Clawhammer and frailing describe a class of fingerpicking techniques used by banjo and, rarely, guitar players. The two terms are mostly used interchangeably, though some players make a distinction. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Fingerstyle guitar. ... For other uses, see Banjo (disambiguation) The banjo is a stringed instrument developed by enslaved Africans in the United States, adapted from several African instruments. ... For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ...

Clawhammer is a highly rhythmic and common component of American old-time music. The principal difference between clawhammer style and other finger picking styles is the picking direction. Traditional picking styles, including those for folk, bluegrass, and classical guitar, consist of an up-picking motion by the fingers 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 or a pick. Rhythm (Greek = flow, or in Modern Greek, style) is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events. ... West Virginia fiddler Edden Hammons, accompanied by his son James on the banjo Old-time music is a form of North American folk music, with roots in the folk musics of many countries, including England, Scotland and Ireland, as well as the continent of Africa. ... Folk song redirects here. ... Spanish guitar redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Thumb (disambiguation). ... Scruggs style is a fingerpicking method of playing the banjo, typically using picks on the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand, with the ring and little fingers braced solidly on the head of the instrument. ... In human anatomy, the wrist is the flexible and narrower connection between the forearm and the palm. ... This article discusses the anatomical nail. ...

Modern musicians who have used the clawhammer style of picking include Bob Carlin, Dwight Diller, Ken Perlman, Dan Levenson, Brad Leftwich, Mark Johnson, Dick Kimmel, Michael J. Miles, and Abigail Washburn. Early practitioners include Clarence Ashley, Tommy Jarrell, Kyle Creed, and Wade Ward. For the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation member of the Ontario legislature see Robert Carlin Bob Carlin (b. ... Dwight Diller is an American banjo and fiddle player and teacher. ... Dan Levenson is an American old-time musician and storyteller. ... Brad Leftwich is a prominent American old-time fiddle and banjo player and teacher. ... Abigail Washburn is an American banjo player and singer. ... Clarence Tom Ashley (September 29 1895 (or 1885?) - June 2 1967) was a 20th-century American clawhammer banjo player and singer. ... Tommy Jarrell (born Thomas Jefferson Jarrell, Surry County, North Carolina, March 1, 1901, United States; d. ... Wade Ward (1892-1971) was an American old-time music fiddler and banjoist from Independence, Virginia. ...

Clawhammer technique

Music samples:

"Big Eyed Rabbit" Image File history File links Rabbit-Slaughter. ...

Matokie Slaughter, "Big Eyed Rabbit" from Clawhammer Banjo, Volume Two (County Records) (c. 1960s)

Problems listening to the file? See media help. Music samples: Big Eyed Rabbit ( file info) — Matokie Slaughter, Big Eyed Rabbit from Clawhammer Banjo, Volume Two (County Records) (c. ...

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 2/4 pattern: The time signature (also known as meter signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and what note value constitutes one beat. ...

1. Pick a melody note on the downbeat (quarter note)
2. On the second beat, strum a few strings with your strumming finger (roughly an eighth note)
3. 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 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^[1], whether actually played on a banjo or on a guitar. Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In music, a quarter note (American) or crotchet (Commonwealth) is played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note. ... putang ina. ... Figure 1. ... In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout much or all of a piece, sustained or repeated, and most often establishing a tonality upon which the rest of the piece is built. ...

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 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," and "clubbing." This is reflective of the informality of old-time music in general, as each player develops an idiomatic style. West Virginia fiddler Edden Hammons, accompanied by his son James on the banjo Old-time music is a form of North American folk music, with roots in the folk musics of many countries, including England, Scotland and Ireland, as well as the continent of Africa. ...

Clawhammer on guitar

Although both "clawhammer" and "frailing" are primarily used to refer to banjo styles, the terms do appear with reference to guitar.^[2] 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.^[3] Players in this down-picking style include Baughman, Jody Stecher, Michael Stadler, and Alec Stone Sweet. 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 (picking individual notes with a single plectrum called a flatpick) or strumming all the strings of the instrument in chords. ...

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.^{[citation needed]} 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. The pinky finger is the last and usually smallest finger on the far sides of the human hand, opposite the thumb, next to the ring finger. ... Clawhammer is a method of playing the five-string banjo. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Fingerstyle guitar. ...

Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits used a variant of the clawhammer technique.^{[verification needed]}
Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born August 12, 1949, Glasgow, Scotland) is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and film score composer. ... This article is about the band. ...

Buckethead has also been known to make use of the clawhammer technique. This article is about the Avant-garde metal composer and musician. ...

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.^{[citation needed]} Michael Todd or Mic Todd (pronounced as Mike) (born 1980 in Kingston, New York) is the bassist for progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria. ... Coheed and Cambria is a progressive rock[6][7] band from Nyack, New York and Kingston, New York. ...

Further reading

• Zepp, Donald, Clearhead series. Online text-based banjo primer, including video shot through the back of a clear headed banjo. http://zeppmusic.com/Clearhead
• 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

References

1. ^ Frailing vs Clawhammer by Don Zepp, describing the distinction between the two terms on the banjo
2. ^ Basics of Clawhammer Guitar
3. ^ Steve Baughman's Frailing Guitar website

External links

• 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.

• Old Time Banjo Two and a half hour video workshop on frailing banjo with Pat & Patrick Costello.
• 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.