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THE HAWAIIAN GUITAR (Dobro / resophonic guitar)
Because of the beautiful singing quality of its music and the
ease with which people can learn to play it, the Hawaiian
Guitar has become very popular in this country. It is also called
the Steel Guitar, because of the way it is played, the strings
being held down with a steel bar instead of the left-hand
fingers. It is this steel bar, called a "steel," which produces the
peculiar, haunting tones that are characteristic of the instru-
ment.
A regular guitar is changed for the Hawaiian method of play-
ing by inserting a special steel nut which raises the strings
entirely clear of the frets (Fig. 42). This is put in place by
loosening the strings and slipping it over the nut on the guitar.
You should have a standard set of Hawaiian guitar strings
for steel playing, and these can be furnished by any music
store. The first three strings are plain wire strings, and the