First post/question from new guy about improv patterns

[David Quillin]

Hi,
I play in a small group ( I play guitar)...Myself and another guitar and a female vocalist. We play mostly folky/bluesy type stuff (John Prine etc). The other guitarist plays the rhythm and I try to play small fills and short instrumental breaks. Sometimes I follow the melody and sometimes not...if not playing the melody, I try to mostly improvise with the major pentatonic scale. Really simple stuff to just add a little color to our songs. We play stuff mainly in folky keys...C, D, A, G etc. I know nothing about steel guitar but I love the sound. I was thinking about adding a lap steel to play some of this stuff, again just to add a little color. So I guess the question is : is there a specific tuning in which there are more simple patterns for major pentatonic scales....easier to learn etc... Thanks for any help!

[Bobby Snell]

C6 tuning is pretty versatile on its own, and you can pretty quickly go to another tuning by twisting a couple of the tuners. And if 8 strings don't scare you, there's that.

Maybe the non-pedal folks have a more in-depth answer.

[Rick Abbott]

Dobro is a great way to transition. If you have an unused acoustic you can put a nut-raise on it and a flat bridge saddle and set it up to play in open D or low-bass G. Or, if you have an extra fender style electric, you can raise the nut and flatten the bridge saddles and raise them. Raise the pickups and buy a tone bar and picks. You need the strings to be flat, with no radius.

I also agree with the above C6 comment. Low to high: CEGACE. You have C major and Am7 right there, and there are lots of learning materials available. But, if you are not aware of how to use it, it will sound Hawaiian until you do, haha!

[Bruce Bjork]

Straight ahead Dobro player here (GBDGBD) for 25 plus years with my view, just got home from a monthly benefit gig I've played at for the past year or two. Songs covered Hank Williams, John Prine, Ian Tyson, Jim Ringer and a bunch of other blues, folk, country, bluegrass stuff. On Dobro I played in the key of G, A, B, C, D and E (this is the first time I documented this). You can cover all the bases with a dobro, lap steel tuned to E will give you all you need for blues with the crunch factor.

Took up Pedal Steel one year ago and started playing out about four weeks or so backing up open mic folks and two three hour "Blues & Brews" events at a local brewery.

Back to your original question, start slow, lap steel etc. trust me all the notes are there regardless of the instrument or tuning.

[Harry Dove]

I tune my dobro to an E7 which makes an easy transition to E9 steel and is less confusing when you jump back and forth. That would be E,B,G#,E,D,B, from high to low. It also allows you to play some stuff most people don't play on dobro.