flicked his fingers when he played clawhammer. I saw it myself, right on the TV. At first, I thought he was up-picking, but no, there he sat in plain sight of everyone, flicking his fingers, playing clawhammer. I'm gonna sue my banjo teacher.

I've been practicing Ragtime Annie lately and listening to different versions on YouTube. Some play just two parts, some play all three parts. Some play the A part twice, B part once, then back to A. Some versions I listened to they play through the A and B parts more than once and then go the C part.

Any prevailing opinions on the way the tune should be played?

Hi :-)

I am obsessed with this song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWPWU5MlxUQ

I have asked around and looked all over the internet but the closest I can find is the tab for Down the Old Plank Road. It sounds similar if played slowly but still not quite right.

I have only been playing for 6 months or so, so Im hoping that a more experienced ear can help me find the difference between Old Plank Road and this version of Dinah. 

Is it a special tuning? Or is she doing something special with the way she is playing? Grrr this song got me addicted to clawhammer and I have tried on and off since I started to play this but I just cant get it???

Thanks in advance <3 Alison

What little I know about clawhammer is self taught and I've been playing at playing CH, off and on, for years.

Since joining BHO, I have learned that I have developed a terribly bad habit of floating my thumb above the strings and then moving to the 5th string when needed and I do not lay the thumb on a string that will need a drop thumb play next.

I'm trying to retrain my right hand, as well as my brain, to do it the correct way and just when I think I'm making progress, I relax and fall right back into the old habits.

Is it even possible to retrain a sixty-eight year old brain?

Charlie Noyes

I have two old banjos. I don't know how old, but they're old. One's an old Supertone, and the other's unmarked. It does have a tone hoop. They both have real skin heads, and they're the best sounding banjos I have. Is that just an accident? I'd think that, with all the advances in technology and manufacturing, the new ones would sound much better than the old ones.

I'm throwing one of my favorite tunes "MacPherson's Lament" into the ring as tune of the week.  I had been asked about the origin of the tune by some who have heard it played as the background music for a raw brass polishing video I made for my YouTube channel, so I thought it might interest others, too.

I've been familiar with the tune for many years, having first heard it done by the Scottish band "Old Blind Dogs".  Although it's technically a song, the melody itself is catchy and lends itself to banjo very willingly.  I technically play it using a thumb/index finger style (anyone knowing what this "style" is please feel free to chime in, I'd love to know...) but it is easily done as a clawhammer tune as well.  One of my friends plays it as a clawhammer tune and has it on a CD released a few years ago by his band, Euphor (link below).  I've played it many times at contra dances, so its bonified as danceable.  I had previously believed it to be a commonly played tune, but after checking the TOTW list, evidently not.  It should be...

About the tune:

The tune is derived from a commonly-sung Scottish song variously known as "MacPherson's Lament", "MacPherson's Rant". and "MacPherson's Farewell", the tune itself being very popular with Scottish Fiddlers.  Although generally considered to being a "fiddler's selection" it lends itself quite nicely as a banjo piece and can be played at various tempos and graciously accepts hammer-ons, pull-offs, and large amounts of syncopated rhythm, as demonstrated in my example.

The song version of MacPherson's Lament details the true story of Jamie MacPherson (1675-1700), who in addition to being a fine fiddle player, developed a taste for being a bit of a Robin Hood type character in Northeast Scotland, although it seems he took particular delight in extracting the wealth from those who had a disproportionately large share.  As a result of his ill-deeds MacPherson was eventually captured, placed on trial, and sentenced to be publicly hung.  During the week he spent in jail before his hanging date he composed "MacPherson's Lament", although most likely not titled as such.  During his short incarceration the song was passed on to MacPherson's young lady friend whom he lived with.  She sang the song often after his demise as "The Remains Of Jamie".  The song was passed on in oral tradition and adapted to poetic form by the Scottish poet Robert Burns.

Integral to the story and song, MacPherson's case had been appealed to a higher authority, and fearing that an appeal would arrive before MacPherson's scheduled hanging at noon the local officials advanced the clock tower time by fifteen minutes to be sure they could execute MacPherson before any pardon could arrive.  The plan worked, with the pardon arriving by horseback rider shortly after he was publicly hung.  As his last request MacPherson was allowed to play his last composition from the gallows platform.  When he finished playing he asked if anyone would take his fiddle to play the tune at his wake, but there were no takers as this would have publicly exposed them to the authorities as a friend of MacPherson's.  With no one to entrust his instrument to he chose to  smash his fiddle to bits and hurl the remains into the crowd rather than have it played by any of his detractors.  The smashed fragments of MacPherson's fiddle are displayed prominently in the MacPherson Clan House Museum in Newtonmore,  Inverness Shire, Scotland.

It's a great story and a great tune.

"MacPherson's Lament"

Key: A

Banjo Tuning: aEAC#E

(MacPherson's also works well in other tunings, and I often play it in double C)

Here is the direct YouTube link:

http://youtu.be/9Ac3ASCHZBc

Banjo only:

http://youtu.be/03wsW2nCNI0

A “backing tracks” version (twin guitars / bass only)  to play along with:

http://youtu.be/gyL5rttN5-k

The Old Blind Dogs version; my original source for this tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_XFy3K7AqQ

As played by Euphor (CDbaby preview only):

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/euphor

The Robert Burns poem:

http://www.contemplator.com/scotland/macphers.html

Sorry in advance for the text shadowing, I'm working with a new text program and I'm still green on the finer points!

Doc's convinced me that it's ok not to drop the thumb. Here I thought I'm the only one that feels like dropping the thumb's uncomfortable.  I was starting to feel a little guilty. Thanks, Doc, wherever you are.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGXjsk5GsIE

I can play clawhammer pretty fast and medium speed but am having a hard time with slower songs and end up wanting to just switch to 2 finger picking. What do others do?

hi,can someone please tell me which tuning Uncle Dave uses for Cindy and also has anyone recorded a version that comes close,style wise.thankyou in advance for any replies.

I decided it's time for me to "mold a mighty pinky" so I went to Banjo Brad's page to read all about it - but I couldn't find his essay/tutorial/whatever entitled "How to Mold a Mighty Pinky".  Any idea if this is still available somewhere?

Watch a preview video >

In this, Tunetorial number 14, Dan "Clawdan" Levenson teaches The Cuckoo.

There are SO many variations on this tune both notational and timing-wise that while this should get you started, you will really want to pick a version that you and your friends agree on.

As it is presented, yes, there are 6 beats in the 2nd endings of both parts and the final ending. AND just to confuse matters a bit more, for one more variation, there are an extra three measures that can replace measures 1 and 2 in the B part AND replace measures 3 & 4 as well making the first 4 measures of the B part 6 measures long for a total of a 10 measure B part. 

Phew! Enjoy...Like all old time, everyone plays it differently, but the masters from the Round Peak area of the country (Mt. Airy, NC, Galax, VA) did things just a bit MORE different than others which added spark to the tunes and made them not quite what everyone else played.

In this tunetorial, Dan does things a bit differently too as he just starts into the tune, plays it a few times, varies, adjusts, arranges and teaches the sections as he goes. Let us know how you like this different approach. 

This tune is tabbed out in Dan's book Old Time Favorites for Clawhammer Banjo (MB 30224).

You can purchase the video lesson (for unlimited streaming and download) here on the Banjo Hangout for $6.
Get it here >

Dan and I would love to hear any feedback you have on these videos, so feel free to post or email us. Our goal here is provide a steady, affordable way for people to learn a new clawhammer tune weekly (or as often as they'd like).

It would be great to hear some of your versions so far so post them here for all to hear!

I recently saw Steve Martin on this video and really like the sound he's getting from his banjo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RzhTN9zW3w  It looks like he's playing a Deering. Does anyone know what model and what type of tone ring it has? Again, I love the tone he's getting.

Check out the video's and tabs Aaron Keim has put up on his site, The Quiet American.  Very nice. http://quietamericanmusic.com/banjo-tabs-and-videos/

I was a little surprised that Fortune had not already been done on the TOTW. I am a huge fan of Fred Cockerham, Kyle Creed, and Jarrell so couldn't resist doing the first song on the Camp Creek Boys Old Time String Band album. Unfortunately, there isn't a ton of information available for the tune. Nevertheless, it is a classic and so here goes!

Again, there isn't much information but the main sources of information are Ceolas Fiddler's companion (ceolas.org) and Krassen's Clawhammer Banjo (1974) and Appalachian Fiddle (1973), and of course Ceolas references Krassen's so there is a little bit of circularity there. There is spotty information in some other sources (liner notes, etc).

Generally, folks (in particular information associated folkways) just refer to it as a “traditional Appalachian” or “traditional Blue-Ridge” or just “traditional” song. The only other name that comes up with this is “Once I had a fortune” which is also the first lyric (see below) if lyrics are sung. According to the sources mentioned above, it is an old-time song from the USA and particularly western North Carolina and Virginia and particularly the round peak and Galax areas (Krassen). As for the age, it is unclear. According to “Far in the Mountains Vol 4”, there have been versions floating around since the 1890s and Jarrell is quoted in the same source as saying "I can recollect hearing my daddy play it as far back as I can recollect. I don't know where that started from...it was more just an old, well, a flat foot dance tune I'd say." 

It is usually played in the key of D (with double D tuning aDADE). Often tablature and other information suggests AABB style however, the recordings vary quite a bit. This is probably because it is something of a breakdown song and some of the B's tend to be repeated a bit more than just twice. There are distinct differences in how some play the song. In particular I find the versions played by the round peak folks and Galax crowd to be pretty different than what seems to be the “festival” version. 

Lyrics

Sometimes you can hear lyrics (but not that often). Tommy Jarrell's seems to go like...
 
Once I had a fortune all locked up in my trunk 
I lost it all a-gambling, one night when I got drunk

Wish I had a pretty little horse, corn to feed him on
And a pretty little wife to stay at home and feed him when I'm gone

These are the lyrics according to Ceolas (but I haven't heard the recording that has this one) 
Once I had a fortune, I put it in my trunk,
I lost it all a-gambling one night when I was drunk.

Wish I had a pretty little hog/horse, corn to feed him on,
And a pretty little wife around the farm to feed him when I'm gone. 

Sometimes the lyrics include this bit
Fortune I had it, fortune I lost
Fortune I lost it, one night when I got drunk

Tabs

There are a number of tabs floating around for this. I will highlight the ones that I found

• Kyle Creed Clawhammer Banjo (link from google books http://books.google.com/books?id=UggyJCWRq38C&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=clawhammer+banjo+fortune&source=bl&ots=DqedUWuiDq&sig=cWvOrnhuuAkrDh-9YCbjjqW8eMc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7rz_U8O4A9imggSQtYKYAw&ved=0CF0Q6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=clawhammer%20banjo%20fortune&f=false)
• Krassen Clawhammer Banjo
• Leftwich Round Peak Style
• From taterjoes http://www.taterjoes.com/banjo/Fortune.pdf
• http://www.clawhammerbanjotab.co.uk/page29/page35/files/Fortune%20A%20B.pdf

​​

Recordings

This isn't an exhaustive list but here are some of the recordings I could find

• Dan Levensen, “Barenaked Banjos”
• Camp Creek Boys, “Old-Time String Band”
• Glen Smith, “Traditional Music from Grayson and Carroll Counties, Virginia: Songs, Tunes with Fiddle, Banjo and Band”
• Fred Cockerham, “High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina Collected by John Cohen in November of 1965”
• Tommy Jarrell, “The Legacy Of Tommy Jarrell, Volume 4: Pickin' On Tommy's Porch”
• Roger Sprung, Hal Wylie and the Progressive Bluegrassers “Bluegrass Blast: A Mixed Bag of Ol' Timey Music”
• Glen Neaves, “Glen Neaves and the Virginia Mountain Boys: Country Bluegrass from Southwest Virginia
• The Bogtrotters, “The Original Bogtrotters 1937-1942”

Videos

There are plenty you can search but here is one with a group and some flat footing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtdPQ4H2jTU

My attempt is below

I play mostly 5 string banjo and fiddle in our large (up to 30 folks) old time jam. Lately I've been having fun doubling the fiddle melodies with a very loud and punchy Gold Tone IT250F tenor with a 17 fret neck, archtop tone ring and resonator. It seems to go well according to most of the folks, especially with 7-8 fiddles. I know tenors were used in some old string bands. Were they used mainly for rags and popular tunes or did they get used for OT fiddle tunes as well?

Watch a preview video >

In this, Tunetorial number 15, by request, Dan "Clawdan" Levenson teaches Over the Waterfall. 

The most often quoted source for this tune is the Henry Reed collection of fiddle tunes which was gathered by Alan Jabour some years ago. Alan recorded Henry playing this and many other tunes that has for years made up a solid core of the old time fiddle and banjo repertoire. It is a collection of 3 cassettes (remember them?) that was passed from person to person and to my knowledge is still available free though I’m not sure how the “tree” is followed anymore. I’m sure someone here will know. That collection is well worth finding for a fiddle reference to the tunes at least as many of us first heard them.

In this tunetorial, Dan will play the tune at a moderate adding to it as he goes but break down sections as we go. This one can be very basic or quite ornamental depending on how YOU want it to go. Dan deals with it all here in a progressive manner. Feel free to post any questions you have on it, remark on sections you would like clarified or things you might like added. Yes even the things you don’t like are fair game. It grows the tune and the community when you know what you like and don’t like as you build your own style.

This tune is tabbed out in Dan's book (tune 34 in) Old Time Favorites for Clawhammer Banjo (MB 30224). This one also appears in 3 versions (basic double thumb, drop thumb and “kitchen sink” jam versions) in Clawhammer Banjo From Scratch (MB 20190) for those of you wanting a real nuts and bolts break down of this one.

You can purchase the video lesson (for unlimited streaming and download) here on the Banjo Hangout for $6.
Get it here >

Dan and I would love to hear any feedback you have on these videos, so feel free to post or email us. Our goal here is provide a steady, affordable way for people to learn a new clawhammer tune weekly (or as often as they'd like).

It would be great to hear some of your versions so far so post them here for all to hear!

A  Clawhammer playing friend of mine forwarded me  notice of an upcoming  American Roots Camp on Newfound Lake, Hebron, NH Sept 12-14:

FLOATING BRIDGE MUSIC CAMP  AMERICAN ROOTS WEEKEND ! SEPTEMBER 12 - 14, 2014  NEWFOUND LAKE, HEBRON, NH ! RUTHIE DORNFELD    DAVID SURETTE  SUSIE BURKE   MARK ROBERTS  ANDREA COOPER   JEREMIAH MCLANE ! ACCORDION  BANJO  FIDDLE  FLUTE  GUITAR  MANDOLIN  PIANO  SINGING ! WORKSHOPS - SINGING, INSTRUMENT  JAMS - SLOW, MEDIUM, FAST  STAFF CONCERT    ALL-CAMP CABARET

Link: Floating Bridge Camp

Recently I have gotten lost in the energy and sound of Northwest bands Foghorn Stringband, The Tallboys and efforts by member spin off projects. I'm especially into the sound of P.T Grover's contribution to Foghorn's Reap What You Sow and checked out the September 2007 Banjo Newsletter to learn more about his influences etc. He cites the banjo player Ronnie Poe who played with John Ashby. 

Wondering if anyone could suggest an in-print recordings of John Ashby / Ronnie Poe or recommend any other bands that have a similar style? 

Having tried various clawhammer picks, I notice that some seem a lot harder on the strings than others. For example, the plastic Alaska is pretty flexible and so is the John Balch ping-pong ball pick, while others, such as the Fred Kelly and the metal picks, have hardly any flexibility or none at all.

My preferred ones are the Fred Kelly and the ping pong pick, but while I prefer the tone of the Fred Kelly, it has a hard and unforgiving strike on the strings and, sure enough, last night I broke one while using this pick. Now, whether this would have happened anyway I don't know, but I would imagine that:

1) Playing with a pick, as opposed to fingernails, must shorten the string life

2) Playing with a flexible pick, like the ping pong, must make the strings last longer than playing with a hard pick

Is this your experience?

Thanks.