clawforlife - Posted - 12/16/2009:  11:01:31

which is correct 2 finger, to play thumb lead and rythm with the first string or index lead and rythm with the fifth, or does it just depend on the tune? also is it easier to use bluegrass tab or claw tab? im about 48 hrs into 2finger with about a 4 hour break and a few pots of coffee, maybe a carton of smokes! ive been playin mostly seeger style and some c.h., so up pickin isnt to foreign. 2 finger is great, like a gravy train with biscuit freakin wheels!hope to hear from chip arnold and all the other 2 finger pickers.


"aint no money past the fifth fret" - stringbean

janolov - Posted - 12/16/2009:  12:01:34

Any way to play the banjo is correct! Thumb lead twofinger amd index lead twofinger are just two variants of banjo playing. I prefer thumb lead on the low parts of a tune and index lead on the higher parts. When making own arrangement from tabs, I prefer to work from clawhammer tabs rather than Bluegrass tabs, because it's easier to find out the melody from clawhammer - but don't forget to first learn the tune by listen to it!

chip arnold - Posted - 12/16/2009:  12:46:40

Like janolov says, both thumb and finger lead are "correct". Most of the old time 2-finger pickers did one or the other. Some, like janolov, do both. I stay on a finger lead most all the time. If you're looking at finger lead, clawhammer tabs will get you started. But 2-finger styles aren't typically just clawhammer done in an up-picking manner. If you look at my music page you'll see a "2-finger explanation" there at the top: http://www.banjohangout.org/myhango....asp?id=6347 Give it a listen. Also, I have a little beginner's tab here: http://tishandchip.tripod.com/

With thumb lead, there's no reason to limit your finger to the 1st string and with index lead there's no reason to limit your thumb to the 5th string. I use both thumb and finger on all five strings.

Maybe you'd like to come to our April class at the John Campbell Folk School: https://www.folkschool.org/index.ph...ctor_id=1094

majikgator - Posted - 12/16/2009:  17:17:16

won't you have to change your screen name? i agree with Janolov about being easier to work with clawhammer tab, i have used clawhammer tab as a basis for two and three finger picking the tune but i have never been ablle to adapt Bluegrass tab to clawhammer, although it works ok for thumb and mixed lead two finger but it's usually harder to read , less melody oriented and more cluttered to me anyhow. thanks for the beginner two finger tab Chip i will give it a look.

clawforlife - Posted - 12/17/2009:  10:23:26

thanks guys, i guess what im doing is a drop thumb roll??? or i drop thumb in c.h and seeger, but i do alot more strumming. anyway this is different like a pattern or roll. i'm really getting into it. thanks for all your help with the tabs and such, yes it is still easier to work from clawhammer tab. im not really a huge bluegrass fan so dont worry im not changing my name or going to the country and western store to pick out a rhinestone outfit or go digging up those finger picks i threw out the back door a couple years ago. thanks again

chip arnold - Posted - 12/17/2009:  10:37:52

Would you describe one of your roll patterns? You know, like finger on the 2nd string, thumb on the 4th string and so on? I'm really interested in this stuff.

clawforlife - Posted - 12/17/2009:  12:46:04

no problem. 2151 2151 3151 3151 4151 4151, playing the 1 with index finger, the melody on 2,3,4 with thumb and the 5 with thumb. also doin a 4131213141 thing picking the melody with tumb on 4,3,2 as needed and index on the 1. and sort of the opposite picking the 5 with thumb and the melody with index on the 4321 as needed. i favor the thumb lead better though. i hope all this makes sense because i really dont know what im talking about when it comes to this style of playing. i mainly play seeger style to go with my singing, and some clawhammer when i want to spice things up. but im really liking this way of playing. thanks again

chip arnold - Posted - 12/17/2009:  14:32:34

Makes good sense. Here's a little to try out with thumb lead: 42315123, 43215123, 4351, 3251, etc. These will get your finger onto strings other than just the 1st. I tell Thumb lead players who are familiar with clawhammer style to think of it as using drop finger instead of drop thumb. The first sequence includes a backwards roll of a thing which is common in clawhammer (123) and the second includes a forward sort of roll where the thumb picks a string above the one just picked by the finger (432) as well as the 123 as in the first example.

vrteach - Posted - 12/17/2009:  15:14:42

A few months ago I put up a short tab of the figures I use in thumb-lead 2-finger picking

http://www.banjohangout.org/myhango...&blogid=5752

That should be a link to to my blog page here at the hangout. There is also a 7-second clip of me playing the pattern on my music page.