In the discussion on Melodic Clawhammer I realized that many people are unaware of the relatively easy method to convert them.
Most clawhammer arrangements are written in 4/4 with the eighth note as the shortest unit in the arrangement.
This makes a few things obvious:
In sets of eighth notes the first of a set is usually a Down Beat
If they are tied in strings of four (a bad idea IMHO) the first and third of the set are both Down Beats
Down Beats are the Frail Strokes - The Bums and Dids - and are usually played with the Frail Finger.
Up Beats are the other notes - The dys - and can be played either with the Thumb or with some sort of slur, or slide
My arrangements do not tie eighth notes into sets longer than a full beat (a Bum and a dy) so the Down Beat is always clear.
Most current clawhammer writers use the eighth note as the smallest value but John Burke wrote his book in the 1960s when written clawhammer instruction was in its infancy. He used 16th notes as the basic unit, but otherwise the units are pretty much the same.
The only book in existance before Burke's was Pete Seeger's which is more of a survey of all the styles. Seeger however, did use the eight note as his baseline unit, and it is Seeger's system which has persisted. There are a few reasons for this. Seeger's notation uses the same units of time as written fiddle tunes.
Now to the physical conversion:
In the simplest method all Down Beats are played (Bum and Did strokes) with the Frailer, while all Up Beats are played with a your choice of thumb strokes, slurs, 5th string hits, and rests.
Some day I might get around to writing out a page of tab on this conversion but it is easy enough to do on your own. If you have Ken Perlman's book just pick a tune, any tune, don't show me what tune you pick and put it back into the pack - Wait. Sratch that...
Pick a tune from your copy of any of Ken Perlman's books or if you can read music, any fiddle arrangement. I don't know of any other Melodic Clawhammer players who have published material - I always wished Howie Bursen would, but I guess he just had no interest in publishing. His playing was highly and lushly ornamental - almost Baroque. I don't know if he even recorded more than a few tracks.
I think there is at least one Bursen arrangement in Ken's Clawhammer Style Banjo, in the heavily melodic tune section that ends the book. In many ways the book is a compendium of a style since apparently buried by southern clawhammer but one which, being faithfully transcribed by Ken and a few others may one day re-appear. I think it deserves a lot more of a chance than people give it today. There is a lot of bullying in music - most of which comes down to "I don't know how to do what you do - therefore you are WRONG!
There is no wrong style only wrong people - and they are everywhere.
