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Clawhammer Banjo from Scratch : A Guide for the Claw-less!
by: Dan Levenson

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by Joel Hooks

I used to associate "old time banjo" with the clawhammer or frailing technique. When I began reenacting the late 19th century, or the "old west," I became interested in learning the playing styles and songs that might have been heard in a saloon 120 years ago. I decided to learn through tutors and sheet music, the way a student back then would have.

A quick internet search produced a lot of information about minstrel style banjo, but the tutors teaching that style of music were mostly from the mid-19th century. I wanted to find popular music from the 1880s-1890s. After more digging, and thanks to a small group of historical banjo players, I discovered some very surprising music styles.

I never would have thought these pieces were popular in the "rough and tumble" American west. I found songs of a very progressive nature, and sometimes downright technical. Fortunately, a lot of the music is easy to learn, and it is fun to play.

During the mid- to late-19th century, 2 major banjo styles seemed to dominate: stroke style and guitar style. Stroke style is also called thimble style, for the brass or German silver pick covering the nail on the right ring finger. It is the syncopated precursor to clawhammer.

Most of the extant sheet music from the era was arranged to be played in guitar style (also called finger style). That is the method I would like to focus on. Today this method is often called classic style. The American Banjo Fraternity uses the term classic because it is a technique worth preserving. All too often it is called classical banjo, a designation that scares off many hobbyists. Although classical music can be found in the classic repertoire, the majority of the pieces are polkas, schottisches, marches, waltzes, mazurkas, and other songs that wouldn't fall into the classical category.

Contemporary method books give different explanations on the proper execution of the right (or picking) hand. I rest my little finger against the head of the banjo and use my thumb and remaining fingers to pick the strings. Usually, I play the short fifth string and bass string with my thumb, and use my ring finger to play the first string, middle finger to play the second string, and first finger to play the third string. I avoid using my fingernails, playing only with the fleshy tips of my fingers. If a harmony requires all 5 strings to be played simultaneously, I use all 5 fingers to play.

Even though steel or wire strings were available before 1900, banjos were typically strung using gut with wire wrapped over silk forth. I use the modern equivalent – nylon. Experiments with resonators began very early, but the most common banjos had open backs. As long as your banjo has 5 strings, it will work just fine.

The TAB for "Dorigo Schottische" by Thomas J. Armstrong (1859-1932) was transcribed directly from S.S. Stewart's Banjo and Guitar Journal, October and November 1886. It is just challenging enough, but not difficult to play. The music is straight- forward.

Pull-offs (called snaps) appear in several places throughout the song. Scruggs players should have no problems playing this. I invite clawhammer players to give it a shot, because most models of open-back banjos played today were designed with this style of playing in mind.

I have had a lot of fun exploring the different documented types of historical banjo playing. I hope that this article encourages others to venture in to this often forgotten realm of music. Stacks of sheet music are waiting for someone just like you to dust off and perform some great songs. Thank you, and good luck in your banjo journey.

Dorigo Schottische MP3
DorigoSchottische.mp3

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About The Author
Joel Hooks was born and raised in Dallas Texas. He has been interested in music his whole life. As a reenactor of the late 19th century American West, he began to study historical banjo styles about three years ago. Since then, he has built a minstrel style fretless banjo. He also plays the bones, harmonica, and has recently taken up the fife and guitar.

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