Clawhammer banjo blues.

[Flyingcursor]

I've been attempting to learn clawhammer style on my banjo. I'm having a terrible time getting the right hand movement correct. I have a couple of Videos and CDs which appear to explain the movement yet I continue to flick my fingers out too far.

A few months ago I saw a clawhammer player who did flick their fingers way out but most seem to barely move them. I can't seem to get them to "whack" the strings to get a decent sound without actually strumming them with the back of my nails.

I haven't even begun to work on getting the combination of finger and thumb movement yet!!!!!

Any suggestions?

[burnsbyrne]

I don't play banjo but I did play flamenco guitar for a long time. Flamenco guitar uses a similar technique. Not knowing how advanced you are or what you have learned from other players or teachers this is my suggestion. Break down the movement into smaller parts, one of which is the downward pulse with the backs of the fingers/nails. Use a metronome set at a slow rate, 60-70 range. Count out four beats and on every "1" do the down stroke. You only do it one in for beats to give your hand a chance to relax between strokes. Do this for no more than 5 minutes and then go on to some other exercize.

One of the reasons you don't get the sound right is that the movement you are learning is new for your muscles. The extending (straigntening out) muscles of the hand and forearm are much weaker than the flexing muscles. They take some time to strengthen. Also, do not try to do this over and over for a long time! You will be setting yourself up for tendonitis down the road. Short periods of exercize a couple of times per day work better than 20 minutes one day and then not being able to play for a week because your wrist and elbow hurt too much.

Good luck.
Mike

[Darwin]

Afer writing a rather long response, I sat down with my banjo and soon realized that I don't really play exactly as I described it, so I'm starting over with something simpler.

My first suggestion is not to try to play too loudly or too fast in the beginning. As burnsbyrne suggested, build up your muscle control gradually.

Assuming that you are aiming at playing drop-thumb melodies, you might start by just playing something like this over and over (all eighth notes, all open strings):

1. With your fingers curled, place the back of your middle finger nail on the first string, then pick the string by uncurling your finger just enough to slide over the string. Work on minimizing the finger movement. Only play as loudly as you can without flicking your finger out too far. To increase volume, think of directing more energy toward the banjo head, rather than parallel with it.

2. Play the second string with your thumb.

3. Repeat step 1.

4. Play the fifth string with your thumb.

Adjust your hand position to make this feel as easy as possible. I arch my wrist slightly upward, but find what works for you.

You can make different chords with your left hand to avoid suffering from too much monotony. Once you're comfortable with this excercise, try this variation:

1. Instead of the first string, play the second string with your middle finger. Play it so that your nail comes to rest on the first string.

2. Play the third string with your thumb.

3. Play the first string with your middle finger, as you did in the first step of the previous exercise.

4. Play the fifth string with your thumb.

The trickiest thing is to do frailing-style downstrums without going too far. Try this:

1. Play the second string with your middle finger, keeping that minimal motion.

2. Rest.

3. Strum down across the first 3 or 4 strings with your middle finger. Do this by uncurling the finger. Concentrate on minimizing this movement, which will be much easier if you've already built up your control by doing the first two exercises for some time.

4. Play the fifth string with your thumb.

Alternating between one bar of exercise two and one bar of exercise three might eventually be a good warm-up exercise.

Does this help any?

[SteveK]

Here's my advice. Don't move your index or middle finger (whichever you pick with) at all. Do not place your finger on the string and flick it to get a note. You are practicing something that you won't do once you learn to play. You want to practice what you will do. Try to get as much movement as you can from the elbow. I don't actually do that because I had nobody to teach me that and I've played for too long to change. I play from the wrist. But you can get more power and minimize wrist problems by using the elbow. Go to the following web site and view the videos and read the explanation. Notice that in the Zepp video he does move his fingers a bit but doesn't really flick them to get a note.

http://home.thegrid.net/~fjbrad/id11.html

Steve

[Flyingcursor]

Hey thanks a lot folks. I'll attempt to synthesize (?) all this information and put it into a methodical practice session.

[Darwin]

Hey thanks a lot folks. I'll attempt to synthesize (?) all this information and put it into a methodical practice session.

Let us know what you find works best for you (maybe after a month or two). I don't think that it's a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. As with guitar, a lot depends on simple things like the shape and size of your hand and arm.

[piperdoc]

i'd like to know what videos and books you actually have. some are better than others. so let us know. i will then share my experience.

there is a wide variety of good techniques, there are different angles, joints moved etc.

finally, if you really tell us where you are, one of us might be in the neighborhood.

whatever you do, keep at it. its amazing when you start to get it.

meir

[piperdoc]

i apologize, you did tell us where you are.

2 more suggestions.

1. on
banjohangout.org
there is a list of players- you can find one who is local to you. style of playing is specified.

2. on the same web site, go to
"discussions" which will turn up several forums. then go to
"playing advice, clawhammer only".
lots of stuff is good, some is great. there is a string right now about hand position that will give you an idea just how flexible it is. there have benn others.

happy new year

meir

[burnsbyrne]

Hey thanks a lot folks. I'll attempt to synthesize (?) all this information and put it into a methodical practice session.

Let us know what you find works best for you (maybe after a month or two). I don't think that it's a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. As with guitar, a lot depends on simple things like the shape and size of your hand and arm.

That's for sure. I am 6' but I have hands and arms meant for someone 6'4" at least. I had to adapt much of the teaching I received to my anatomy.

[Darwin]

Hey thanks a lot folks. I'll attempt to synthesize (?) all this information and put it into a methodical practice session.

Let us know what you find works best for you (maybe after a month or two). I don't think that it's a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. As with guitar, a lot depends on simple things like the shape and size of your hand and arm.

That's for sure. I am 6' but I have hands and arms meant for someone 6'4" at least. I had to adapt much of the teaching I received to my anatomy.

I've seen people state that one must place one's right arm in a certain position to flatpick the guitar. When I tried it, I ended up with my pick down below the pick guard, about six inches south of the first string.

[wolvy]

I guess I should chime in here. I've been playing old time banjo for about 30 years. All I can say is that there are no absolute rules. I play mostly from the elbow, but there is also a tad bit of wrist motion and my fingers move just a little bit to make them more prominate to hit the strings. I certainly don't use the finger muscles to make the note. And I don't have a stiff and rigid clawhammer shape in my hand. The whole arm moves together, each section doing something to aid in the production of the note off of the banjo. Another thing you have to decide is which finger are you going to use to make the note with. Some players use the index finger (it is stronger and gives more punch) or the "bird" finger - which seems to have a little better tone and works well with the index finger to give the "chunk" effect.

Of course your experience may vary. What I have said above is just how it happened for me.

When you get it down, you won't even have to think about it. (like riding a bike).

Who are you listening too? That will determine what kind of sound you
are after.

- Tom

http://www.helmintoller.com/rattlers/