Mike Moxcey ©2001

What is a Dobro?

• stringed instruments of various types,
• how sounds are made differently
• how a dobro is a guitar plus a banjo

1. Three Families of Musical Instruments
   • Demonstrate Percussion with a tambourine (or drum or triangle or some other hitting thing) and maracas (or egg or fuchicabasa) or some other shaking thing (the tambourine can actually show both methods). Just a quick, "Here is what these sound like."

   • Demonstrate Wind instruments with a reed (I use harmonica or kazoo (clarinet, saxophone)), a whistle (or flute or recorder), and a horn (I use a conch shell but could use trumpet or trombone).

   • Introduce String instruments with the Ukulele.

     First, I ask if anyone knows what the instrument is (guitar is a usual answer), then I play How Would You Like A Great Big Ice Cream so they can participate by making movements and coming up with new things to like such as cookie, pizza and other things to overcome my ideas of onion and broccoli.

2. Guitar is next.
   I ask what instrument this is, then

   • Explain how it's the 2d most popular instrument in America. "What is the most popular?" (piano). While they're guessing, I give hints.

   • Show the difference in strings: Uke has nylon (Who here has gone fishing?) and Guitar has steel.

   • Show how the difference in size makes a difference in sound.
     • Longer string is lower than a shorter one
     • Bigger sound box is louder

   • Show the difference in picks. (I play Uke without them, but sometimes show the large felt pick) then hold the flatpick on edge and ask why it's called that.

   Then I pick If You're Happy and You Know It while talking about how nice the guitar sounds. Every class I've ever done, even 3-year-olds, recognizes the song so they get excited and can hardly wait to sing. Ask if they sing, "if you really want to show it" or if they sing, "and your face will surely show it."

   After the complete song (I usually play two verses, then move to mandolin and play two more for preschoolers), then I discuss how we made noises from all three instrument families. There was my Guitar for strings, hand-clapping and foot-stomping or knee-patting for percussion, and what did we do for Wind? I reinforce the soundbox concepts in older classes by saying my voicebax is bigger so I can make lower notes and my lungs are larger so I can make louder notes.

3. Mandolin: is smaller than Guitar (like the Uke) but has steel strings. Is unique because of the pairs of strings. I finish If You're Happy and You Know It then discuss how we used the three families of instruments.

4. Banjo: is next. Similar in size to the Guitar and with the same type of strings, the difference in sound is due solely to the difference in soundbox. The banjo has a resonator that looks like a drum. Talk across the top of the banjo to hear the echo.

   Put on the fingerpicks and show how they fit your fingers and then demo the twang sound.

   I play three verses of She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain When She Comes then say that's the end of the song (Usually I have a poster or papers with all the extra movements and sounds the kids make so they know I'm teasing).

5. Dobro. This is shaped like a guitar but it has a banjo resonator stuck inside of it. Looks like a big face. It was invented about 50 years ago by the Dopero Brothers who cut a hole in a guitar and put a banjo resonator in it. It is played with fingerpicks like the Banjo but you use a slide. Show it, then strum across the strings and slide up. Then make eerie Halloween sounds. I finish She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain When She Comes then display the handout suitable for coloring which shows a Guitar + Banjo = Dobro and also has little pictures of the Ukulele and Mandolin and various picks.