... doesn't answer your question, but I'm reminded of a post a few years back.

IIRC, the poster said he could fabricate a homespun (?) name and location to "explain" where he'd learned something or other, or to cover an unconventional technique.  Eg. "I got this _____ from my wife's Uncle Remus who learned it from his grandpa back in Tennessee ... " or some such fabricated hooey, and it was often accepted at face value.

quote:

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Originally posted by Earlofdon76

I’ve started playing by plucking the fifth string down with my thumb then plucking up on the first with the middle finger followed by a strum.
What if any style is that??
Confused!

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Starting by plucking the 5th string on the downbeat is not an element of any traditional pattern I know of.  The 5th string is typically sounded on an off-beat.  If you shift your strum a bit, you can end up with Pete Seeger's basic strum or something similar to what Bascom Lamar Lunsford did.

The rhythm is  |Bum - Ditty   Bum - Ditty|  or 1  2 and, 1  2 and|

Bum   upstroke with finger

Dit       downstroke with finger across 2 or 3 strings

ty         pluck the 5th string with your thumb

I you can guess use whatever fingers you like, but Bum and Dit with index is typical.  You could use the middle or index for both or either if you want.

There are lots of instructional videos on YouTube  for clawhammer, 2-finger ( thumb or index lead) and "up-picking".

I'd explore a bit and go with what you like best, or with what comes most natural.

quote:

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Originally posted by Earlofdon76

Goodness knows what I’m doing.

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Something you made up.

One the one hand: Perfectly acceptable. Play your banjo however you want.

On the other hand: As described above, a technique that varies the note (and maybe also the string) on the first beat will probably be more musical in the long run.

My playing style is a bit unorthodox and maybe of less than passing interest to this forum topic but here goes. I've played banjo for over forty years. Most of that time I played orthodox clawhammer and dqbbled in two and three finger picking and up picking. Several years ago I damaged my right hand thumb. I could no longer play my bump ditty rhythm. I didn't want to give up all my fiddle tunes so time passed in frustration until one day I realized 95% of my playing was with my index finger. I started playing with just my index finger down stroke. Now I'm a happy camper and am back in the game again. Hammers and pulls add a lot to my style.