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Jan 18, 2025 - 10:34:35 AM
50 posts since 11/6/2009

Does your thumb need to land on the 5th string on the “bum” of “bum ditty”?

Jan 18, 2025 - 11:24:40 AM

4978 posts since 10/13/2005

The not 100% consensus is yes. Ostensibly it helps you to 1) know where your hand/fingers are in space, and 2) helps with your rhythm later on as tunes speeds up. That said I see thumbs all over the map with some wandering thumbs seeming to have no problem with speed or rhythm. I'd say yes particularly for beginners. banjered

Jan 18, 2025 - 11:58:17 AM
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carlb

USA

2652 posts since 12/16/2007

For me, if my thumb is not dropping to get a note on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th strings, then it hits the 5th string on every stroke. Remember, the 5th string sounds when your right hand is moving upward, i.e. recovering from the down stroke. That's true for the drop thumbs, too.

Jan 18, 2025 - 12:43:28 PM

banjo bill-e

Tuvalu

14073 posts since 2/22/2007

Thumb lands on every down stroke and sounds on every lift. It sounds loudly when I want that note and very softly when I do not, but it's always there and it's part of the rhythm. So for me there is no real "Bum Ditty" but always a "Bump a Ditty" that sometimes sounds like Bum Ditty unless you listen very closely.

Jan 18, 2025 - 2:00:06 PM
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4862 posts since 4/29/2012

It's one of those things where if you can do it easily and as a matter of habit then you don't have to every time - But if you can't do it there's something missing from a full set of techniques that will probably stop you from being able to emulate your favourite players. As with other techniques it's one of the things where eventually,with practice, you'll wonder why you once found it so hard that you asked "do I even need it". We have the same discussion here every few years about drop-thumbing.
One of my fondest memories of the late great Dwight Diller is of him creeping up behind me in a workshop and growling "Andrew - yer not double thumbin' "

Edited by - AndrewD on 01/18/2025 14:01:59

Jan 18, 2025 - 5:02:54 PM

slc

USA

376 posts since 9/19/2010

Many of the answers are exactly my opinion too, and I think something often left out of early teaching.

Basically, the thumb lands somewhere - often but not always the 5th string - at the same time and with every downstroke, whether the "bum" or the "ditt". It may or not pull off (as in continue moving, not a "pull-off") to ring whatever string it's already on. 

So if y is a thumb note and (y) is an unsounded thumb note, then "bum ditty" is actually "bum (y) ditt y" - the thumb lands regardless whether it's played or not. 

The problem with learning the thumb as a unique note and not part of every downstroke leads to the habit of keeping the thumb suspended above the strings, waiting until it's supposed to play something - which then means it flails around "looking" for a string when it's time to play that thumbed note. I see this in beginners often, and I'll sometimes point out that keeping the thumb and fingers "in" the strings and not suspended above them can make for more efficient playing. 

Having that thumb always LAND on the string (usually 5th) it may or may not play requires a LOT less thinking, and helps stabilize the hand before the next motion. 

Jan 18, 2025 - 6:50:17 PM
Players Union Member

Rusty

USA

263 posts since 1/9/2007

Both, 5th string is like the drones on a highland bagpipe, always played

Jan 19, 2025 - 6:23:42 PM

177 posts since 4/19/2024
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As a beginner practicing with thousand of reps of the same bum ditty I have found that the effort to get the thumb landing jn the same spot with the bad of the thumb pressing with the same weight onto the fifth string has been very helpful for me. Whether I play the (ty) of the dit-ty or not depends on the measure but by working to land the thumb the same way and consistently every time and working the speed up I have found that the exercise to land the thumb that way has been very beneficial. I have watched some videos of seriously accomplished players where the thumb doesn’t come to rest but the how and reason for that is more advanced than my abilities.

For me, I land it every time unless there is a drop thumb and then move it down from the fifth string although that’s harder.

Jan 20, 2025 - 4:28:34 PM
Players Union Member

jblovel

USA

50 posts since 11/6/2009

Thanks all for the comments. I play 3 finger. But, I have never pursued claw hammer. I’ve seen it both ways on YouTube beginner videos and it became a concern of mine to make sure I form the best habits. Thanks again!

Jan 20, 2025 - 10:21:04 PM

3936 posts since 10/17/2009

quote:
Originally posted by jblovel

Thanks all for the comments. I play 3 finger. But, I have never pursued claw hammer. I’ve seen it both ways on YouTube beginner videos and it became a concern of mine to make sure I form the best habits. Thanks again!


A common mistake folks make, is to rather independently have the thumb's muscles pluck the string; as intuitive like would finger-picking.

But in CH, the thumb is rather stationary, it's the down movement of the whole hand, and the thumb is at the end of the stroke.

Jan 21, 2025 - 12:21:02 AM
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janolov

Sweden

43161 posts since 3/7/2006

I had a lot of difficulties to learn clawhammer when I was young, just because I was using the thumb's and fingers' muscles when playing. I took a 20 year break from banjo, and when I started again I was very careful to use the hand and not the fingers and thumb. I think it is very import to learn the right mechanics from the beginning.

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