Mel Bay's Guitar Sessions
I've been writing a monthly column on Resonator Guitar that includes tab and soundclips for Mel Bay's free online magazine Guitar Sessions. The October article also includes a sample lesson from my DVD. Here are the lessons published so far:
10/07 - Last Summer at Band Camp: Dobro Workshops
9/07 - Dobro for Guitar Players
8/07 - Pickup Notes and Rolls
7/07 - Rolls for Bluegrass Dobro Part 2
6/07 - Rolls for Bluegrass Dobro Part 1
5/07 - Traditional Dobro: Closed-position Chord-based Licks Part 2
4/07 - Traditional Dobro: Closed-position Chord-based Licks Part 1
Below you'll find lots of free tabs of music from my CDs and exercises from my DVD, as well as a few common bluegrass jam standards. The tabs are in either Power Tab Editor (.ptb) or PDF format. Power Tab is a free program for PCs running Windows, and you'll need to download and install it before opening these files. PDFs won't have the midi feature as PowerTab does, but should be readable on any computer with Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. Click here to go to the download page for PowerTab at harmony-central.com. Or enter this URL in your browser and follow the downloading directions:
http://www.harmony-central.com/Software/Windows/powertab.html.
Here are the basics of reading Tab: the highest line on the staff represents the highest (1st) string on the dobro, the second highest represents the 2nd (B) string, and so on. the number represents the fret: 0 means open, 1 means 1st fret, 2 means 2nd fret, etc. "sl" means slide, "h" hammer-on, "p" pull-off.... All songs are played in open G tuning, occasionally with a capo indicated.
The Lost Coast and Back to the Pasture Tabs. Right-click and "save link target as":
Camp Rude Stumble PowerTab / Camp Rude Stumble PDF
Eel River PowerTab / Eel River PDF
Carbon County Coal PowerTab / Carbon County Coal PDF
The Lost Coast PowerTab / The Lost Coast PDF
Wildwood Ramble PowerTab / Wildwood Ramble PDF
The Roscoe Special PowerTab / The Roscoe Special PDF
Dead Horse Blues PowerTab / Dead Horse Blues PDF
Dry Lagoon PowerTab / Dry Lagoon PDF
Pepperwood Hollow PowerTab / Pepperwood Hollow PDF
Note: the measures on the intro to Pepperwood Hollow are not accurate since there's no particular time signature to that section.
Back to the Pasture PowerTab / Back to the Pasture PDF
Last Light PowerTab / Last Light PDF
Out Among the Corn PowerTab / Out Among the Corn PDF
Split the Switch PowerTab / Split the Switch PDF
Soda Springs PowerTab / Soda Springs PDF
Late Night Ramble PowerTab / Late Night Ramble PDF
Instructional DVD Tabs. For those of who bought my instructional DVD, here is some Tab to help you get through the exercises and arrangements.
Chapter 3 PowerTab / Chapter 3 PDF - roll demonstration with melody
Chapters 4 and 5 PowerTab / Chapters 4 and 5 PDF - forward rolls
Chapter 6 PowerTab / Chapter 6 PDF - roll with pickup notes
Chapter 7 PowerTab / Chapter 7 PDF - roll variation
Chapter 9 PowerTab /Chapter 9 PDF - "crazy ivan" roll
Chapter 12 PowerTab / Chapter 12 PDF - roll over a D chord
Chapter 13 PowerTab / Chapter 13 PDF - adding hammer-on to D roll
Chapter 15 PowerTab / Chapter 15 PDF - roll w/index finger playing melody instead of thumb
Chapter 16 PowerTab / Chapter 16 PDF - same roll with moving melody note on 3rd string
Chapter 17 PowerTab / Chapter 17 PDF - another roll variation w/index melody
Chapter 18 PowerTab / Chapter 18 PDF - same roll with pickup notes (w/"Red River Valley" first phrase)
Chapters 32-41 PowerTab / Chapters 32-41 PDF: My Home's Across the Blue Ridge Mountains - mostly a demonstration of how to find the melody notes based on a previous discussion of finding chord tones within the first 5 frets. Also, how to incorporate rolls with melody notes seamlessly.
Chapters 42-54 PowerTab / Chapters 42-54 PDF: Sunny Side of the Mountain - On the DVD I teach a few different licks for certain parts of this song. This tab arrangement is a combination of those but mostly matches up with the up-to-speed version played in chapter 54.
Extra Tabs
Cripple Creek PowerTab / Cripple Creek PDF- Key of G
Fireball Mail PowerTab / Fireball Mail PDF - Key of G