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We will start each day by getting in tune and warming up with some intonation exercises I like to do when I first start playing. For Day 1 we will learn various closed positions, slants, and open positions Dobro Licks. While learning these licks I’ll point out the chord tones they are targeting and how to use good techniques to get good tone and intonation. These licks will be great for various styles: blues, country, bluegrass, and more. I’ll go slow and leave room to answer your Dobro or Music related questions.
Tune and warm up with some Rolls and Hammer-On/ Pull off Exercises with a Metronome/Jam Track. We will then take the licks we learned the day before and apply them to some popular easy songs, by learning the chord progressions, what chord tones the melody targets, and how to use variations of the licks to spice up your playing of the songs. We will learn the melody and I’ll show you how to play “over the chords”. Also, I’ll go over various ways of playing Rhythm/Backup playing.
Once again, I’ll go slowly, giving advice on technique and music theory fundamentals as we go.
This day we will choose various recordings to analyze. I’ll show you how to figure out the Key, the Chords, and show you times when those licks we learned or variations of those licks are being played. We can learn the licks in real time right off the album too. I’ll show you how it’s not magic to learn by ear, it’s just repetition and doing it slowly. I plan on using various software applications, Band In A Box, slow down software, etc to help with the learning process. I can answer software questions as well.
*Bring a recording device and a Dobro Capo
It would be really helpful if everyone knows the G major and D major scales confidently in an open position (i.e. incorporating open strings) and in at least one closed position. Also, it would be fantastic if everyone could easily do a reasonably clean hammer-on and pull-off so we can focus on playing musical phrases without getting held up by technique problems.
Troy Brenningmeyer is most widely known for the plethora of videos he has on YouTube and his websites: LessonsWithTroy.com and most recently his all access streaming site: LWTstreaming.com. He has hundreds of lessons for all sorts of various slide instruments and tunings: Dobro, LapSteel, Weissenborn, Pedal Steel, and Guitar. (Tunings such as Open G, Open D, C6, A6, E9, and others)
Troy first got his start on guitar when he was in high school, studying the music of Leo Kottke and other finger style guitar players. He later went on to get his bachelor’s degree in Jazz Guitar from SIUE, near St. Louis, where he spent many years teaching and playing professionally around the local area. As with many others, he was inspired to play Dobro by the playing of Jerry Douglas. After playing and teaching Dobro he later went on to focus on various styles of LapSteel: Hawaiian, Country, Blues, and Singer Songwriter Americana styles of music.
In addition to adding new videos to his site, he enjoys remotely recording from his home studio on people’s albums from around the world, and playing Dobro, LapSteel, Tele style guitar, or Pedal Steel, in a live setting, backing local artists around the St. Louis area. Dobro pickers may be familiar with Troy from his popular Youtube tutorials; now here is your chance to work with him in person! We’re very pleased he could join us for this camp.