Clawhammer versus Bluegrass

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As many of you probably have, I always assumed that banjo was banjo - with many sounds but one essential method of playing.  Not so!  As it turns out, there are two major schools of "banjo thought" (though the actual amount of thought involved may vary) - Clawhammer and Bluegrass.  There are many names for both, but those are the seemingly most common right now. 

Bluegrass is the Tony Trickshaw kind of stuff, with lightning fast finger work and a rolling series of notes, each played independently.  Clawhammer, the style I'm currently learning, involves something called frailing.  It's a peculiar method of strumming in which you use your fingernail to strike the string, followed by a quick strum of three strings and then a pluck of the 5th string (the shorter one) with the side of your thumb.  This is nearly IMPOSSIBLE for someone used to the guitar as I am.  It isn't the motions that are difficult, I've learned similar strum styles on the guitar.  But I find my brain getting screwed up because I want to play the notes as I expect them to sound, but the strings seem all out of whack.

See, a five-string banjo like mine isn't like a guitar where each string going down is a higher tone.  On a banjo the 5th string (the one on top) is the highest tone.  The next string, the 4th, is the lowest!  Then it gets progressively higher like a guitar.  To my guitar-mind it's like someone took the high-e string and placed it under my thumb by magic.  Very confusing.

That said, I'm simply loving this instrument.  The rhythms are fun and endlessly variable and once you get frailing under control, you can play all manner of tunes without having to learn many new skills.  It's all patterns and knowing when to frail and when not to.

Of course, my family sincerely wishes I would learn some more songs so they wouldn't have to listen to the two I know played over and over, but that comes later.

P.S.  Wanna learn how to play clawhammer banjo?  Check out Banjo Equinox on Cold Antler Farm.  Jenna is walking us through the process and we're all sharing our experiences, our victories, and our setbacks.  Come on in and play, son!