Clawhammer
Encyclopedia
Clawhammer is a highly rhythm
ic banjo
playing style and common component of American
old-time music
. The principal difference between clawhammer style and other styles is the picking direction. Traditional picking styles (classic banjo), including those for folk
, bluegrass
, and classical guitar
, consist of an up-picking motion by the finger
s and a down-picking motion by the thumb
; this is also the technique used in the Scruggs style
for the banjo. Clawhammer picking, by contrast, is primarily a down-picking style. The hand assumes a claw-like shape and the strumming finger is kept fairly stiff, striking the strings by the motion of the hand at the wrist
and/or elbow, rather than a flicking motion by the finger. In its most common form on the banjo, only the thumb and middle or index finger are used and the finger always downpicks, hitting the string with the back of the fingernail.
Musicians who use or who have used the clawhammer style of picking include Old Man Luedecke
, Hobart Smith
, Neil Young
, Bob Carlin
, Dwight Diller
, Eric Clapton
, Mark Johnson, Dick Kimmel
, Mark Knopfler
, Brad Leftwich
, Dan Levenson
, Michael J. Miles, Ken Perlman, Leroy Troy
, Abigail Washburn
, Emily Robison, Julie Duggan, Riley Baugus
and many others. Actor/comedian Steve Martin
played clawhammer banjo as part of his stage act in the 1970s and on his 2009 musical debut CD The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo
. Early practitioners include Clarence Ashley
, Tommy Jarrell
, Grandpa Jones
, Kyle Creed
, and Wade Ward
.
pattern:
Here, the thumb plays the high drone
on the second "and" of "one and two and". This combined with the middle finger strumming provides a characteristic "bum-ditty bum-ditty" banjo sound, whether actually played on a banjo or on a guitar.
Banjo players often also use the left hand, the fingering hand, to pick. Using a motion similar to a pull-off, the left hand picks up at the top of the neck, usually on the second half of the first beat. The result is a change from the "bum-ditty" sound to a "bum-pa-ditty".
While the terms "clawhammer" and "frailing" can be used interchangeably, other old-time players draw a distinction between the two. On the banjo, frailing most commonly means always picking the drone string, while clawhammer allows the picking of other strings with the thumb, which is also called "drop thumbing". Some players further distinguish between "drop thumb" and "clawhammer", in which the thumb plays rhythm in drop thumb, but melody in clawhammer. There is also a known style where two fingers are used brushing down described as "Knock-Down". There are yet more variations of the distinction between "clawhammer" and "frailing", but they all refer to the same general style of playing. The term "double thumbing" is sometimes used interchangeably with "drop thumbing", though double thumbing refers specifically to striking the fifth string after every beat rather than every other beat, while drop thumbing refers to dropping the thumb from the 5th drone string down to strike a melody note.
Confusing the nomenclature further are the terms that are used for perceived variations on the method. These include "flailing," "knockdown", "banging," "rapping," "frapping", "beating," and "clubbing." This is reflective of the informality of old-time music
in general, as each player develops an idiomatic style.
Some have noted a general tendency towards more traditional and rhythmically-oriented frailing styles in the South, particularly in North Carolina, and a general tendency towards more melodically intricate styles in New England. The clawhammer banjo style of Boston banjo virtuoso Ken Perlman, for example, is highly melodic and uses the thumb extensively to play long single-note lines that use the drone string more for melody notes than for rhythmic accent. Some clawhammer banjo aficionados (including Perlman) have argued that melodic clawhammer banjo techniques are more traditional and ancient than many advocates of the frailing style suppose.
was the first guitarist to record in the style, as accompaniment for the song "Red Rocking Chair" on his recording, A Song that Will Linger, with Kate Brislin. Alec Stone Sweet
was the first guitarist to record solo clawhammer guitar pieces on his record "Memory and Praise," which he followed up with the recording "Tumblin' Gap: Clawhammer Guitar Solos."
Fingerstyle
guitarist Steve Baughman distinguishes between frailing and clawhammer as follows. In frailing, the index fingertip is used for up-picking melody, and the middle fingernail is used for rhythmic downward brushing. In clawhammer, only downstrokes are used, and they are typically played with one fingernail as is the usual technique on the banjo.
Alec Stone Sweet
describes the clawhammer technique in the liner notes to "Tumblin' Gap: Clawhammer Guitar Solos": "There are five characteristics of the way I play clawhammer. First, every specific note played by the right hand is produced either by the index finger or the thumb. Second, no note is ever plucked; each is played either with the thumb, or by striking down on a string with the nail of the index finger. Third, the index finger never plays off the beat, and the thumb never plays on the beat. This feature of clawhammer technique gives the music a heavier – and, to my ear, more natural - drive than it would have if it were played, say, as melody over an alternating bass. There is one exception to this rule: variations on a common clawhammer banjo lick (that you can hear on the climatic high notes of the second part of Polly Put the Kettle On, and the third part of Joke on the Puppy) when the thumb plays on beat. Fourth, for any piece, most of the notes are produced by the left hand, in combinations of slides, hammers, and pull-offs; slurs can occur on or off the beat. Fifth, I play in multiple tunings, and sometimes replace the sixth string bass with a high sixth string treble (of the same gauge employed for the first string). The banjo player will realize that I use my thumb on the bass strings to obtain drones, much as a clawhammer player uses the banjo’s high fifth string; indeed, when I string the guitar with a high treble in place of the sixth-string bass, it is partly to imitate the fifth string of the banjo. In many of the tunes, I keep multiple drones going, on different strings. To sum up, in my version of clawhammer guitar, the thumb plays off the beat, even when it plays harmony bass notes or bass lines; no strings are ever plucked; with respect to the right hand, only the index finger and the thumb sound notes, but never at the same time. What is incredible is how much full textured sound one finger, one thumb, and left hand slurs can generate."
Players in this down-picking style include Jody Stecher
, Alec Stone Sweet
, Steve Baughman, and Michael Stadler.
Another usage of "clawhammer" in guitar circles refers to a style in which the pinky finger or the pinky and ring fingers are used to brace the hand and the index finger, middle finger, and thumb are used to pluck the strings. The index and middle fingers are held in a claw shape and they do resemble the two prongs of a claw hammer
, but this is an uncommon and arguably incorrect usage of the term "clawhammer". See fingerpicking.
Mark Knopfler
of Dire Straits
used a variant of the clawhammer technique.
In recent years, the clawhammer technique has been applied to playing bass. Examples include Michael Todd
, of Coheed and Cambria
, and Steve Parker of Elements of Refusal.
in the standard gCEA tuning, especially playing in the key of C or the key of G. Since, like the 5-string banjo, there is a string that is higher pitched on the opposite side, the same exact technique results in the same sound.
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
ic banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
playing style and common component of American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
old-time music
Old-time music
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music, with roots in the folk music of many countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland and countries in Africa. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance, buck dance, and clogging. The genre also...
. The principal difference between clawhammer style and other styles is the picking direction. Traditional picking styles (classic banjo), including those for folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, and classical guitar
Classical guitar
The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...
, consist of an up-picking motion by the finger
Finger
A finger is a limb of the human body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of humans and other primates....
s and a down-picking motion by the thumb
Thumb
The thumb is the first digit of the hand. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position , the thumb is the lateral-most digit...
; this is also the technique used in the Scruggs style
Scruggs style
Scruggs style is the most common style of playing the banjo in bluegrass music. It is a fingerpicking method, also known as three-finger style. It is named after Earl Scruggs, whose innovative approach and technical mastery of the instrument has influenced generations of bluegrass banjoists ever...
for the banjo. Clawhammer picking, by contrast, is primarily a down-picking style. The hand assumes a claw-like shape and the strumming finger is kept fairly stiff, striking the strings by the motion of the hand at the wrist
Wrist
In human anatomy, the wrist is variously defined as 1) the carpus or carpal bones, the complex of eight bones forming the proximal skeletal segment of the hand;...
and/or elbow, rather than a flicking motion by the finger. In its most common form on the banjo, only the thumb and middle or index finger are used and the finger always downpicks, hitting the string with the back of the fingernail.
Musicians who use or who have used the clawhammer style of picking include Old Man Luedecke
Old Man Luedecke
Old Man Luedecke is the recording name of Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter and banjo player, Chris Luedecke, of Chester, Nova Scotia...
, Hobart Smith
Hobart Smith
Hobart Smith was an American old-time musician. He was most notable for his appearance with his sister, Texas Gladden, on a series of Library of Congress recordings in the 1940s and his later appearances at various festivals during the folk music revival of the 1960s...
, Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
, Bob Carlin
Bob Carlin
For the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation member of the Ontario legislature see Robert CarlinBob Carlin is an American old-time banjo player and singer.Carlin performs primarily in the clawhammer style of banjo...
, Dwight Diller
Dwight Diller
Dwight Diller is an American banjo and fiddle player and teacher. He is considered to be one of the most prominent exponents of the clawhammer banjo tradition....
, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, Mark Johnson, Dick Kimmel
Dick Kimmel
Dick Kimmel is a bluegrass/oldtime musician and biologist. He is a bluegrass musician, leading his band, Dick Kimmel & Co since the 1970's.-External links:*...
, Mark Knopfler
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
, Brad Leftwich
Brad Leftwich
Brad Leftwich is a prominent American old-time fiddle and banjo player and teacher. He is originally from Oklahoma.Leftwich was a founding member of the Plank Road String Band in the mid-1970s...
, Dan Levenson
Dan Levenson
Dan Levenson is an American old-time musician and storyteller. He sings and plays the five-string banjo, fiddle, and guitar, specializing in the music of Appalachia....
, Michael J. Miles, Ken Perlman, Leroy Troy
Leroy Troy
Leroy Troy is a banjo player from Goodlettsville, Tennessee. His banjo style is the clawhammer or frailing style, distinct from more commonly found Scruggs style banjo playing in modern bluegrass. He often performs humorous or comedy songs from the old-time music genre...
, Abigail Washburn
Abigail Washburn
Abigail Washburn is an American clawhammer banjo player and singer. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with the old-time bands Uncle Earl and Sparrow Quartet.-Biography:...
, Emily Robison, Julie Duggan, Riley Baugus
Riley Baugus
Riley Baugus is an American old-time guitarist, banjo player, fiddler, singer and instrument builder from North Carolina.-Background and Career:...
and many others. Actor/comedian Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
played clawhammer banjo as part of his stage act in the 1970s and on his 2009 musical debut CD The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo
The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo
The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo is a 2009 album by Steve Martin, featuring Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Earl Scruggs, Tim O'Brien, Tony Trischka and Mary Black. It contains 15 songs and is the first album focusing on Martin as a musician...
. Early practitioners include Clarence Ashley
Clarence Ashley
"Tom" Clarence Ashley was an American clawhammer banjo player, guitarist and singer. He began performing at medicine shows in the Southern Appalachian region as early as 1911, and gained initial fame during the late 1920s as both a solo recording artist and as a member of various string bands...
, Tommy Jarrell
Tommy Jarrell
Tommy Jarrell was an American fiddler, banjo player, and singer from the Mount Airy region of North Carolina's Appalachian Mountains.-Biography:...
, Grandpa Jones
Grandpa Jones
Louis Marshall Jones , known professionally as Grandpa Jones, was an American banjo player and "old time" country and gospel music singer...
, Kyle Creed
Kyle Creed
Kyle Creed was an influential musician and banjo luthier of 20th century Appalachia. Along with Tommy Jarrell, and Fred Cockerham, he is considered to be one of the originators of the Roundpeak clawhammer banjo style that developed in the 1960s and came to shape banjo practices in the Old-time...
, and Wade Ward
Wade Ward
-External links:...
.
Clawhammer technique
A common characteristic of clawhammer patterns is the thumb does not pick on the downbeat, as one might in typical fingerpicking patterns for guitar. For example, this is a common, basic 2/4Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
pattern:
- Pick a melodyMelodyA melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
note on the downbeat (quarter noteQuarter noteA quarter note or crotchet is a note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note . Often people will say that a crotchet is one beat, however, this is not always correct, as the beat is indicated by the time signature of the music; a quarter note may or may not be the beat...
) - On the second beatBeat (music)The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
, strum a few strings with your strumming finger (roughly an eighth noteEighth notethumb|180px|right|Figure 1. An eighth note with stem facing up, an eighth note with stem facing down, and an eighth rest.thumb|right|180px|Figure 2. Four eighth notes beamed together....
) - Immediately following (on the second half of this beat), pick a note with the thumb, usually the shorter fifth string. (roughly an eighth note)
Here, the thumb plays the high drone
Drone (music)
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
on the second "and" of "one and two and". This combined with the middle finger strumming provides a characteristic "bum-ditty bum-ditty" banjo sound, whether actually played on a banjo or on a guitar.
Banjo players often also use the left hand, the fingering hand, to pick. Using a motion similar to a pull-off, the left hand picks up at the top of the neck, usually on the second half of the first beat. The result is a change from the "bum-ditty" sound to a "bum-pa-ditty".
Clawhammer vs. frailing
While the terms "clawhammer" and "frailing" can be used interchangeably, other old-time players draw a distinction between the two. On the banjo, frailing most commonly means always picking the drone string, while clawhammer allows the picking of other strings with the thumb, which is also called "drop thumbing". Some players further distinguish between "drop thumb" and "clawhammer", in which the thumb plays rhythm in drop thumb, but melody in clawhammer. There is also a known style where two fingers are used brushing down described as "Knock-Down". There are yet more variations of the distinction between "clawhammer" and "frailing", but they all refer to the same general style of playing. The term "double thumbing" is sometimes used interchangeably with "drop thumbing", though double thumbing refers specifically to striking the fifth string after every beat rather than every other beat, while drop thumbing refers to dropping the thumb from the 5th drone string down to strike a melody note.
Confusing the nomenclature further are the terms that are used for perceived variations on the method. These include "flailing," "knockdown", "banging," "rapping," "frapping", "beating," and "clubbing." This is reflective of the informality of old-time music
Old-time music
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music, with roots in the folk music of many countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland and countries in Africa. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance, buck dance, and clogging. The genre also...
in general, as each player develops an idiomatic style.
Some have noted a general tendency towards more traditional and rhythmically-oriented frailing styles in the South, particularly in North Carolina, and a general tendency towards more melodically intricate styles in New England. The clawhammer banjo style of Boston banjo virtuoso Ken Perlman, for example, is highly melodic and uses the thumb extensively to play long single-note lines that use the drone string more for melody notes than for rhythmic accent. Some clawhammer banjo aficionados (including Perlman) have argued that melodic clawhammer banjo techniques are more traditional and ancient than many advocates of the frailing style suppose.
Clawhammer on guitar
Although both "clawhammer" and "frailing" are primarily used to refer to banjo styles, the terms do appear with reference to guitar. Jody StecherJody Stecher
Jody Stecher is an American singer and musician, who plays bluegrass and old-time music on banjo, mandolin, fiddle and guitar, and Dagar-vani dhrupad on the sursringar, a rare Indian instrument that is a baritone relative of the sarod....
was the first guitarist to record in the style, as accompaniment for the song "Red Rocking Chair" on his recording, A Song that Will Linger, with Kate Brislin. Alec Stone Sweet
Alec Stone Sweet
Alec Stone Sweet grew up in Bellingham, Washington. He is Leitner Professor of Law, Politics, and International Studies at the Yale Law School, and a notable author, musician, and Petanque player.-Scholarship:...
was the first guitarist to record solo clawhammer guitar pieces on his record "Memory and Praise," which he followed up with the recording "Tumblin' Gap: Clawhammer Guitar Solos."
Fingerstyle
Fingerstyle guitar
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking ....
guitarist Steve Baughman distinguishes between frailing and clawhammer as follows. In frailing, the index fingertip is used for up-picking melody, and the middle fingernail is used for rhythmic downward brushing. In clawhammer, only downstrokes are used, and they are typically played with one fingernail as is the usual technique on the banjo.
Alec Stone Sweet
Alec Stone Sweet
Alec Stone Sweet grew up in Bellingham, Washington. He is Leitner Professor of Law, Politics, and International Studies at the Yale Law School, and a notable author, musician, and Petanque player.-Scholarship:...
describes the clawhammer technique in the liner notes to "Tumblin' Gap: Clawhammer Guitar Solos": "There are five characteristics of the way I play clawhammer. First, every specific note played by the right hand is produced either by the index finger or the thumb. Second, no note is ever plucked; each is played either with the thumb, or by striking down on a string with the nail of the index finger. Third, the index finger never plays off the beat, and the thumb never plays on the beat. This feature of clawhammer technique gives the music a heavier – and, to my ear, more natural - drive than it would have if it were played, say, as melody over an alternating bass. There is one exception to this rule: variations on a common clawhammer banjo lick (that you can hear on the climatic high notes of the second part of Polly Put the Kettle On, and the third part of Joke on the Puppy) when the thumb plays on beat. Fourth, for any piece, most of the notes are produced by the left hand, in combinations of slides, hammers, and pull-offs; slurs can occur on or off the beat. Fifth, I play in multiple tunings, and sometimes replace the sixth string bass with a high sixth string treble (of the same gauge employed for the first string). The banjo player will realize that I use my thumb on the bass strings to obtain drones, much as a clawhammer player uses the banjo’s high fifth string; indeed, when I string the guitar with a high treble in place of the sixth-string bass, it is partly to imitate the fifth string of the banjo. In many of the tunes, I keep multiple drones going, on different strings. To sum up, in my version of clawhammer guitar, the thumb plays off the beat, even when it plays harmony bass notes or bass lines; no strings are ever plucked; with respect to the right hand, only the index finger and the thumb sound notes, but never at the same time. What is incredible is how much full textured sound one finger, one thumb, and left hand slurs can generate."
Players in this down-picking style include Jody Stecher
Jody Stecher
Jody Stecher is an American singer and musician, who plays bluegrass and old-time music on banjo, mandolin, fiddle and guitar, and Dagar-vani dhrupad on the sursringar, a rare Indian instrument that is a baritone relative of the sarod....
, Alec Stone Sweet
Alec Stone Sweet
Alec Stone Sweet grew up in Bellingham, Washington. He is Leitner Professor of Law, Politics, and International Studies at the Yale Law School, and a notable author, musician, and Petanque player.-Scholarship:...
, Steve Baughman, and Michael Stadler.
Another usage of "clawhammer" in guitar circles refers to a style in which the pinky finger or the pinky and ring fingers are used to brace the hand and the index finger, middle finger, and thumb are used to pluck the strings. The index and middle fingers are held in a claw shape and they do resemble the two prongs of a claw hammer
Claw hammer
A claw hammer is a tool primarily used for pounding nails into, or extracting nails from, some other object. Generally, a claw hammer is associated with woodworking but is not limited to use with wood products...
, but this is an uncommon and arguably incorrect usage of the term "clawhammer". See fingerpicking.
Mark Knopfler
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...
of Dire Straits
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...
used a variant of the clawhammer technique.
In recent years, the clawhammer technique has been applied to playing bass. Examples include Michael Todd
Michael Todd (musician)
Michael Todd or Mic Todd was the bassist for progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria. Todd left the band in August 2006 because of personal issues, but officially rejoined the group on April 25, 2007. Upon the time of his initial departure, he had been with the band for ten years. He officially...
, of Coheed and Cambria
Coheed and Cambria
Coheed and Cambria is an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York. Formed in 1995, the group incorporates aspects of progressive rock, punk rock, metal and post-hardcore....
, and Steve Parker of Elements of Refusal.
Clawhammer on ukulele
The clawhammer banjo technique works quite well on a ukuleleUkulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
in the standard gCEA tuning, especially playing in the key of C or the key of G. Since, like the 5-string banjo, there is a string that is higher pitched on the opposite side, the same exact technique results in the same sound.
Further reading
- Costello, Patrick, The How and the Tao of Old Time Banjo, Pik-Ware Publishing, 2003 (ISBN 0-9744190-0-1). Instruction in frailing banjo. Available online under a Creative Commons license on several web sites
- Costello, Patrick, A Book Of Five Strings, Pik-Ware Publishing, 2004 (ISBN 0-9744190-2-8). Advanced frailing banjo tutor. Available online under a Creative Commons license on several web sites
External links
- Recordings of clawhammer banjo CDs of the older masters of clawhammer banjo (Fred Cockerham, Lee Sexton, Tommy Jarrell, etc.)
- The Daily Frail Daily frailing banjo exercises.
- OldTime Banjo Examples of Clawhamer Banjo with full tunes played by Julie Duggan
- Frailing Banjo Frailing banjo instructional video series on archive.org.
- Old Time Banjo Two and a half hour video workshop on frailing banjo with Pat & Patrick Costello. Frailing banjo instructional video series on archive.org.
- ClearHead Donald Zepp's ClearHead (TM) demonstration of basic clawhammer techniques. Includes .wmv video files requiring Windows Media Player.
- Mike Iverson's Clawhammer Banjo Tabs Popular online collection of clawhammer banjo instruction and tablature with accompanying sound files.
- Charles Kelly's Tunes for Clawhammer Banjo The complete book of 217 tabs is available for free online.