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#1
11-02-2015, 08:33 AM
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Playing a resonator
On Saturday I became the owner of an Ozark resonator following my mum making an impulse buy because she loved the look of it!
Please can anyone give me any hints or tips about owning, keeping and most of all playing this big metal monster. I was in the guitar shop to buy my first acoustic and now suddenly I have this to learn to deal with too. I have no idea about playing it, is the tuning the same, anything different about playing it? Anything you can tell me would be great!! Thanks guys and gals ! 
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#2
11-02-2015, 09:53 AM
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I would say you tube would be a good start.
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#3
11-02-2015, 12:01 PM
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Well, you can start out in Open E if you want to play some Blues. Duane Allman's little Martha was written in that tuning. Tune the G string down a half-step for E minor. David Gilmore uses that a bit. I use standard tuning for some other stuff like "High Hopes." In recording sessions, if I have something to play and it is tough to reach because a string is a half-step off, I just pull it into a tuning that makes it easy. Easy peasy.
Bob
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"It is said, 'Go not to the elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes.' " Frodo Baggins to Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring THE MUSICIAN'S ROOM (my website)
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#4
11-02-2015, 01:07 PM
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Or you could just play it like a regular guitar and dig the tone. I just took my National resonator on vaction with me and wrote a bunch of songs on it, and since it was the only guitar I had with me, I used it like I would a regular guitar in regular tunings...
And here's a reso song in open C that I wrote on National Triolian right before I left on vacation... Last edited by rockabilly69; 11-02-2015 at 01:16 PM.
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#5
11-02-2015, 02:51 PM
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Resonator is a fun adventure, and I think you will find that it is deep and varied on the "how" people play it. I found it similar to banjo in that regard. There are a lot of differences that can be overwhelming but also exciting as there is a lot to learn and directions to go.
I personally have been learning and I primarily found myself leaving mine in standard tuning 80% of the time because I love LOVE the tone. I found pretty early on that I didn't love the sound of a full strum as I would on a regular acoustic, but it is amazing for fingerpicking and I use a thumbpick and nails/flesh almost exclusively. I would say generally that most play slide on resonators, in some open tuning (D,E,G). I love open D for slide, but am very new as well. I haven't had too much time to get into tuning variations. I personally dig Kelly Joe Phelps and he has a lot up on youtube to get you started. Have fun.
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#6
11-02-2015, 03:05 PM
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Quote:
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I only play technologically cutting edge instruments. Parker Flys and National Resonators
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#7
11-02-2015, 03:55 PM
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#8
11-02-2015, 05:51 PM
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I've got mine in DGDGBD (altered open g) and it sounds pretty neat. There's a book out by Woody Mann "Blues Guitar Method) that has 51 songs in it (all instrumental finger style) and except for the first tune, they are all about 2 pages long. The tunes are downloaded using a coupon code and website provided in the book. All of these tunes sound good on a resonator. I would say the difficulty level is upper intermediate.
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Acous.../dp/1783052481
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#9
11-02-2015, 06:04 PM
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When at home mine is usually in DADF#AD and DGDGBD, but when playing out with others it's in standard. I fingerpick and slide, don't strum much.
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#10
11-02-2015, 06:22 PM
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Quote:
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They're just a guitars with a vastly enhanced dynamic range, and you'll need to pay a lot of attention to tone production and muting. As you've probably noticed, resonator guitars are extremely responsive to how hard you pick and where along the string's length you make contact, and that conventional palm muting needs to be adjusted because the cone cover's hand rest prevents you from placing your hand directly over the saddle. You'll need to use both hands to mute, or the reverb buildup from the cone can become overwhelming and muddy up what you're playing. This quality of resonator guitars can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the context, and makes them less than ideal for players who tend to strum big chords with a flatpick, but very interesting to those who fingerpick, play slide, or some types of flatpicked lead (they make terrific guitars for playing 20s and 30s jazz, for instance).
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#11
11-04-2015, 07:24 PM
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#12
11-04-2015, 10:31 PM
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If you're going to play slide, have a look at this excerpt from Tom Feldman's DVD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB2yiGeq3wc There's lots of info about resonators on the Reso Hangout website http://www.resohangout.com/ Lots of great instruction DVDs for acoustic guitar and some for resonator on http://www.guitarvideos.com/
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#13
11-05-2015, 08:48 AM
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I have mine in open "G". For slide playing, Bob Brozman is a great resource. He has several DVDs still available on his site (he passed away last year) and quite a lot of YouTube vids.
Bob was not just a blues player.... Could handle all sorts of stuff including various "world music" oddments. I've always said that if you could learn all the licks on Johnny Winters' "Dallas"....You'd be well on your way to being a slide master.
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