Our class is designed to give you a strong foundation as a dobro player and to provide the tools you will need to grow as vibrant member of a musical ensemble, as well as to play solo pieces.
The class will include work on the fundamental skills for playing cleanly and for developing speed and fluidity over the entire neck of the instrument. It will include a study of harmonics, string pulls, slants, and hammer-ons and pull-offs, among other techniques. Beyond these basic technical aspects, we will work on finding places to play in all positions of the guitar, including both open position and far up the neck. We will learn scales and rolls in both open and closed positions, and we will consider some basic chord theory that will allow you confidently to make dynamic and fitting melodic and harmonic choices in solos and backup. An overview of the styles and techniques of the some of the instrument’s most influential players will be considered.
The sessions will focus on a range of keys and a number of different styles and genres, including driving bluegrass, fiddle tunes, and ballads. We will also spend a good amount of time on backup—including how to use the lyrical voice of the instrument to complement a singer and how to play a rhythmic chop behind a band.
I encourage you to bring a recording device to class. Make sure you have two metal finger picks, a good thumb pick and a bar for your dobro; I recommend that you bring a bar with a sharply define end, rather than a “bullet” bar such as pedal steel players use. A dobro capo (a number of good ones are available) will be very important for jamming with others after class. If you want to discuss equipment, I’m glad to have you reach out to me by email. I also encourage you to bring a list of your questions or of songs/solos you would like study. I am thoroughly committed to providing you with the individualized instruction that will allow you to grow as a player and to feel increasingly confident in jamming or performing with others.
We will mostly be learning without tablature and practicing ways to approach solo building using your ears to make decisions. My hope is that you will develop independence as a player and that I can help you learn where and how to find the notes that you want.
My email address is alex.sens@gmail.com, and I encourage you to be in touch with questions or just to say hey. Throughout the week, I hope to help you have (even more) fun playing dobro and to achieve a jump in your musical journey. I look forward to meeting and working with you in July in Elkins!
Instructor Bio
Alex Sens has been playing and teaching the dobro for 40 years. He is a mainstay of the bluegrass scene in Washington, DC, where he has played and recorded with numerous artists, including Virginia Blue, the Good Deale Bluegrass Band, Randy Barrett and the Barretones, Kevin Church, Terry Pearson and Norman Wright, and Bob Perilla’s Big Hillbilly Bluegrass. He is currently a member of Big Chimney, along with fellow instructors Neel Brown, Kimber Ludiker, John Seebach, and Avril Smith.