How To Turn A “Regular” Tune Into Clawhammer

[The_Bumble_Bard]

Heeeellllooo! 😊

So, @dianna, you mentioned a couple of times that you wanted to know how to do this (how to turn a “regular” tune into clawhammer), so I asked @Andrew and he said it was okay that I post this little demo video showing how I do that. 😊

I think there are parts I maybe wasn’t clear enough about what I was doing and it’s pretty awkward, but this is the first time I’ve ever tried to do something like this. 😂

I could also demonstrate this with other Rock Class songs, if this one is helpful, because even though it was awkward, it is fun to do.

Hopefully this is useful in some way. Or at least entertaining. Thanks for watching! 😅

P.S. Sorry my nails look stained, I filmed this immediately after work before I could get too nervous to do it. 😅

[dianna]

@TBB – Thank-you so much for this! I love the way you share your process and practice with us….in this video and others…..My take away from this video is to start with the melody…..”bare bones” it….and know it first. Then you “play” around with it and “feel” the way the clawhammer pattern fits onto the melody….the ‘bum’ is the melody note, and ‘ditty’ fills in and embellishes the melody. I think I will practice with simple tunes like ‘Drunken Sailor’ and ‘Buffalo Gals’….etude 5 might be a little more challenging for me!

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@dianna, yay, I’m so happy that you took something away from this and that you enjoy these more candid videos!! 😁😂 That’s why I thought it would be helpful to film it because I don’t always fully realize how I’m arriving at certain results, because my technical knowledge is still a work in progress (hence I almost forgot what the brush stroke was called in the video 😂). I feel less nervous if I can be freer in my playing, allowing for mistakes, and without too much of a set plan.

You’re exactly right that the idea is to start with a very simple melody, or chord melody arrangement, then experiment, by trial and error, using the clawhammer pattern “over” the arrangement. It doesn’t always work, or might take many different approaches to get the song sounding right. And again sometimes it just doesn’t work at all (like with Matt’s Moonlight Sonata arrangement, for instance). 😅😂 Etude No. 5 may not have been the best example because it’s more complicated, like you pointed out, but it was the first one that popped into my head that I haven’t already tried to clawhammer. 😂

It might be fun to do the same thing with Drunken Sailor, make a video explaining how I created that clawhammered version. Honestly it’s just as helpful for me to make these videos because it helps me try to process what I’m doing when I’m not thinking about it, which is pretty much always. 😅😂

But it seems like you also enjoy the idea of trying to play more by feel and in a more experimental way, which is how I love to play music as well.

Anyway, thank you so much for inspiring this video, it was really fun to make! 😁💕

[gi_gi_]

Great fun video @TBB

[The_Bumble_Bard]

@gi_gi_, Thank you so much, my friend!! I may want to make another video like this one with a different tune. 😁💕

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