. Hamburger's humor comes through throughout the book, but it's clear that he is serious about his desire to give the player exercises, licks, songs, and soloing suggestions that will really help. As the author suggests in his text, it would be a good idea to take some lessons with an experienced lap-style resonator player, since some of the technical intricacies (such as the technique of angling the bar to touch just one string at a time) can't be fully learned on your own from a book. The sequence of materials seems to be very logical and the exercises are concise and musically interesting enough that players will probably be willing (or even excited) to practice. Hamburger includes a nice history of the Dobro (and resonator guitars in general), and numerous tips for players of virtually all levels. If you're like me, though, and use a roundneck instrument that shouldn't be tuned to high open-G tuning, just be aware that the focus is on the use of GBDGBD tuning. Generally, though, the exercises are easily adaptable for those of us who use DGDGBD tuning -- it does take a little extra work, though. With a lot of material, including some pretty advanced tunes, this is a book that the player can keep working through for some time, unlike some of the overly thin instructional books out there. Make sure that you buy the version with the CD in order to get the full impact of Mr. Hamburger's teaching, and to hear a truly musical player of the Dobro give you a high level example to emulate. Definitely recommended!

It is another product that helps in learning the instrument

Best easy to use dobro instruction

My rating is premature as I do not have this book YET. However, there is method to my madness because I have read all the reviews here and several have mentioned the need to slow down the CD tracks and I know this is very helpful. A simple and NO COST easy method to achieve this is to download the FREE VLC Media Player. You load your tracks to your computer and then open them in the VLC Media Player and you can slow them down to any speed you find suitable. I have used it for similar music instructional CDs and even the sound tracks from teaching DVDs and it works wonderfully. I hope you find this useful and a valuable aid in learning the Dobro as I hope to. God bless.

I know NOTHING about music & notes. But this book is getting me going. It is actually over my head from the beginning but by Googling videos on a few basic techniques and printing out a chord chart, I now am doing ok. I highly recommend using a metronome app when you practice. Read and reread Mr. Hamburger's excellent instructions. I downloaded the CD to MP3s then used an app to slow down the play speed, that helped me a lot.

I love everything by David Hamburger. I think he is a wonderful teacher and coveys difficult information in a down to earth format that makes it easy -for folks like me who do not read music- to understand.This is a great book - David I would like to see an accompanying video. Please!

very well put together music training book, being new to the dobro, having spent 30 plus years on the banjo, I found this book a godsend for the beginner , which I totally am.. If you have played the banjo, then gbd gbd, will be easypeasy

great book

Being a guitar and banjo player (and able to read music) it suits my needs as a beginner to get me started playing the dobro.The cd is very helpful for those who are better at tabreading and playing by ear.

Namely, learn bluegrass style Dobro guitar in open G (low bass) tuning. David Hamburger is a very competent teacher, and I have a number of other courses of his (Blues, mostly). One star deduction because, well, paper and CD (actually: download by now) are a little old-fashioned in the age of SoundSlice. I imagine, they will update this material eventually.

Nice assortment of dobro licks and picking techniques to move your playing to the next level. Does require extensive practice and attention to the provided online audio tracks. Like that you can download the audio as well as online steaming.

This is a great book for anyone who likes to learn that way. Unlike lessons from a music teacher, the book is a handy reference when you forget what you learned yesterday. It takes you from very simple to what looks to me like very complex, so you can start at whatever stage you are at, and carry on until you have learned everything covered. I figure it will last me for the rest of my life. ;) The online recordings seem like a good idea, but I haven't tried them yet.