Help: help...how to clawhammer 6/8

Subject: help...how to clawhammer 6/8
From: GUEST,neweee
Date: 10 Sep 02 - 10:49 PM

Hey was wondering if anyone knows of any info re clawammering a 6/8 tune called the rakes of kildare. I have the 5string banjo tab but do not know what to do with the good ole right hand!!

cheers

Subject: RE: Help: help...how to clawhammer 6/8
From: GUEST,Russ
Date: 11 Sep 02 - 08:49 AM

Ken Perlman does such things with a banjo. You might find something useful at his site.
www.kenperlman.com

Subject: RE: Help: help...how to clawhammer 6/8
From: kendall
Date: 11 Sep 02 - 09:00 AM

How to play the 5 string banjo by Pete Seeger, page 27.

Subject: RE: Help: help...how to clawhammer 6/8
From: chip a
Date: 11 Sep 02 - 10:31 AM

Perlman is the best source for 6/8 tab. This is tricky if you do it up right! His style is "extreme melodic" and he's awful good at it. He has books and c.d.'s available. Also teaches here and there. Good luck.

Chip

Subject: RE: Help: help...how to clawhammer 6/8
From: Sorcha
Date: 11 Sep 02 - 11:03 AM

I knew there was a discussion somewhere, just took me a bit to find it. Check out this thread. Maybe something helpful in it.

Subject: RE: Help: help...how to clawhammer 6/8
From: Peter T.
Date: 11 Sep 02 - 11:05 AM

Rick F. has been teaching me a 6/8 roll for the 5 string, deriving from Peggy Seeger. It goes, T (on third string), I(on second), M(on first), T (on fifth), M(on first), I (on second). Can I do it? No. But you might give it a whirl. yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Help: help...how to clawhammer 6/8
From: chip a
Date: 11 Sep 02 - 11:43 AM

Clawhammer involves one finger and the thumb. Three finger rolls are a different thing altogether. This might be a time to try some finger picking though. Of course, if you want to get at the melody, you'll have to do more than just rolls! Still tricky but three fingers will give you a 50% better shot than clawhammer. my best recomendation is still Perlman. Keep pickin'

Chip

Subject: RE: Help: help...how to clawhammer 6/8
From: curmudgeon
Date: 11 Sep 02 - 11:51 AM

Also listen to Howie Bursen, esp. Cider In The Kitchen, who mastered this technique "...before anyone told me I couldn't do it."

Subject: RE: Help: help...how to clawhammer 6/8
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Sep 02 - 12:04 PM

I don't play clawhammer, but I do play jigs on several other string instuments including three-finger style banjo, so maybe I can offer some observations. The main thing to bear in mind when learning to play jigs on any instrument is that every other accented beat is going to be produced by a stroke that would normally be used for unaccented beats in reels etc. When playing a reel, the accents are on the one and three beats. Most musicians are going to play those notes using the stroke that is easiest for them to apply force to the strings: downstrokes for guitar, thumbstrokes for banjo, right-hand strokes for hammer dulcimer. With jigs, the accented four beat should be played using an upstroke on guitar, a fingerstroke on banjo and a left-hand stroke on hammer dulcimer. To illustrate, imagine playing rhythm guitar, the strumming pattern for a jig would be (BOLD=accented beat): 1-DOWN, 2-UP, 3-DOWN, 4-UP, 5-DOWN, 6-UP. I'm not sure exactly how this principle would be expressed in terms of clawhammer playing, but the basic premise that you have to teach what is normally your "weak stroke" to become a "strong stroke" on the four beat of a jig should apply.

Bruce

Subject: RE: Help: help...how to clawhammer 6/8
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 11 Sep 02 - 01:30 PM

Speaking of Peggy Seeger (thread creep), she plays three-finger with thumb, first, and third finger.

Why?

Because in England (where she lived for 35 years) there was commonly no amplification, so she used finger picks. Since she did both three-finger and clawhammer, she kept fingerpicks on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fingers, but the one on the second (middle) finger was reversed for clawhammer, while the others were faced to the palmar surface of the finger. Thus she could switch readily from one system to the other without fiddling with the fingerpicks.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Help: help...how to clawhammer 6/8
From: kendall
Date: 11 Sep 02 - 09:13 PM

Don Stover used to switch back and forth; he used picks on thumb, first and second fingers. Then, when he wanted to do clawhammer, he used his third finger. Last weekend, I watched Carl Pagter do it with his LITTLE finger!

Subject: RE: Help: help...how to clawhammer 6/8
From: Peter T.
Date: 12 Sep 02 - 10:47 AM

Anyone know anyone who played banjo thumbless? (time for a new thread?) yours, Peter T.