I have seen folks play clawhammer with finger picks, although much more rarely now than in the past.  If you do, you'll want to reverse the pick on your finger so that the blade of the pick is against your fingernail.  Though I don't use picks, one advantage might be consistency of sound.  Classical guitarists pay a lot of attention to filing and shaping their nails for tonal considerations.  I think in general us clawhammeristas are less particular, though I have noted a difference depending on how my nails are cut... they all grow back, right?

A banjo-player from my youth named Art Chambers used a plastic thumb-pick, a plastic pick on his index for up-picking, and a plastic pick reversed on his middle for down-picking.  He called his style "drop-thumb frailing".  Art was from Georgia, but I new him In L.A. in the days of Earl Collins, and Mel Durham.

Scoops? I'm so old, I remember when banjoes didn't have them.  My Mike Ramsey (#141, dated 1996) was my first scooped banjo.  I guess it can help a bit if you're playing over the fingerboard.  I always used a 5/8"-3/4" bridge and it provided enough clearance.  The Kyle Creed- play over the fingerboard thing is comparatively recent (unless you came from Round Peak).  All the old-timers I knew played over the head- I'll admit that as the years have passed I do play where the neck meets the rim, or slightly over the fingerboard, and my main fretted banjo has a scoop, though I don't really need it.

Resonators- There are too many examples to list of great old-time players from the past that played on resonated banjoes.  All of the old-timers I knew bought the snazziest banjo they could afford once thay had the money- masterclones, etc.  And... most of the time if you asked to hear a banjo tune, they'd pull something like a Harmony or a Kay out from under the bed, and it always had a resonator.  The old-timers weren't trying to be old-timers.

The banjoes you have are probably just fine.  Without seeing any of them, I'd just say that you may possibly need a taller bridge and maybe medium gauge strings, if they don't already have them.  The main thing at this point is playability for clawhammer.  My first banjo was a Harmony, and then an RB-250 for 22 years!

I heartily recommend taking a look at this video by Mike Iverson:  Clawhammer Banjo - Three Different Right Hand Approaches

The advice I offer ad nauseum is play as slow as you have to to keep from making mistakes, even if it is at 1/8th speed.   Otherwise you will be programming bad technique into muscle memory.  

Get good instruction from the outset- either a good teacher or one of the many good on-line videos.  Also DVD's or even skype lessons that are offered by some really good players.  Feedback is valuable to be sure you are on the right track.  I was fortunate that my Dad played banjo.  He didn't give me lessons per se, but I could hear and see what he was doing first hand. Back in those days, instructional material was really minimal- Pete Seeger's book was about it, and there was John Burke's fiddle tunes for clawhammer collection (not instructional by any means).

One of the main defects I have seen is in the sort of instruction that makes drop-thumbing difficult if not impossible down the road.

Welcome to the clawmammer club figmo.  We'll be interested in your progress.  Never hesitate to ask *any and all* questions you may have

It's not my thumb. It's my brain.
Fingers don't go down to sound a string.
Fingers go up to sound a string.
Can't seem to un-wire that.

I see Molly Tuttle flatpick, then turn around and play a tune clawhammer. ( mind-blown!)

Well i tried to post a video of me efforts but no soap on that..

I am in ct ..near Norwich..
Any claw hammer players near by..?

Here ya go… put on your picks like normal, but add a 4th pick on your ring finger. So thumb and three fingers. Now pick I-(M+R)-T for a nice clean boom-chuck-a. There you go, a nice fake clawhammer for us brain challenged up pickers.

I use 4 picks too..
I do that too..

quote:

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Originally posted by STUD figmo Al

I am in ct ..near Norwich..
Any claw hammer players near by..?

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I figger it can not hurt to ask twice.. :0)

I think...I may have improved a ...little...

quote:

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Originally posted by R.D. Lunceford

 

A banjo-player from my youth named Art Chambers used a plastic thumb-pick, a plastic pick on his index for up-picking, and a plastic pick reversed on his middle for down-picking.  He called his style "drop-thumb frailing".  Art was from Georgia, but I new him In L.A. in the days of Earl Collins, and Mel Durham.

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This was the "basic strum" as taught by Seeger.  Most people do not realize that the reason they strike with their middle is due to Seeger and the folk revival.

Every singe print mention of "banjo style" (striking with thumb plucking) before the revival specified the index.

Since Seeger did his basic strum, he struck with his middle... all other middle players followed.

"Clawhammer" was what Seeger called bluegrass fingerstyle, strangely enough.

quote:

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Originally posted by STUD figmo Al

I think...I may have improved a ...little...

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By my standards, ^^ sounds like you're a prodigy.  

Boy...
20 years of finger pickin one way..

Now totally different ...

The claw hammer part is improving..a bit..

But I also find in the middle of trying to get that part down..
I just go inta ..up picking?

Not that it sounds bad... Just a coordination thing... :0/

quote:

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Originally posted by Joel Hooks

quote:

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Originally posted by R.D. Lunceford

 

A banjo-player from my youth named Art Chambers used a plastic thumb-pick, a plastic pick on his index for up-picking, and a plastic pick reversed on his middle for down-picking.  He called his style "drop-thumb frailing".  Art was from Georgia, but I new him In L.A. in the days of Earl Collins, and Mel Durham.

---

This was the "basic strum" as taught by Seeger.  Most people do not realize that the reason they strike with their middle is due to Seeger and the folk revival.

Every singe print mention of "banjo style" (striking with thumb plucking) before the revival specified the index.

Since Seeger did his basic strum, he struck with his middle... all other middle players followed.

"Clawhammer" was what Seeger called bluegrass fingerstyle, strangely enough.

---

Yes, I also noted Seeger's  curious usage of the term "clawhammer".

Everybody used to "frail", but now they all "clawhammer".  My Dad's compadres in Chariton Co., MO used neither term.  On the "Uncle Wade" LP,  Katy Hill mentioned that  "...Uncle Wade clawhammered all the time", so it was/is a regional term that got popularized.  It does sound tougher and cooler than "frailing"!

*************************************

Similarity notwithstanding, Art Chambers was of an age that he would have picked his style up locally in Georgia, so it was a traditional approach pre-dating Seeger, though as has been noted, the technique is connected  to Seeger.

quote:

---

Originally posted by R.D. Lunceford

quote:

---

Originally posted by Joel Hooks

quote:

---

Originally posted by R.D. Lunceford

 

A banjo-player from my youth named Art Chambers used a plastic thumb-pick, a plastic pick on his index for up-picking, and a plastic pick reversed on his middle for down-picking.  He called his style "drop-thumb frailing".  Art was from Georgia, but I new him In L.A. in the days of Earl Collins, and Mel Durham.

---

This was the "basic strum" as taught by Seeger.  Most people do not realize that the reason they strike with their middle is due to Seeger and the folk revival.

Every singe print mention of "banjo style" (striking with thumb plucking) before the revival specified the index.

Since Seeger did his basic strum, he struck with his middle... all other middle players followed.

"Clawhammer" was what Seeger called bluegrass fingerstyle, strangely enough.

---

Yes, I also noted Seeger's  curious usage of the term "clawhammer".

Everybody used to "frail", but now they all "clawhammer".  My Dad's compadres in Chariton Co., MO used neither term.  On the "Uncle Wade" LP,  Katy Hill mentioned that  "...Uncle Wade clawhammered all the time", so it was/is a regional term that got popularized.  It does sound tougher and cooler than "frailing"!

*************************************

Similarity notwithstanding, Art Chambers was of an age that he would have picked his style up locally in Georgia, so it was a traditional approach pre-dating Seeger, though as has been noted, the technique is connected  to Seeger.

 

---

Katy Hill was using the term "clawhammer" in 1973.

quote:

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Originally posted by Joel Hooks

 

Katy Hill was using the term "clawhammer" in 1973.

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Yep, and likely long before that.  I'll go out on a limb and guess that if there was a different local name for the style, she would have used that.

For about twenty years, I played banjo duets with my close friend, clawhammer picker Ed Britt. Ed was an industrial designer by trade, so he was always looking for a better way to make something, and at one point, he came up with his own clawhammer finger pick design. Ed passed in 2021, and in what was essentially an obituary I wrote for the Banjo Newsletter, I described as best I could how he made it:

"About ten years ago, Ed made his own clawhammer pick, elegantly simple but different from any other I have seen. Ed took a simple brass pipe and cut off a section at a 45 degree angle (see sketch). He then took that section to a friend’s machine shop, where it was pounded over a cone shaped swaging tool until it just fit his right index finger perfectly. He then polished the metal edges to perfection, and as a final step, covered the entire exterior with a very thin layer of calfskin. The result was a pick that was more secure on the finger and more closely replicated the sound of the natural fingernail than any other I have seen. Ed did not believe that “the perfect was the enemy of the good.” We came up with an estimate of what it would take to market, and manufacture each custom fit pick, and realized it would have to be priced at $300 or $400 to make it worthwhile."

I made one many years ago..
Fer me Brother in law..
Heh... the guy that got me started in all this folly... :0)

I silver soldered 2 Dunlop pics together..
I never used it..but he did..when he damaged his picking finger nail.

So, I dunno if it's just the way I learned, or if it's standard, but on the bum-ditty, I don't really "pick" the fifth string with my thumb: rather, on the "brush" part of the stroke (the part where you use the back of your middle/ring finger nails) - the "dit" in "ditty" - I "prime" my thumb on the fifth string by landing it on the fifth string without plucking, and then I do more of a pulloff with my thumb on the fifth string for the "ty" in "ditty". I've found this effective whether I have my thumbnail grown out long, or whether it's short. LMK i this helps,
Easy

A couple of thoughts. I am not aware that a banjo has to be set up to play clawhammer. It can be played on any banjo as far as I know. I am almost 90 yers old and when I took up the 5 string 9 years ago after a hiatus of nearly 50 years, I started playing clawhammer on my 1960 Vega open back. I then got a resonator after about 5 years and played clawhammer on that and added two finger drop thump picking s well. Either can be played on the resonator or open back. As I understand it, drop thumb is just a type of clawhammer where instead of sticking the 5th string on every note, you can sake the fourth or third instead, at least that is how I am playing.
There is a series of videos by Barry Hunn on Deering/videos that takes you step by step on developing clawhammer. That are very simple and straightforward but show you how to do it. BTW, I do use the middle finger for both of these styles instead of the index, and it works better for me

Have scooped and non scooped. I find my style harder to play over the neck. The strings don't offer enough resistance.

That said, the reason you'd want to play there is for the sound, not the technique. My instruments ring more (sustain) and have a less sharp attack. So it suits certain pieces to play there.