Banjo · Chapter 12 of 23

Clawhammer Melody: Your First Tune

In clawhammer the melody lives in the strikes. Aim the falling fingernail at the tune’s note on each beat, and let the brush and thumb do the rest.

You already have the bum-ditty. Now the “bum” becomes the tune: instead of always striking the same string, the fingernail picks out the melody, one note a beat.

Aiming the strike

Your hand falls in the same arc every time; only its aim changes. A good way to learn the aim is to look away from the banjo and feel for the strings: the 1st string is the one nearest the floor, and the 4th lies right next to the 5th string your thumb rests on.

Where the melody hides

Melody notes don’t only fall on the strike. When the tune has a note on the next beat too, choose a brush that contains it: the brush rings that note along with its neighbors. In Boil Them Cabbage Down, the second B of each “B B” is inside the G brush (the 2nd string is open), and the second A is inside the D-chord brush.

Boil Them Cabbage Down

Eight short bars of 2/4, each one a single bum-ditty, played twice. The chords change under your fretting hand: G, C, G, D, and back. Turn on Loop to work on a hard spot.

Try it. Play the tune slowly enough that every strike lands on the right string. Then sing along while you play: the melody you sing is the melody your strikes play. When you know it well, compare it with the three-finger version in Melody Inside the Roll: the same tune, two very different sounds.

Check each one when you can do it slowly and evenly.

  • I can aim the strike at the 1st, 2nd or 3rd string on purpose.
  • I can hear the melody in the strikes, under the brush and thumb.
  • I can play Boil Them Cabbage Down in clawhammer from start to finish.

Remember

  • The strike plays the melody note on the beat; aim the same arc at different strings.
  • Pick brushes that contain the next melody note.
  • The bum-ditty never stops: strike, brush, thumb.

Songs that use this

@teddyrookbook GitHub