With a banjo on my knee

For the past couple of years, I've been spending a lot of time with my 5-string banjo. I've acquired quite a few excellent instruction books which teach frailing, clawhammer, and bluegrass styles. Even though I've tried to learn to play bluegrass, I found it very hard. I prefer the older frailing/clawhammer style. Clawhammer differs from bluegrass since the strings are struck with the back of the fingernails instead of with metal picks. This style is commonly played in the mountains of Virginia, West Virginia, the Carolinas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Clawhammer has also been called downpicking, rapping, or flailing. I prefer this old mountain way of playing the banjo because it reminds me of the sound of a rippling brook. I love the old Appalachian songs, fiddle tunes, reels, jigs, and hornpipes. I'm sure my interest in the banjo is due in large part to the fact that I grew up in Cincinnati, just across the Ohio River from Kentucky, the bluegrass state.

My favorite banjo method is a book and accompanying DVD taught by Ken Perlman. He is very good at teaching frailing/clawhammer techniques like hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, and drop-thumbing in easy-to-understand lessons with lots of good examples. He plays each tune in both a regular tempo and more slowly. Because of my fervent dedication to the banjo, I've finally learned enough to play many of my favorite fiddle tunes such as Arkansas Traveler, Soldier's Joy, Bill Cheatham, Turkey in the Straw, and Red Wing.

I first became interested in the banjo back in 1977 when I took an introductory course at the (then) West Bank School of Music in South Minneapolis. At that time, I bought myself a cheap hundred-dollar banjo kit which I assembled myself. The instructor, who went way too fast and whom I didn't find that helpful, taught mainly bluegrass. I remember having a really hard time mastering the instrument and keeping up with the other students. A couple of years later, I took another beginning banjo class at Schmitt Music in downtown Minneapolis. This time I had an excellent instructor named Joyce who explained things well, and who didn't go too fast. There I learned to play basic up-picking, bluegrass, and frailing/clawhammer. Around this time, I also bought myself a brand-new banjo for the then exorbitant price of $500 at the Podium in Dinkytown. It was a fine-quality instrument which I still use today.

About ten years after my Schmitt Music class, I began taking individual banjo lessons from an instructor at The Homestead Pickin' Parlor named John. He played in an old-time string band and taught both fiddle and frailing/clawhammer banjo. I had finally found an instructor who taught me exactly what I wanted to learn. I stayed with him for over a year. He was very helpful in writing down all the tunes in banjo TAB. I still have the tunes he transcribed for me. Later on, I also I took fiddle lessons from him. While studying banjo and fiddle with him, I discovered that a lot of Appalachan country dances were originally played by the fiddle and the banjo, that is before guitars, dobros, and mandolins became more prominent.

Yes, it's taken me many years to master frailing/clawhammer to the extent that I'm happy with the result. Even though I still consider myself only an intermediate-level banjo picker, I spend many hours playing and replaying my favorite tunes. I've also listened to tons of records, tapes, CDs, and DVDs with this kind of music. At this time, my goal is to find an old-time music jam group. At a recent Open Mic, I met a guy who played clawhammer banjo while his female partner played the fiddle. He recommended just such a group in St. Paul that he attends on a regular basis. So, I've got my work cut out for me.