So I've noticed a lot of players that have scooped necks, that still play somewhat on the head. I love the tone of the strings I get on the head but sometimes my thumb hitting the head bugs me a little when i'm dropthumbing and can't keep the rhythm my thumb produces which I'd prefer, which would be constant. I seem to have a real hard time trying to not tap or smack the head with my thumb, but all in all I'll just keep playing the way I like no matter what. hah. So I'm curious to see what yooall play like or if anyone has any "quarrels" with smacking your head. Or maybe just post which you prefer.
10 Comments |
 | Bob Buckingham says:
11/11/2012 3:00:10 PM
Smack that head, but don't get hung up about drop thumb. Just hit the strings 1-2-1-5-1-2-1-5-1-2-1-5 over and over until you become a drop thumb machine. Repetition is the key to success. When I first started playing no banjos were made with a scoop besides Kyle Creeds and I did not meet him until several years later.
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 | Scott Barnbilly56 says:
11/11/2012 5:17:43 PM
One of the first guys i had show me clawhammer bump ditty stuff was a smack that head guy and he has alot of drive to his playing and i have followed that ever since and works great for me . I second the motion on smack that head . I play in the scoop for certain songs but not real often . I have found repetition corrects alot of tempory problems and not to pratice your mistakes and take it Slowwwwwwww and very slowwwww till ya get it right and dug in muscle memory then it's yours for life and you can go out and break some speed records or anything else .
Happy claw'in and grin'in
Scott barn'billy
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 | AlpacaLips says:
11/11/2012 10:54:19 PM
When I'm playing a slow mellow tune, I play over the scoop. When I'm cookin', I play over the head and smack the crud out of that sucker. It's a drum!
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| Bob Buckingham says:
11/12/2012 4:22:41 AM
This is a fun thread, it is interesting to hear what everyone does. I don't thump the head intentionally but there are times for everything.
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| Scott Barnbilly56 says:
11/12/2012 6:52:21 AM
Ya ......glad to see fellow drummers !
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 | mopslopanbucket says:
11/12/2012 10:45:42 PM
I love seeing banjo heads with the coating worn off from smacking that head. I've tried to even get my fingers to tap the head off the first string but could never get it, but i've seen the head worn down there too. The cover of Walt Koken's banjonique is a good example
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 | MWBailey says:
11/18/2012 7:11:47 PM
I have a scoop on both my frailer and on my tackhead; I find that i can get differenttones from picking/knocking/call it what you will in the scoop versus over the head, and vice versa. I agree with Alpacalips, smacking away over the head is best for fast or rhythm-heavy pieces, although I get a lot of rhythmic "click" over the neck as well; it's a just a matter of which effect fits best, and wherem IMO.
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 | ronwalker49 says:
12/11/2012 7:29:40 PM
I have built two so far without a frailing scoop.. One was for a friend who doesn't play claw-hammer...The other was for myself, the next time I changed strings, I cut a frailing scoop on it...It just depends on what you like...
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 | lukeaskance says:
2/3/2013 8:18:23 AM
Well... I like to feel I have the choice. Sometimes the sound of the smacking distracts me; and sometimes I'd like it just not to be there because the tune can do without it. (There are forum posts about this with various bits of advice and ideas.) But after a couple of evenings' frustrating work just playing one string plus the top string ve-ry slow-ly WITHOUT hitting the head, and thinking I just couldn't do it - I realised a couple of days later that that annoying tapping sound I'd been hearing when I played didn't seem to be there any more... So it is possible. Just another habit to get into, just a little bit more precision you can give yourself in your playing I suppose...
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 | banjonutty says:
4/24/2013 1:22:08 AM
Something I have to bear in mind, playing in a band situation, I often have to use my Fishman pickup which sounds great on the strings but any tapping on the head sounds like someone slapping a biscuit tin lid, so even though I love the sound of a bit of percussion in faster tunes I've have to learn to not do it..
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