Big Tony - Posted - 12/08/2015:  07:45:33

Hi, I'm Tony from Sweden, and I'm new here. I've been playing guitar, and other stringed instruments, for about 45 years, and now I'm trying to learn clawhammer banjo.

I've been watching several DVDs, I've seen lots of clips on YouTube, and I've bought a few books. My question is about the basic bum-ditty strum. Some people use their middle finger for the melody note, and some use the index finger. I'm most comfortable with the index finger, and think it gives me the best tone. So far, so good. But how about the strum? On his Homespun DVDs, Bob Carlin plays the melody note with his index, and the brush with his middle and ring finger, but as far as I can tell, most players use the same finger for the melody note, as for the strum. How do you do it?

I have started out using Bob Carlins way of striking the strings, and it feels natural to me, and is easier for me to control. Is there advantages, or disadvantages to this method, or is it just a matter of personal preference? It's working fine for me, as I'm learning the basics, but I don't know enough about clawhammer playing yet, to see the long term consequenses.

I'm grateful for any advice you can give.

All the best from Sweden / Tony

banjo bill-e - Posted - 12/08/2015:  07:56:29

I use index for a more defined tone and middle for a softer tone, on both melody and brush. So usually that has me doing like Carlin, melody notes with index and brushes with middle, but it's chosen according to the preferred tone at the time and I'm comfortable either way. It is handy to be able to use either finger, but get a good stroke going however feels natural and you can vary it down the road.

AndrewD - Posted - 12/08/2015:  08:02:13

Like most of these "what do you do" questions I had to take a banjo off the wall and look to see exactly what it is that I do. I mostly play with my index finger and brush with index and middle. But I can - and sometimes do - play with my middle (often doing first string with middle and others with index). . I'm not saying this is what you should do - just that you will get answers that cover all possibilities. None of them are right or wrong.

jenorma1 - Posted - 12/08/2015:  08:09:20

Hey Tony - welcome!

This is a great question

First a discussion of melody fingers - I play melody with my index finger as well and I think that a lot of newer players have started that way.  You can do a lot to vary your tone by changing the angle you hit the strings with and the portion of the nail you use (Adam Hurt is the king of this) - in my opinion, it is harder to make these subtle variations if playing with your middle finger - therefore I'd really suggest you keep with the index for melody.

Now for the brush - playing with your index also gives you brush options as you've indicated!  You can either brush with the melody (index) finger, or with the middle/ring.  When I first started playing, I brushed with my index finger - somewhere along the way I (unconciously) switched to the middle/ring.  

Pros of the middle/ring brush approach:

my melody notes stick out.  I typically have a long nail on my index and no nail overhang on other fingers.  When I play this way, my brush strokes are therefore naturally at a lower volume than my melody notes, which I think sounds great.  To do this with the index brush, you have to strike the brushes lighter than the melody notes on purpose - which seems like a bit of a pain.

cluck.  Playing like this is the only way I know to get a "cluck" sound.  To do this, simply move your playing so that your brush/middle strike somewhere over the 17th fret (or where it would be if you have a frailing scoop).  If you dont want a cluck, simply move back towards the pot.  Its nice to be able to turn this on and off so easily.

Pros of the index brush approach:

speed.  When trying to go really really fast, I have to switch to an index brush (or even ghost note, where I just mimic a brush without actually striking the strings) approach.  The middle/index approach definitely imposes a speed limit on me (maybe other people dont feel this way....) - on my own its never an issue as I'm not naturally a speed demon, but when I have to jump in a super fast jam, I've noticed I cant play ring/middle brush.

chord clarity. some people like being able to hear subtle chord variations (for instance 0002 vs 0000 as your backing chord in double D tuning) which dont always come out that heavily in the middle/ring approach. 

In the end there is no wrong way but hopefully these factors will inform your decision - enjoy the ride!

janolov - Posted - 12/08/2015:  09:55:36

Well, I have heard a lot of Sweden....................

I think that a lot of clawhammer players do not think of "the brush" (the "di" " in bum-di-ti") because they play it as a single note so it is more "bum-bum-ti" or "bum-ti-bum-ti" (where "bum" means a downstroke on a single string, and "ti" as a note played on by the thumb, usually but not necessarily on the fifth string, and the "di" means a brush on several strings). When I play the traditional bum-di-ty I play the "bum" with the index, the "di" with the middle finger or index finger.

There are no rules which finger shall be used (perhaps it is a rule that "drop thumb" shall be played with the thumb) but for the downstroke you can choose any of the  finger. It is the sound that counts not the technique.

ZEPP - Posted - 12/08/2015:  11:08:54

As a teacher, it's been my experience that many people change the finger(s) of choice as they experiment.  Curiously, whichever way they wind up doing it, the same reasons are usually cited: better tone, easier drop thumb, etc.  Most polls show about 50:50 usage.

In my own case, I started out using the index for everything and somewhere along the line I changed to the middle finger for down-struck notes (better tone, easier drop thumb ).  Without trying to, I changed to using the middle and ring together for any brushes or clucking I might do.  Interestingly, I have found that I can, without ever having tried to learn to do so, use any finger, including the "pinkie" (auricularis).

So my advice to my students is to do simply that which is comfortable.

Cheers,

ZEPP

oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 12/08/2015:  12:17:58

I was originally taught to frail with a brush using the three fingers from Middle to Little for the brush while the Index did the Melody note. I never really got interested in that. The next time I took up banjo (about 10 years later) my brother-in-law showed me his way of playing, with the Middle finger playing two single notes on "Bum" and "Did" followed by the thumb on "dy." This is the style I liked and (with a great dead of refinement, and variation) the style I use today.

I have a book on my style (which is not really uncommon but is not well represented in books despite being a very common style - At least it wasn't well represented when I wrote my book, about 10 years ago - I don't know about today.

It is free and you can download a copy along with 40 tabs in the style from:

rsb.pricklypearmusic.net

Results Guaranteed!

What results, might be a matter of contention, but there will indeed be results.

mworden - Posted - 12/08/2015:  13:23:45

I'm generally a single note player (index usually) but I like to use brushes for accents and, similar to Zepp, I've found that unconsciously I have come to do it with both ring and index together.  I think it gives a richer sound.

banjo bill-e - Posted - 12/08/2015:  14:44:52

Jan, my bum-ditty's tend to be single note, too, with a brush now and then for accent. But I still call 'em bum ditty.

JanetB - Posted - 12/08/2015:  15:31:43

I used to always brush only with my middle finger, the same finger I play with, but recently asked Adam Hurt during a lesson how to tone it down -- the loud sound was jumping out at me when I heard it played back on my MP3s.  He suggested a gentler brush more with the back of the middle through the little fingers.  I found this has helped my brush volume go down -- the result I wanted.  Sometimes I use a ghost stroke and don't play the brush at all, but when I want a soft brush Adam's technique has worked.

Fathand - Posted - 12/08/2015:  20:30:40

I brush a lot, I use middle finger for note and brush I do call this frailing and I call the kind where you play more single notes on the "di" clawhammer. People can chastise me again but this is how I learned to call them and I am stuck in that rut.

mdthib - Posted - 12/09/2015:  02:01:19

I actually use all my fingers together, lightly, which imitate an actual brush. I picked this up from Adam Hurt. The idea is to get a textured soft brush with several attacks and releases. It needs to be much softer, but if you watch Adam's videos, you'll see that that is how he brushes. 

oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 12/09/2015:  19:18:55

When I brush at all I tend to use a modified Flamenco rasqueado, whereby: the fingers unwind in order from Ring Finger to Index - occasionally I even use the somewhat heavier version going from Little Finger to Index. This is not one of the "machine gun" sounding rasqueados where each stroke is a separate sounding hit, but a lot more fluid as I heard many of the banjo players do (like Clarence Ashley) back when I first took up the instrument.