Hi Everyone,
First off I'm new to the banjo and excepting a brief stint on the recorder in third grade new to music in general so please forgive me if I misuse some terms. I'll try to describe as best I can.
I have been working through Wayne Erbsen's Clawhammer for the Complete Ignoramous. I really like the book. It's got a great, gentle learning curve. After a month or so playing daily I have gotten to the point where I can play the first handful of songs pretty much as they sound on the CD. The more I play and listen to others playing, the more I can "hear" and I realize that I think I have a few things fundamentally confused.
I started thinking that the "ditt"' was part of the melody. That it was placed where it happened to fit with the melody. Now I am thinking that the ditty has no direct part in the melody but rather melody notes are removed and replaced with the clawhammer stroke to provide a backing rythm. I notice that it is often where the melody note would be repeated or part of the chord that is being played. So first question is do I have that right?
Second question is, if the above is correct, where does that melody note go? Is it just a part of the clawhammer style that some melody notes are dropped? Is it because the arrangements I am playing are simplified? Is this where embellishments like drop thumb, pull off and the like come in? Am I missing something more generally?
I hope I was able to explain.
Luke