Clawhammer banjo is HARD

[sweiss]

Has anyone here taken up clawhammer banjo after years of guitar playing? Was it difficult for you?

I'm a decent fingerstyle player on guitar, but trying to master the right hand technique for clawhammer banjo is kicking my butt. It's completely counter to the way fingerstyle guitar is played. I feel just like I did when I was trying to form my first open F chord on guitar many years ago....hopelessly uncoordinated.

If anyone else has mastered clawhammer, how long did it take you to get comfortable with the right hand technique?

[cpmusic]

When I had a 5-string banjo back in the 80s I taught myself frailing, which is the same thing as clawhammer -- or not, depending on whom you ask.

Regardless of what it's called, it's very hard to master the pattern. I kept at it (sort of) for several months and thought I'd never get it. Then one day I picked up the banjo and it was just there.

Bottom line: Keep at it. You learned fingerstyle, and as with that technique and anything else that requires coordination, it's a matter of muscle memory.

BTW, the technique has also been applied to guitar by Steve Baughman and others, and the result is wonderful:

[posternutbag]

I have tried; I could never get the hang of it. That said, I played some shows with a guy who was really good. I asked him a lot of questions about his playing, and he said that the first couple of months are torture. He said it took him about 3 months to get the right hand pattern(s) down, but once you clear that hurdle, the majority of the heavy lifting is done. I didn't have 3+ months to devote to what would have been a tertiary instrument.

[Mobilemike]

Originally Posted by cpmusic

BTW, the technique has also been applied to guitar by Steve Baughman and others, and the result is wonderful:

Thats cool!

-Mike

[jaymarsch]

Originally Posted by cpmusic

When I had a 5-string banjo back in the 80s I taught myself frailing, which is the same thing as clawhammer -- or not, depending on whom you ask.

Regardless of what it's called, it's very hard to master the pattern. I kept at it (sort of) for several months and thought I'd never get it. Then one day I picked up the banjo and it was just there.

Bottom line: Keep at it. You learned fingerstyle, and as with that technique and anything else that requires coordination, it's a matter of muscle memory.

BTW, the technique has also been applied to guitar by Steve Baughman and others, and the result is wonderful:

And Steve is a great teacher. It is hard but if you get a good teacher to get you off on the right track and take it slow in the beginning - really get that bum-ditty down - it makes a huge difference. That and picking songs that you really like. It does take practice though!

Best,
Jayne

[SpruceTop]

I believe Lindsey Buckingham tends to frail his guitar.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by sweiss

Has anyone here taken up clawhammer banjo after years of guitar playing? Was it difficult for you?

Yes and yes. I think learning how to frail is the single most difficult musical instrument skill I ever managed to acquire. I play a lot of different instruments, mainly because their differences are so much smaller than their similarities.

But learning to play clawhammer was extremely difficult, just getting competent at that right hand motion. It took me months.

But one night I suddenly just had it.

Don't give up. What helped me get it was sitting in a dark room and removing all visual stimuli, just concentrating on the sound and letting my hands find the right notes.

So you might try practicing it in the dark. It could help.


whm

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Yes and yes. I think learning how to frail is the single most difficult musical instrument skill I ever managed to acquire. I play a lot of different instruments, mainly because their differences are so much smaller than their similarities.

But learning to play clawhammer was extremely difficult, just getting competent at that right hand motion. It took me months.

But one night I suddenly just had it.

Don't give up. What helped me get it was sitting in a dark room and removing all visual stimuli, just concentrating on the sound and letting my hands find the right notes.

So you might try practicing it in the dark. It could help.


whm

As difficult as it is initially to play, it's kind of amazing that frailing or clawhammer was likely the most widely used style of playing 5-string banjo before the 5-string became better-known. Grandpa Jones, Stringbean and Pete Seeger were some of the more well-known players who exposed clawhammer/frailing to a larger audience.

[pjmacd]

I think the OP's post was about playing clawhammer banjo, and we've drifted a bit into playing clawhammer-style guitar. With that said, and because I know nothing about clawhammer banjo (other than I love the sound), I want to mention Alec Stone Sweet, who is a really fascinating guy. He is a professor of law at Yale, and is also an extremely fine guitarist. He has recorded a CD featuring all clawhammer-style guitar - Tumblin' Gap. Check it out if you're interested. I checked YouTube, and there don't seem to be any videos of him playing, alas.

Back to clawhammer banjo - one of the best YouTube videos I've seen lately is a John Hiatt song, "Crossing Muddy Waters", by Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O'Donovan. Jarosz plays some masterful clawhammer banjo on this tune.

[Bikewer]

I built a banjo a few years back when I was doing a lot of cigar-box guitars. Turned out fairly well...
I had the express purpose of learning clawhammer. I am just now beginning to "get it"....It's been 4-5 years of intermittent practice. ( I'm kind of involved with jazz guitar...)

Something that seems so simple, and sounds so good when well-done.

I think I was Impressed by Abigail Washburn's playing (now married to Bela Fleck!). She really nails that nice, steady "bum-diddy-bum" sound.

[darylcrisp]

this is an excellent consecutive study of learning the driving hand for clawhammer.

i've taken private classes and purchased good DVD's, but Josh Turknett and his method make it very easy to understand and progress quickly.

I prefer this method, its simple and healthy:
http://clawhammerbanjo.net/brainjo/

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by darylcrisp

this is an excellent consecutive study of learning the driving hand for clawhammer.

i've taken private classes and purchased good DVD's, but Josh Turknett and his method make it very easy to understand and progress quickly.

I prefer this method, its simple and healthy:
http://clawhammerbanjo.net/brainjo/

Coming at the banjo way back when in 1964, I used Pete Seeger's book, "How To Play The 5-String Banjo." Strangely, by today's practices, Pete had novices begin by playing in the Key of C and not the Open G tuning so widely used. Also, he first introduced novices to an index-finger up-stroke, a brush downstroke with other fingers, and finally a thumb downstroke on the 5-th string. This approximated the rhythm of the all downward movements of clawhammer/frailing but once that procedure is/was learned, it makes clawhammer/frailing seem very awkward! To be fair to Pete, he also showed how to play clawhammer/frailing later in his book but, by the time I got to that point, I'd moved on to learning guitar.

[KCharlesD]

Originally Posted by pjmacd

Back to clawhammer banjo - one of the best YouTube videos I've seen lately is a John Hiatt song, "Crossing Muddy Waters", by Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O'Donovan. Jarosz plays some masterful clawhammer banjo on this tune.

+1 to that! Sarah Jarosz is an amazingly good clawhammer banjo player and I would agree. Folks, check out that video!

[rick-slo]

Used to play banjo, bluegrass as well as frailing style. Not a big deal. Just takes practice. Nowadays the increased accuracy I gained using a down stroke with the back of the fingernail comes in handy for some of the things I write and play.

[darylcrisp]

this is really good for instruction:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...r_1_14&sr=8-14

Elderlys did have a few copies.


Here is Chris playing: