Banjo Bolton - Posted - 02/14/2024:  05:20:14

Hello,

I've been working my way through the Tom Collins videos which are brilliant.

However, Id like a book with a load of old songs / tabs in there (something for down-picking/clawhammer)

I've seen the Mel Bay's Failing the Five string Banjo book which looks great but is this all clawhammer playing?

Bob Buckingham - Posted - 02/14/2024:  05:34:49

Yes it is and it is pretty good. I found it in a music store in the 70's when it first came out. It dumbfounded me. It is the first really good book on clawhammer banjo that to my knowledge, they ever printed. I still use some of the tabs from that book to teach primary principles of playing the banjo in the clawhammer style. It is not without its faults but it is not a bad place to start. The photos throughout are by Jean Martin, sister to the great clawhammer player, Reed Martin. I love the picture of Maggie Hammons on the cover too.



Now let the onslaught of opinions about this book and the myriad of books that followed begin.

Edited by - Bob Buckingham on 02/14/2024 05:35:51

plunkyjunkie - Posted - 02/14/2024:  06:58:34

I haven't ever tried "Frailing the Five String", but i have collected many banjo tab books. What i have found is a tendency for many of them to over complicate tab. It's possible that i may have some ADH(mmm tacos!), but the most useful tab books for me have been, "Clawhammer for the Complete Ignoramous" and "Clawhammer Banjo - Tunes, Tips, & Jamming". Wayne Erbsen provides mostly just the melody in his tab. Once i got the basic claw motions down, i had at least 30 songs available to me that never took more than 10 minutes each to be able to play. Over time i was able to add ornaments and eventually even find other paths to and around the melody. I figure having just the melody is much closer to what i learn when picking up tunes on the fly.
While the majority of tab books have done nothing but collect dust on my shelf, those two books got me in the door to be able to jam with others.
If i only had one of the two, it would be the "Clawhammer Banjo -Tunes...".
And, if anyone is curious, last time i looked at his site, he had a couple examples of tab for each of his books..

Banjo Bolton - Posted - 02/14/2024:  07:47:14

Thankyou for your help. I've just printed out Cluck old hen??

jack_beuthin - Posted - 02/14/2024:  07:57:19

“Clawhammer Banjo” by Miles Krassen (1974) is still in print, I believe. It’s a collection of tabs for fiddle tunes, and most of the tabs are accessible to beginner to intermediate level players. And here’s the bonus: Bob Lanham, here on BH, has made audio recordings of all the tunes in the Krassen book, and those recordings are available as a playlist here.

 banjohangout.org/myhangout/med...istID=733

I also have a clawhammer playlist on my YouTube channel of me playing various tunes/songs with each video linked to a tab stored here on the BH.  Currently, there are 68 videos. Absolutely free, and worth every penny! The repertoire is eclectic, I use a variety of tunings, and the difficulty level ranges from fairly easy to more advanced.  

youtube.com/playlist?list=PL00...rBzpDngzA

Have fun!

Edited by - jack_beuthin on 02/14/2024 08:08:58

Bob Buckingham - Posted - 02/14/2024:  08:13:39

quote:

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Originally posted by jack_beuthin

“Clawhammer Banjo” by Miles Krassen (1974) is still in print, I believe. It’s a collection of tabs for fiddle tunes, and most of the tabs are accessible to beginner to intermediate level players. And here’s the bonus: Bob Lanham, here on BH, has made audio recordings of all the tunes in the Krassen book, and those recordings are available as a playlist here.

 banjohangout.org/myhangout/med...istID=733

 

I also have a clawhammer playlist on my YouTube channel of me playing various tunes/songs with each video linked to a tab stored here on the BH.  Currently, there are 68 videos. Absolutely free, and worth every penny! The repertoire is eclectic, I use a variety of tunings, and the difficulty level ranges from fairly easy to more advanced.  

youtube.com/playlist?list=PL00...rBzpDngzA

Have fun!

 

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Now that is a great resource! Good job Jack!

gentrixuk - Posted - 02/14/2024:  13:30:54

I'd recommend the Miles Krassen book as a good start point, and any of Ken Perlman's books. They're usually readily available here in the UK.

R.D. Lunceford - Posted - 02/14/2024:  17:11:32

I''m afraid I'm speaking a bit out of turn here because I didn't learn from any of the tab books past or present.  A bit later in my career, I did buy some tab books just to see what was in them, and Mel Bay's Frailing the 5-String seems a pretty cool book to me. I'd say go for it.  One interesting thing is that the measures in the tab are "split".  That is, regularly a measure of tab will have the equivalent of two Bum-Diddies where as this book has one per measure.  I like it because it forces the reader to focus a bit more.  The pictures are worth the price, and the book is a classic.

If you're looking for bunches of tabs, there are tons of tune collections out there with dozens if not hundreds of tabs.  Look no further that the Banjo Hangout:

Banjo Tablature - Banjo Hangout

I like Krassen's book, but to me it's more of a style manual, but still a great suggestion.

Paul R - Posted - 02/15/2024:  17:23:24

Back in the day, three books started me off: John Burke's Old Time Fiddle Tunes for Banjo, Ken Perlman's Melodic Clawhammer Banjo. and Miles Krassen's book. Art Rosenbaum's Old Time Mountain Banjo provides a good overview, but covers various styles. I'm not familiar with the Frailing book, but Krassen's and Perlman's books (including Clawhammer Style Banjo) will get you going well. And, yes, there are many good tabs here on BHO.

A piece of advice I was given long ago: You're playing fiddle tunes; listen to the fiddle.

R.D. Lunceford - Posted - 02/17/2024:  00:07:29

quote:

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Originally posted by Paul R

A piece of advice I was given long ago: You're playing fiddle tunes; listen to the fiddle.

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