Dobro and D maj7b5

D maj7b5 spells D – F# – G# – C#, but the dobro chair has no bar for it: at every fret of the GBDGBD neck, and on every short slant, the strings that land on its tones leave one out or too few of them ring.

In a country arrangement that is an ordinary night's work — the dobro plays the part of the chord the bar can reach, or a single-string line through it, and lets the guitar and the rest of the band carry the chord. This page draws no grip a steel cannot hold.