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Online dobro courseLearn dobro online, free, one lesson at a time
Music With Mark is an online dobro course taught by Mark Lavengood, the 2012 RockyGrass dobro champion. It's 29 video lessons in three levels, Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced, filmed at The Bear Den north of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Watch on your phone, tablet or computer, pause and rewind as often as you need, and take them in order. Every lesson is free with a free account (here's how the free lessons work), and three play with no login at all in the Dobro Starter Kit.
How the lessons are laid out
Every lesson is taught on the dobro in open G tuning (G B D G B D, low to high). Each level builds on the one before it.
Beginner
Tune up, play in tune with the bar, warm up, learn your first rolls, then put them to work on two songs.
Intermediate
Major, minor and pentatonic scales, strumming and the chop, licks, a way to end a solo, and rolls with a drone.
Advanced
Harmonics, hammer-ons and pull-offs with the bar, slants and inversions, and Mark's original tune Sliding Rock.
Where to start
- Tuning (free in the Starter Kit)
- Intonation
- Warm-Ups
- Forward & Backward Rolls
- You Are My Sunshine, a first song in the key of C
- Cripple Creek, in the key of G
What you need
A dobro tuned to open G, finger picks and a steel (the bar). A capo is handy but optional. In Mark's words:
“Really, you just need your finger picks and the steel and you can start getting to work.”
What your free account includes
- All 29 lessons, beginner through advanced, with new lessons added as they're filmed
- Ask Mark a question on any lesson
- 1:1 lessons with Mark, online or in person in Grand Rapids
- Log in with a one-time code sent to your email, no password to remember
- Free for every player. Supporters who chip in keep it that way
New to lap-style slide? See what the dobro teaches you about lap steel or read about squareneck resonator guitar lessons.
Every lesson is free with a free account: all 29, beginner to advanced. The Dobro Starter Kit adds an open-G tuning chart and the tab for your first roll. No card needed.
Get free lessonsSee the Starter KitQuestions
Can you learn dobro online?
Yes. Video lessons let you watch Mark's hands up close, pause, and repeat a passage as many times as you need. You can also send Mark a question on any lesson, and book a 1:1 lesson if they want him to hear their playing.
Is dobro hard to learn?
The first steps are friendly. In open G the open strings already make a G chord, so laying the bar straight across a fret gives you a chord right away. The work is in the details: holding the bar parallel to the fret so you play in tune, and getting your rolls even with finger picks. Those are exactly what the Beginner lessons cover first.
How much do the online dobro lessons cost?
Nothing. Every lesson is free with a free account (name, email and ZIP). Tuning, Intermediate Rolls and Harmonics even play with no login in the Dobro Starter Kit, no card needed.
What tuning do the lessons use?
Open G: G B D G B D, low to high. Mark tunes the middle G string first, then the D and B strings against it, then the octaves.
Who teaches the lessons?
Mark Lavengood, the 2012 RockyGrass dobro champion, who toured for seven years with Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys and has taught reso-guitar out of Grand Rapids, Michigan for two decades. More about Mark.