Clawhammer Technique & Did Corey Have Too Much Coffee?

Ukulele Eddie

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I was checking out various ukes on the HMS site and found Corey absolutely ripping it up in one of the Takumi demo's. He's playing so fast he looks like he had a Big Gulp worth of strong coffee!

http://www.theukulelesite.com/takumi-concert-tk-3c-2.html

I'm absolutely enamored by the clawhammer technique and while I have plenty of basics to still wrestle with, it would be fun to noodle around a bit. Any good intro to clawhammer tutorials out there?
 
I'm absolutely enamored by the clawhammer technique and while I have plenty of basics to still wrestle with, it would be fun to noodle around a bit. Any good intro to clawhammer tutorials out there?
There are others, but, with no disrespect, my personal favourite as an intro tutorial to clawhammer on the ukulele can be found here

http://quietamericanmusic.com/ukuleletabsandvideos/

YMMV, but enjoy the journey :)
 
Thanks for the referrals to Aaron's site. Somehow, I had not yet discovered it and have bookmarked it for future reference!
 
I just discovered Aaron's site and I am in the process of learning Wandering Boy. Really cool site...although I am struggling to make sense of the tab for this one in relation to the video. I'm looking forward to looking at the carter picking stuff on there as well
 
You are right about Corey just ripping it. No human being should have fingers that move that fast. I am feeling more than just a little inadequent after watching that :worship::worship::worship:

Very cool, thanks for sharing. I do love all of Aaron's stuff as well, always well done and thought out.
 
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You are right about Corey just ripping it. No human being should have fingers that moventhat fast. .
It's the uke. You could play that fast too on a Takumi. :rolleyes:
 
I love the fact that he gave a chuckle toward the end, yes, he is human!!!!! Wow. That is some kind of playing. I can't even begin to think about claw hammer yet, but it is so cool.
 
I love the fact that he gave a chuckle toward the end, yes, he is human!!!!! Wow. That is some kind of playing. I can't even begin to think about claw hammer yet, but it is so cool.
Always laugh or smile when you make a mistake. It is never good to be too serious and the audience figures you did it for fun.
 
So I've been toying with the clawhammer for a while and I've pretty much got down the bum ditty tech down to a reasonable level. I was put onto the quiet american's tab site - which is very informative - through this thread and want to develop the technique further. I'm just learning his tab for wandering boy, as shown below:

http://static.squarespace.com/stati...3c9a82f20f/1377285006434/Scanned Image 5.jpeg

I was just wondering how people play the notes before and after the clawhammer's pivotal bum ditty strum pluck? Is it best to stick with the index finger and if so is it also best to stick to downstrokes? At the moment I'm having a tendency to pluck up with the index on certain notes and want to know if its best to try to stamp this out while developing the technique.

Cheers, Luke
 
So I've been toying with the clawhammer for a while and I've pretty much got down the bum ditty tech down to a reasonable level. I was put onto the quiet american's tab site - which is very informative - through this thread and want to develop the technique further. I'm just learning his tab for wandering boy, as shown below:

http://static.squarespace.com/stati...3c9a82f20f/1377285006434/Scanned Image 5.jpeg

I was just wondering how people play the notes before and after the clawhammer's pivotal bum ditty strum pluck? Is it best to stick with the index finger and if so is it also best to stick to downstrokes? At the moment I'm having a tendency to pluck up with the index on certain notes and want to know if its best to try to stamp this out while developing the technique.

Cheers, Luke

I may be new to the uke, but I'm ooollld to clawhammer banjo. I took a look at the youtube video link that was on that tab and what I saw was a lot of hammer-ons, pull-offs and I think I saw a little double thumbing.

I play some very notey Irish stuff on the clawhammer banjo and never ever pluck up.
 
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I would SOOOO love to play clawhammer uke. I did practice for quite a while but never seemed to get any better at it. Maybe some inspiration here?
 
I would SOOOO love to play clawhammer uke. I did practice for quite a while but never seemed to get any better at it. Maybe some inspiration here?

I would start with something easy before throwing in a lot of hammer-ons, pull-offs, double thumb and drop thumb. I found "You Are My Sunshine" in the key of C to be really easy. I think "I'll Fly Away" in G was pretty easy too.
 
Using Double thumbing and drop thumbing is the easiest entry path for melodic "clawhammer" techniques. Starting with a two chord song will give you good opportunities to add melody notes. If you wish to stick strictly to down picking try "Jambalaya" This will yield the traditional Cajun rhythm guitar sound while still allowing you some freedom to add melody notes with your thumb.

Twentytabby: New uke ehh! Play around with some two finger style (up picking). You can alternately drone on the g and the A strings this way. It should raise some eyebrows at your next jam.
 
I use drop thumb and double thumb a lot since I favor melodic clawhammer, but I wouldn't call either beginner claw hammer. Most people have to get the basic Bum-Ditty rhythm first and get accuracy hitting the correct string with the middle finger (or index finger depending on which they use). I recommend getting more melody with the left hand (pull offs and hammer ons and maybe even slides).
My daughter in Tucson just bought her first banjo there and thinks she's gonna be ripping on it clawhammer style in a few days. I laugh.

I've been playing around a lot with three finger picking on the uke, since I used to do that on guitar. Took a while to get used to the C string being the low string but I've got it now. Checked out the Ukulele Aerobics book from the library and the exercises were good. Just bringing a uke to an old time jam will raise eyebrows.
:)

Using Double thumbing and drop thumbing is the easiest entry path for melodic "clawhammer" techniques. Starting with a two chord song will give you good opportunities to add melody notes. If you wish to stick strictly to down picking try "Jambalaya" This will yield the traditional Cajun rhythm guitar sound while still allowing you some freedom to add melody notes with your thumb.

Twentytabby: New uke ehh! Play around with some two finger style (up picking). You can alternately drone on the g and the A strings this way. It should raise some eyebrows at your next jam.
 
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