Clawhammer vs. Three Finger. It seems that all the discussion I read people are in one camp or the other. I'm new to all of this, but I get the impression that there was a messy divorce and both styles are no longer on speaking terms. I'll admit that when I picked up the banjo it was with visions of someday playing blistering Scruggs-style licks and that this got derailed the first time I heard someone frail. Since then the bum-diddy rhythm has me entirely smitten but is it heresy to think this might change?
Do people commonly (and competently) switch back and forth from one style to the other? As a new player, I'm trying to spend some time in each, even if for right now 3-finger is brussel sprouts and frailing is dessert. Is this naive? I don't think so; even if I enjoy playing in a clawhammer style, I regularly have my mind blown by the rhythm and beauty of bluegrass tunes, many of them posted right here on BHO. I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this.
