I got chording down but playing a melody I don't understand. Specifically the non-thumb finger playing.
I’m not an expert clawhammer player on either banjo or ukulele, but I do play clawhammer on both. So take this for what it’s worth.
If your uke is in standard reentrant tuning, the high-G fourth string is your drone string, and your natural clawhammer keys will be C or G. I found C easiest to begin with.
Obviously, your repertoire is going to be somewhat limited by the fact the ukulele has only four strings compared to a banjo’s five. But there’s still a lot of room for melody even if you don’t go very far up the neck (I don’t).
The key: pick a couple of easy tunes with melodies that adapt to clawhammer style – “Bile Them Cabbage Down,” “Oh Susanna,” “Buffalo Gals,” etc. -- and noodle around. You’ll get to know the fretboard pretty quickly.
Now, for real guidance, check out Aaron Keim, the banjo/ukulele luthier behind thebeansprout.com. He has a book, “Clawhammer Ukulele: Tabs and Techniques,” and if you google “Aaron Keim youtube,” you’ll see a couple of instructional videos on clawhammer uke.
Good luck.
+1 for Aaron Keim's videos and intro books. That's how I got started.
Also note that clawhammer is complex at first, but then becomes second nature. So expect it to be pretty slow picking out melodies and coordinating the srum/thumb at first.
I also play the clawhammer ukulele. Since the high G string is at the zero fret, it can be used well. You can play harmonically more complex pieces and you can also use the campanella style.
I have written several books for the clawhammer ukulele. You can find them on amazon.
I will at least send a sample to my playlist.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDcJRi8rTK0GqJROyJaNSzTbsUkWB5gwZ
And here is a sample where I play the Clawhammer ukulele banjo, with more chords.
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Originally posted by MinorKey
Obviously, your repertoire is going to be somewhat limited by the fact the ukulele has only four strings compared to a banjo’s five. But there’s still a lot of room for melody even if you don’t go very far up the neck (I don’t).
It can be more difficult to play certain tunes, for sure, but the ukulele still has quite a bit of range.
For example, on a tenor ukulele you have 2 full octaves, from the 3rd-string, low C to the 1st-string, high C at fret 15 (just inside the body fret at fret 14).
On a banjo with a clawhammer scoop, you have 2 full octaves plus up to a P4 more. Therefore, such a banjo has just 5 notes more.
The extra string on the banjo certainly gives you more options to play certain notes. But the ukulele does allow fretting the 4th-string (high G) at any fret. This gives some unique options over the banjo.
I posted the attached phone recording of Blackberry Blossom a while back. It's a ukulele arrangement of one of Ken Perlman's melodic banjo arrangements. The tab is in the original post, I believe. It's not an easy tune to play, but I think it shows some of what is possible in the ukulele's 2 octaves!
quote:
Originally posted by etisdaleI posted the attached phone recording of Blackberry Blossom a while back. It's a ukulele arrangement of one of Ken Perlman's melodic banjo arrangements. The tab is in the original post, I believe. It's not an easy tune to play, but I think it shows some of what is possible in the ukulele's 2 octaves!
I've been messing around with clawhammer baritone ukulele with reentrant tuning. I also tuned a tenor banjo the same way with synthetic strings. Of course, the banjo is much louder but both are fun to play as rhythm instruments. I have never been proficient at playing up the neck on my 5-string but it seems that it is something to practice when playing melodic clawhammer on a 4 string instrument.
It has always struck me how easy it is to play melodies with a plectrum on an instrument tuned in fifths, like the mandolin. The limited range of the banjo over the first 5 frets has been a central challenge for me working out arrangements. Combined with the limitations of drop thumb for playing eighth notes, it makes the banjo a challenging instrument.
