StillWaterAcadian - Posted - 01/04/2025:  13:50:03

As a beginner clawhammer player it's a bit frustrating not being able to search clawhammer specifically. On more than one(two) occasion I've started trying to learn a song in the clawhammer/old time playing style category to discover it wasn't clawhammer. It's also a little odd the stroke style is its own category, but clawhammer and two finger and old time three finger are merged into one.



Not the end of the world, and I'm sure more experienced players can more easily identify the playing style from the tab. I just wanted to bring it up because BH has been an incredible resource and I think splitting up old time styles would be a big improvement, at least for beginners like me.



I'm sure it'd be a challenge to split it at this point since you'd have to go through every tab in this category and manually recategorize them.

Edited by - StillWaterAcadian on 01/04/2025 13:50:52

Texasbanjo - Posted - 01/04/2025:  13:59:40

Each tab poster is the one who decides whether the song is bluegrass, clawhammer, jazz, etc. We have nothing to do with their choices.

I agree, it would be very nice if each one who posted tab named the exact, appropriate type of picking it is and would make it much easier for beginners to find what they are looking for.

Maybe some of the people who post tabs will see this suggestion and be more careful how they classify their tabs.

StillWaterAcadian - Posted - 01/04/2025:  18:16:53

quote:

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Originally posted by Texasbanjo

Each tab poster is the one who decides whether the song is bluegrass, clawhammer, jazz, etc. We have nothing to do with their choices.



I agree, it would be very nice if each one who posted tab named the exact, appropriate type of picking it is and would make it much easier for beginners to find what they are looking for.



Maybe some of the people who post tabs will see this suggestion and be more careful how they classify their tabs.

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I'm confused what you mean here. When you post a tab you are given a drop down of different playing style options to select from. One of which is "Clawhammer and old time". What I'm saying is that option shouldn't exist, instead it should be split up into the specific playing styles. So there should be an option for clawhammer, an option for two finger, etc...

Edited by - StillWaterAcadian on 01/04/2025 18:18:04

StillWaterAcadian - Posted - 01/04/2025:  18:26:20

Here's a couple of screenshots to help clarify what I'm talking about. One is of the tab creation form and one is of the advanced search form.

Playing styles in the tab advanced search form

Playing styles in the tab creation form

Bart Veerman - Posted - 01/04/2025:  20:09:26

Many tabs do show the proper style they're written in and you may need to download a few to see which ones are more appropriate to your picking style and skill level.
Most people would understand this and are super grateful that the thousands of tabs posted here on the BHO are totally free and some even say thank you.

StillWaterAcadian - Posted - 01/04/2025:  21:05:25

quote:

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Originally posted by Bart Veerman

Many tabs do show the proper style they're written in and you may need to download a few to see which ones are more appropriate to your picking style and skill level.

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Yes, exactly. That's what I was saying in my original post. Currently, the only way to signify the specific playing style of a tab in the "Clawhammer and Old-Time" playing style category is by writing it in the title or the description. I was suggesting that a nice enhancement would be to allow more granularity in the built-in categorizations of the tablature which would remove the need for tab posters to specify it in the description, and remove the need for tab consumers to read through the tab to identify the playing style when it's not specified. Banjo Hangout is an amazing resource, this enhancement would simply improve on something that is already great. However I totally acknowledge that this may not be feasible, depending on the technical aspects of the platform and the time resources of the people running it, that's why it's just a suggestion.

Edited by - StillWaterAcadian on 01/04/2025 21:06:07

Texasbanjo - Posted - 01/05/2025:  04:21:15

Your idea has merit. However, we mods have no authority to change any software or programs; the only one who can make those kind of changes is Eric. Perhaps he will read and consider your suggestions.

KCJones - Posted - 01/05/2025:  07:57:11

I've seen lots of clawhammer, old time, etc tabs and for the most part the rhythmic style and fingering is all the same. The only difference is typically how the player holds their hand, there's not a lot of difference between Clawhammer and Seeger style in tabs. Basically any clawhammer tab can be played using 2 finger or up picking, and vice versa.



Stroke style is its own category because it's specifically for stroke style minstrel type tunes, which is a distinct style of music seperate from old time.

Edited by - KCJones on 01/05/2025 07:57:45