clawhammer technique

I haven't had a serious go at clawhammer yet but I think I'll go into it trying to learn the downstroke(s) approach and see how that goes. If that gives me too much trouble I'll try it the other way.
 
I haven't had a serious go at clawhammer yet but I think I'll go into it trying to learn the downstroke(s) approach and see how that goes. If that gives me too much trouble I'll try it the other way.

In my opinion, if one has the nails for it, down stroke with the nail is best. That’s the way that I learned it, and I clawhammered that way until my nails started falling apart. I still do it that way once in a while just for old time’s sake.

Lots of things change as we age. One hasta adjust or take up somethin’ else. :eek:ld:
 
all this talk of ruined nails has me wondering "what the heck are you guys doing?" When I clawhammer, on the downstroke the string contacts my nail somewhere around its center. Are you guys using the tips of your fingernail?
 
all this talk of ruined nails has me wondering "what the heck are you guys doing?" When I clawhammer, on the downstroke the string contacts my nail somewhere around its center. Are you guys using the tips of your fingernail?

Steel strings is probably my problem now-a-days. I don’t clawhammer ukes anymore. :eek:ld:
 
I play clawhammer banjo, and use my nail on the downstroke for the "bum" of the "bum ditty." For me, it's actually more convenient, because I'm just repeating the same motion twice, and adding the thumb the second time. In other words, the stroke is down, down (thumb). I can switch it to down (thumb), down (thumb); down (thumb), down; or other ocmbinations, and can syncopate downstrokes easier.

Pete Seeger played with an upstroke, and teaches that way in his book. Ultimately, there are more ways to play the banjo than there are banjo players, and each of us have our reasons for playing the way we do. I've done a bit of clawhammer on the uke, and in an open tuning, my technique works quite well. For standard tuning, I'd probably go with something like thumb lead, because my second downstroke is usually a brush, and if the open strings don't match the chord I'd like to be playing, that won't sound good.

Although Pete called up-picking "the basic stroke", in his actual playing, he did as much clawhammer, if not more.
 
I love that old banjo / clawhammer sound. I think steel strings and my complete lack of fingernails would kill me though. I've never been able to really "get" it on the banjo ukulele, even though I'd like to.
Or rather, I can kind of follow along when it's slower in pace, but the minute they go up to a real pace, it seems like it's 1,000x faster and I lose any chance.
 
Igorthebarbarian,
A lightly built open back banjo works well with nylon strings. I own an S.S. Stewart that I have strung with nylon and am restoring an R.S. Williams 5 string which will be strung with nylon strings as well. These are both pre-war instruments and may well have been built for gut strings.
 
It seems like I've been working on clawhammer off and on for years and I can not get a clean note from that downstroke for the first note bum. I do not know what I'm doing wrong, and I have watched more videos than I can count. Everyone just seems to take if for granted, so it has to be me, but for the life of me I can't figure out why I can't do that.
 
It seems like I've been working on clawhammer off and on for years and I can not get a clean note from that downstroke for the first note bum. I do not know what I'm doing wrong, and I have watched more videos than I can count.

I've been playing clawhammer uke for about a year, and taking lessons on clawhammer banjo for about three months. I'm progressing well with double thumbing and drop thumbing, but getting a consistent clear note with the fingernail on the downstroke is still my main issue. What has helped me is isolating just that--playing the nail downstroke only, and doing it with a metronome, and across the strings. So maybe forget about the brush stroke and the thumb for a while and play scales and familiar melodies with just your finger nail. Go super slow aiming for a clean strike that gets the same volume on all strings, then gradually speed up the metronome. Then add back brush strokes and thumb strokes.

If your nail itself is a problem, know that a lot of clawhammer banjo players use some sort of pick, at least some of the time. Fred Kelly Freedom picks work well for some. Others use plastic or metal bluegrass picks worn backwards on the finger, and often filed/trimmed down a bit. They all take some getting used to, so expect to spend a least a few weeks with any one pick before you get the hang of it.

Good luck!
 
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