“I’ll Fly Away” in Closed Position, Part 1

This lesson is part of the course Beginning Dobro with Mike Witcher.

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Learn the basics of the lap-style resophonic slide guitar, with essential tips on right- and left-hand technique as well as arrangements of classic tunes and songs.

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Amazing Grace

In this lesson, you'll learn the popular gospel classic "Amazing Grace." The melody can be played almost entirely on the first string of the dobro, and besides being a great melody, makes a great exercise for practicing your intonation on the first string. It's also a great way to start developing the natural "singing" quality of the dobro in your playing. The best way to do that is to work on playing on one string at a time, which this arrangement does, of course. Once you've learned the melody see if you can play the melody on the first string cleanly without lifting the bar. Mike also talks about using a shallow vibrato on certain notes, adding texture to the note without really changing the pitch very much.

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I’ll Fly Away

“I’ll Fly Away” in Closed Position, Part 1

“I’ll Fly Away” in Closed Position, Part 2

“I’ll Fly Away” Play-Along Track: Key of F

“I’ll Fly Away” in Closed Position, Part 1

The bluegrass, folk, and gospel favorite “I’ll Fly Away” sounds great on the dobro, and is a good example of how to use different closed positions. In this lesson, you’ll learn it in the key of F in a couple of positions, with some variations that include some classic dobro double stops or harmony notes. Mike starts by playing the basic melody through in the root position at the tenth fret, and then breaks it down for you phrase by phrase.

"I'll Fly Away" (Available to subscribers)

"I'll Fly Away" Melody MP3 Download (Available to subscribers)

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← “Banks of the Ohio” in Closed Position

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“I’ll Fly Away” in Closed Position, Part 2 →

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← “Banks of the Ohio” in Closed Position

Next Lesson

“I’ll Fly Away” in Closed Position, Part 2 →

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← “Banks of the Ohio” in Closed Position

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“I’ll Fly Away” in Closed Position, Part 2 →

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“I’ll Fly Away” in Closed Position, Part 1

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