George Gibson and Lee Sexton broke me out of the mould. I still pick bluegrass but I lean hard toward Sonny, but Lee and George changed my whole world and revived my true passion for the banjo.
Wish I could give this video more likes!! The whole competitive nature and rules reminds me of what happened to guitar in the late '80's. (in the hair-band metal era). It all became about being more of a technician than a musician. Musicality lost out to technical virtuosity. Eventually it all imploded, with the backlash called grunge. Everybody was sick of the Twiddly-Widdly how many notes can you fit in mentality, and people started writing real songs again. And the audiences responded positively. There's always going to be musicians who are obsessed with technical playing, as it is a big personal challenge to achieve. I feel that it is also a path some choose, in place of possessing an innate musicality. So I've come from being a metal guitarist, to playing and loving the sheer heart and musicality of these more traditional banjo influences. Thanks heaps Clifton.
Brian, I'm with you.... I was the lead guitarist in hard rock bands, some metal, mostly electric blues. After years and years of people coming up and saying 'Play something fast...' They didn't even want to hear a song. Like it or not, rock and roll, which was 'here to stay', has left. People in famous bands are playing the same stuff they played 30 years ago. Now I'm restoring my 1880 Buckbee....I just need something with a melody... Sometimes, the only thing left is to sit under a tree and play 'Lorena'...
I am 63, disabled, and live in the UK. I am about to purchase my first Banjo. You spoke a lot of sense young man, and listening to your song, accompanying your Banjo made me realise that duelling banjos, although brilliant, is same old, same old. You are a credit to your instrument and I will try my hardest to follow your good advise. Thank you, Colin
I play the blues harp and am a singer songwriter. Hearing your style of banjo was the first time that I felt it spoke to me and I understood its beauty as an instrument. I never understood why, but this explanation helped a lot. Your style always seemed more complex, subtle and free-flowing than any other I'd heard before. You're doing the Lord's work keeping this music alive, thank you sir.
I’m from western NC and grew up with all this music. The only thing Clifton says that I take issue with is about dancing. I find it just as easy to flatfoot to bluegrass as I do to old time/traditional music.
Actually, in the interest of full transparency and humility, what I should have said is that I find it just as easy to dance poorly to bluegrass as I do to dance poorly to old time/traditional music.
You're not imagining things, Clifton. My favorite anecdote: I was at Fiddlers Grove one year, and someone asked me who my favorite old-time fiddler was. When I told her, "Ralph Blizard," who learned fiddle in the hills of Kentucky in the 20's, played on the radio in the 30's, and gave up fiddle for religious reasons until he resumed his career in the 70's, without batting an eye, she replied, "But he's not really old-time, is he." Granted, his fiddling was influenced by the Texas swing he heard on the radio, but he was as genuinely old-time as it gets. And the pressure to conform to a formula was also underscored by Nick Hornbuckle, who by necessity is an outstanding TWO FINGER bluegrass player. In an interview, he tells how, even after he was only playing two-finger, he would still wear the extra finger pick so as not to draw attention. Love your channel and I love your style. Keep up the good work!
Hi Clifton I saw Jeff Warner playing his banjo and singing old tunes in a folk club over hear in the UK in 2014. I never liked banjo till then, I associated it with bluegrass. Following my retirement later that year, and Jeff's advice, I bought a five string with a Whitelady tone ring, found a clawhammer teacher (George Davies, who in turn was taught by Ken Perlman) and so began my life's journey with banjo. Whilst I struggle with playing, I have built a passionate collection of great old and new player's old time and traditional music. I have recently taken up a keen interest in the history of the banjo and it's music. I play and sing banjo and songs in a folk club, attend a social history group and have been invited to give a talk on the roots of banjo in slavery and modern times. So when I saw your UA-cam page and patreon I was blown away. A person with the same thoughts and passions as myself (albeit me from the UK and no great shakes at playing ). I wish you great continued success with the project ; you can rely on my support.
my first comment was made before you started talking about your music experience. Dang you hit the nail on the head. It's happened to me too. I grew up going to the KY state fiddling championship every year. The best times were in the campground picking. I've felt those rules pushed on me many times. To get out I just learned to play all the instruments so I wouldn't get boxed in... when it got boring on one I'd switch to another. About 12 years in I began wondering if Bill Monroe himself would get run out of the jam circle? Pure freedom... I love it
Pardon the pun, but this video resonates with me, big time. I started playing banjo on my own without lessons in order to back up a singer songwriter. I used a banjo with a resonator and finger picks. People automatically assumed I played Scruggs style bluegrass even though I have yet to play a single song in that style (although I love bluegrass). I eventually started learning claw hammer style and added drop thumbing and such and bought me an open back banjo at the local pawn shop. I absolutely love it!!. I also learned many traditional old time tunes in my own style and when I go to jams, I enjoy them, but definitely feel intimidated and out of place by the unspoken "rules" of old time jams and the styles associated with it. I'm legit scared to show up to Clifftop! I literally don't fit into any banjo crowd because of the supposed 2 categories that you just HAVE to fit into in order to be considered legit. I love playing my own style and being able to play with or with or without picks, resonator, or frets for that matter. There is such a freedom in it and I can play along to most anything because I have more than one tool to work with. I love learning from other famous players, but if all we do is mimic their styles, we are limiting ourselves so much!! My favorite thing is to play in a way that backs up my singing (in the key of C, and slowed down a bit, so you can actually pick out the melody - shhhh, don't tell anyone!) I just wish I could find more folks to jam with that aren't so pickersnickity about it all or feel that you have to pick a side and consider the other side less legit when there is a way larger world of banjo than bluegrass and old time. Thanks for the video and keep doing what you do!!! The way you play and sing has been very inspiring to me as I continue to learn - but no worries, I won't copy your style and create a third category of banjo playing ;O).
I’m disappointed that I’ve only recently discovered your channel! Your content in this particular video resonates deeply with me. I stopped plying banjo because I got sick of the rolls. Ended up selling my banjo and haven’t had one since. I’ve listened to traditional banjo and folk music my whole life and loved every minute of it. Weirdly enough, my family originates in the mountains of West Virginia so one might say it’s in my blood. You’ve inspired me to fall back in love with playing. Now on to convincing my wife to let me buy a nice open back! I hope to meet you someday and pick with you!
"Buddy, it ain't nothin' but rules." That's the truth. Music competition, which I used to participate in, is soul crushing. As soon as someone starts reeling off the prizes they won I head for the door.
Hey Clif, I just want to tell ya, I've been playing banjo since Christmas and it has been a struggle picking a style. Most of the songs I hear on the radio (mostly XM) are bluegrass style, and the old man and I are regular attenders of the annual bluegrass festival here in southern Michigan, where the bluegrass style is about 98% dominant. I chose to learn clawhammer early on because it was the traditional style and I felt like it was respecting the instrument and the music more but as of late I was thinking about switching over and learning bluegrass, just because I felt like it might be more versatile. Thanks to you, I realize now that the facts are completely the opposite. I needed this tonight, I have felt a little perplexed about the whole thing. Clawhammer is definitely the style I'll stick with. And out of all the guys on youtube giving banjo instruction and interesting info along with it, you are by far the best in my opinion. Please keep doing what you are doing, it really means and motivates a lot!!
I saw you play and sing at Swannanoa a couple of weeks ago. You blew away the audience, and I don't mean sent them running! There is an appreciation for what you do. The rules come from people who intellectualise and formalise something that has evolved and continues to evolve. The talk and performance by George Gibson was excellent too, of course, and your performance highlighted what he had to say.
Thank you. George Gibson is both an exceptionally fine musician _and_ a cutting edge banjo researcher--to say that I was honored to share the stage with him would be an understatement. Both of us were fairly impressed by the staff and organization at the Swannanoa Gathering and hope to be invited back in the future. Thanks again for your kind words and insight.
Great insight subbuteo71, we too have those who prefer to intellectualise and formalise traditional music collected in Australia. Occasionally at a gathering someone in frustration will say, "just play the F$%!ng thing mate" Lol.
THANKYOU for that. I'm in the uk, got given a broken banjo by a neighbour and have fixed it up. I watch your style and tutorials and simply enjoy. I've played guitar for 20 years and they are gathering dust as I am in love with the clawhammer style. All that your saying is obviously new news to me. I just like playing and singing songs. I've yet to master the two finger picking and am in love with the journey. It's been a saving grace for me during the lockdowns. I love you, you sound so fantastic. I hope you know Jesus, selfishly, coz I hope to see you on the other side, God bless. Xx
You're soo right about the jam/convention scene. THE BANJO is just a tool of expressing what you're feeling inside. It HAS NO limitations. Thank you for your videos sir
I’ve watched this a dozen times and the part about the contests is still as funny as the first time that I saw it. I started three finger style as a teenager and like you, I got bored with it after a couple of years for that very reason. I’m 47 now and have played two finger style for several years and am just now learning frailing style. I won’t look back and you’re videos on here and patreon keep me pressing on, so thanks for what you do for our tradition.
This is so spot on man. I’ve been to Mt Airy, been invited to Clifftop, spent many hours “jamming” with old time guys...you and I have had parallel experiences. There is some truly wonderful music happening, for sure, but that driving rhythm you and I love is shunned with a glare, you feel so unwelcome. I play in a string band that does everything from old-time to Whitney Houston and we don’t fit at bluegrass festivals or old time things, we just are what we are. I play a bottleneck slide primarily in the band, try taking THAT to an Old Timey thing! Thanks for being a beacon in the traditional banjo world, I think that your lessons and videos really resonate with a lot of players who don’t fit in to the current two party banjo system.
This has opened my eyes. I love so many traditional banjo musicians and after taking lessons and playing the three-finger bluegrass style, I still found myself unable to play the songs I loved most. And when I found out that they were playing a completely different style, I realized I had been pursuing something completely separate from what I wanted. My instructor insists that this is the only way that matters and that it’s the best way to play. It’s a shame to see such a strange conflict in the entire community. I’ll continue learning the “Scruggs” style because I’ve advanced so far but now will be taking lessons from two instructors. 😊
I've found there to be waaaay more rules in the old-time scene. Bluegrass is much more open to variation whereas old-time is extremely strict about what's allowed musically
@@CliftonHicksbanjo I'm not sure I fully understand the distinction. Regardless, I actually think we may be experiencing a similar phenomenon within the old-time community, albeit from different angles possibly. But I appreciate both the inclinations to preserve tradition and conform to a style and the impulse to break from tradition and be more inclusive of a broader set of techniques and various approaches. Always a balancing act which I find fascinating. On a different note, would you call Noam Pikelny's or Bela Fleck's style limiting or boring?
I have never listened to Noam Pikelny, so won't comment, but I saw Bela Fleck live in concert at the age of 13. Fleck's style _is_ limited in that I never saw him do anything other than three-finger rolls (sans rhythm) using metal fingerpicks. The fingerpicks really limit his style. And it is, to me, absolutely boring.
A guy like Don Reno is a lot more exciting than bela fleck to me. Bela is way too much of a technician, his music is just wanky bullshit in my opinion. Don reno was truly innovative and his use of single string picking wasn't just to show off his knowledge of theory, it was purposeful
Such a great video, I've been watching a lot of your videos lately. It really hit home about you talking about the freedom that comes with Traditional Banjo playing.
As a bluegrass player, I have always gravitated more towards guys like Don Reno, John Hartford and Eddie Adcock because they basically take the no rules attitude and it makes their styles so much more fun! To me the banjo is the ultimate source of musical experimentation and if you find something that works for you, run with it! (P.S. I love the term 'the typewriter guy'😂)
THANK YOU. I’ve been following along with you for a few years now and my brother and I both play traditional banjo. He went to Belmont and I went to App. Go ‘Neers! It grinds my gears when people are disappointed that I can’t play bluegrass, but I have no interest in doing so. Keep on doing what you’re doing!
Hit the nail on the head here I started with my banjo a year and a half ago almost gave it up because it seemed everyone wanted to emulate Scruggs and I hated the finger picks, but Mr. Clifton your style inspired me to keep at it now I’ve got a good 3-4 solid songs under my belt!
I knew about the three finger style made popular by Flatt & Scrugs and had also heard of the clawhammer style. It was interesting to hear a bit about the differences in the styles as well as some of the other styles. I also recently saw a video on UA-cam titled "Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn: Clawhammer vs. Three-Finger Banjo Style". That video indicated to me that three finger doesn't have to be as simple or as boring as you seem to have found it. It was also interesting to hear that a banjo player might play in only one particular style and doesn't often do both three finger and clawhammer.
Driving all over Boone trying to find organic bluegrass is like trying to find the good ginseng (and just as impossible to find). I was at the ol' cabin in the "holler" around Meat Camp all this year, trying my best to pick out sounds and concepts that are genuine and tied to an actual people, culture, and history. I took a break from the mountains and went to Raleigh for the IBMA's, which, imho, were just completely soulless. Bela Fleck won banjo player of the year if that says anything to anyone. The bluegrass and traditional music course at East TN State seems cut from IBMA's cloth - both are clearly promoting a politicized agenda where it seems to matter more what type of person is doing the playing and what philosophical message they're promoting, than how good or genuine the music actually is. Anyway - this commentary from Clifton was so refreshing to hear. I say that as someone who plays mostly the bluegrass, three-finger styles. That said: I've been experimenting with ways to mimic the more traditional sounds (which usually has me tuning out of the standard G-position and to an odd C-tuning I found in the back of that old Banjo Case Chord Book). Why do this? Just listen to a standard tune like Scruggs' Cumberland Gap, then listen to a Clawhammer guy do the same song. It's almost completely different! If one of my Appalachian ancestors heard the Scruggs version he wouldn't know what he was hearing. I always remember the old southern agrarian poet Donald Davidson, in his book Still Rebels, Still Yankees, when he echos Yeats: true art needs to be like a centaur, head and intellect of a man, looking up to the skies, but rump firmly and forever planted in the culture and people which gave it life. On that view, I'd rather hear a saxophone if it was truly singing for my culture and people, rather than a hundred-banjo-orchestra, playing about some alien romance... Thanks for all you do, Clifton! (You're mountain ginseng).
Love your craft and Identify with your take on the Banjo. Myself, am on my own. I was shown the basic Pee Seeger bump ditty in 1976 and have been plugging along ever since. I recently adopted the Clawhammer strum and basically do what my instincts come up with. Drunks love what I do. They say I'm better than Earl Scruggs. That is a ridiculous compliment to be sure. Folks ask, how long you been playing? I don't know about playing, but I can say how long I've owned one. Your a genuine instinctive player/singer, making songs with your own twist. Great! You are a wealth of info that I have received great advice from. True original and entertaining. You have renewed my banjo interest also. I have done beer joints, fish fries, and small parties on a whim and ended up making a contribution to old fashioned fun. I have played around with songs like Bad Moon rising, Going up the Country, and some others with the old time style of Banjo and having fun with it. Praise God for the small audiences of drunks and also Old folks that remember the music from the past. When people get up and dance, and you see foot tapping, and there are beers stacked on the table/bar where I sit, it gives instant joy to see happy faces. Keep up your work for you bring Joy to the world!
Just a newbie here I started with finger picks, but I have moved to claw hammer,and I am eyeing down 2 finger style as well. I use a standard banjo with a resonator, nothing fancy, but it sounds good. I was also looking at getting into a slow jam group, but they all want you to use a capo. I play violin too, I can't see why they the fiddler player can't play in G. Interesting talk.
I've been on the banjo for bit now. After spending a few years writing my own music. I'm now just starting to educate myself about the history of the instrument, and styles of playing. I definitely find your channel interesting and enlightening Clifton. Folks come up sometimes after our gigs and ask my what style I play. I don't know. Suppose it's a clawhammer variant of some kind. Most gigs it'll get all clickity clackity in my head after a while, and I get bored. Then I just try to figure out another way to play that can serve the song. I've also had banjo players come up and tell me "I'm doing it all wrong". My general response is "Well buddy, I just got done playing music we wrote with four of my best friends". I too have been shunned a couple times from our local bluegrass get togethers. And to think I used to feel that the rock music scene was full of ego and male bravado. Shiet.
I’m not a good banjo player at all, but I won’t stop. I’m self taught so my style is a mish mash of claw hammer, two finger and up picking - backless banjo. Your channel is helping me refine my messy style. Thanks.
great video Clifton! i am new to clawhammer banjo and have fallen in love with it. I enjoy the old time sound. i think people should play whatever style makes them happy but i totally get your point on the limitations that may be there for each style. i will say i have watched a lot of banjo players on youtube and you are one of the few (along with Patrick Costello) that has shown me that playing is more than just picking notes and memorizing tabs. the music becomes part of you. i love history and Appalachian to be exact so i respect where the music roots come from and my main goal is to sit on my porch in the woods and enjoy playing my banjo!! i do it for me and the ones that came before me. Movies like the Mountain Minor, Songcatcher, Cold Mountain, Old Brother Where Art Thou, that music is what I truly enjoy. keep up the great work.
I have been watching your vids for 4 yrs and today was the first time I watched this vid. When I first stumbled on your page I was trying to play with metal finger picks etc …. I watched your “how to play German War” vid and that vid changed my whole mind on how I wanted to play. 🍻🍻🍻😎
Wow, Ive had such an extremely different experience at these festivals. I play melodic clawhammer. Even a tad more progressively than trad round peak. My banjo doesn’t have a railroad spike and I don’t own a capo. I just tune my strings to the tune being played. And Ive NEVER been put down for it. I’ve had a few of the older players get upset that play too many syncopations and harmonies. But that’s about it. Other than that I’ve found that if I just ignore whatever perceived rules there are, that I get along just fine and almost everyone welcomes me at their jam.
Fascinating, Clifton, I’ve been listening to many interesting opinions on festivals and that community, lately. Never been to a fest though; I come to this old time community late in life. But I agree, trying out bluegrass style a million years ago, I was not attracted to the successions of rolls. I fell in love with banjo though the movie, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, as many people did, and I tried to learn a little bit. Fast forward, I came across your channel, and found the traditional sound (and, later, instruction) that I loved.
Years of observation have made it clear to me that festival musicians mostly play festival music. The bulk of their "old-time" repertoire has its roots in the 1960s urban folk revival--not in vernacular tradition. If, like me, you draw attention to this reality, you may find yourself excommunicated from the cult.
I can’t agree more with the comments - I didn’t realise that what you’ve said is what I’ve felt ever since I first heard banjo music & what hooked me. Back in the 80s & by just good luck my parents bought me John Burke’s ‘Old Time Banjo & Fiddle Tunes’ which included a floppy plastic record of short pieces. I wore this out playing it over & over and then recorded it to cassette (which eventually got chewed up). I’ve since lost that record & tape but I’ve never forgotten those old time tunes & what they mean to me. I have a banjo & play claw hammer (badly) but I’ve consumed as much old time music a possible over the years through CD & in the last few years thanks to UA-cam; coming from the UK means we’re not lucky to have a vibrant old time festival circuit to tap in. It’s so great to see & hear your love & appreciation of old time banjo and demonstrate such natural virtuosity. More importantly though one can see your feel for the music which is everything.
@@CliftonHicksbanjo Really interesting you don't recommend Deering. I'm only an occasional banjo player in the UK and I'm more than satisfied with my bottom of the range Good Time open back 5 string. Decent tone, easy playability and stays in tune. No complaints.
After a bunch of looking around, a lot of deerings didn’t feel right, sort of cheap and clunky, found a used gold tone, I think an mc150a or something like that. Love it.
I have nothing against capos and do more bluegrass than anything else (although I just bought my first open back) but I hear ya. Really like your stuff. Tell it like you see it and keep making great music. I'll make it a goal of mine to chase off a whole jam some time!
I have always just picked. Your EPIC and i agree fully. My momma said she'd sit on the porch up om greasy ridge OH an hear pure bluegrass pickn and fiddle echo through the hollers. THANKS for the inspiration to get my banjo back out.
That was a great podcast Clifton, I took up Banjo 4 years ago and am loving playing overhand (Scruggs-style was always too "mechanical" to my ears), but when I hear your sound, I know that is what I really want to do with my Banjo. I prefer to play songs and would love to have folks dance although most of them just run away at the moment ;) But I'm jumping aboard your freedom train! Just got to master this 2 finger style !
I grew up with bluegrass my uncle plays mandolin and my father plays guitar and I’ve recently started learning banjo my aunt always dances when we or they would jam. I think it is more preference but I like old time traditional folk banjo you name it. I think we find it more that when we come to a point of euphoria we develop arrogance and I’m not calling you arrogant but it is what it is. I don’t think my 3 picks are gonna hurt nobody.
I don't play well, but I learned from an older fellow from central NC named Marvin Gaster. He plays his own old-time finger picking style. It probably wouldn't pass muster in Galax or Mt. Airy but he did win the N.C. Heritage Award in 2000, for old-time banjo. Go figure....
11:57 I'm a big fan of good old clawhammer fiddle groove, it's pure feeling, I love to play it and that's what make people get up and dance. I also like the ''speedy mechanical scrug picking style'' creating a beautiful percussive background in bluegrass music. I don't understand why you put a ''way to play banjo'' superior than the other since the intention of the instrument in both case are completely different. It's not even the same style of music
I have been a Scruggs player since the start, but as I age, I am drawn more to old timey. Truth be told, it's really a lot easier on the untrained ear than hotrod bluegrass 3 finger. I love them both, tho. Great video. You cover it all.
Beautiful playing mate! I'm not a banjo player and am from a wildly different musical tradition, but I've been interested in playing the banjo. How would you define traditional banjo playing? Is it just a freer version of clawhammer that may or may not include singing? In any case, you've convinced me on what I want to learn on the banjo, once I get one, that is. Unfortunately for my location and age demographic, most people associate the banjo with rapid fire picking with the same old licks. Funny that when it comes to rock music, anything goes for us. Get a guitar, maybe some drums, and go wild! Thank you for keeping the beauty of music alive.
West Kentucky I can relate. I’d been vibed out by the jams . They never wanted to share when I don’t come from bluegrass … I wanted to learn but they were a little short with me. I like this style you play , all the folks I’ve met that play like that also are nice to me and very forthcoming about sharing songs and Melodies, much like the idiom I came from
Right on brother keep doing what your doing. I just let the banjo do what it wants, I follow no rules. It's my favorite instrument and sometimes I'll close my eyes and play. Take care
I agree every musicians should have a freedom of expression and not be forced to play a instrument a certain way. I play bagpipes and it’s the opposite,you are shunned if you don’t play it the traditional way. I like bluegrass but I like the old mountain folk music more, we do have some of that music tradition in Arkansas especially since many of the settlers to the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas was came from Appalachia . Well they of course settled southern Missouri too. A few of my favorite tunes are probably considered American folk , The Wildwood Flower and of course since I’m a Arkie , Arkansas Traveler .
In my experience, all of the rural people who inhabit the Southern states from Florida to So-Cal (be they Anglo, Afro, Indigenous, or Hispanic) are _one_ people. We share so many cultural traits that our differences become irrelevant.
Thanks for the video! A big turning point in my banjo playing was when i discovered your youtube videos! It was nice to see someone doing something different. Haven't been playing in a while though. I'll have to get back into some banjo again.
I love this. And completely agree, you're talking stuff I wanna hear. I've been playing various banjo styles and techniques for years now and learned to hate the idea of conformity more and more as time passes. Same goes for lots of instruments (think Hendrix), he broke all the rules! The thing about the 5-string banjo is that it's so ripe for creativity and variation, so why limit to roll patterns anyway? My fav is probably 2-finger on gut-string mountain, or big civil war-type fretless banjos. I regularly throw in a few extra fingers where necessary for a particular song, use a metal slide on the third finger for fretless. Makes the banjo sing. I also like watching Sarah Nichols play and sing, the way she brings tunes right down to the pure melody and banjo tone. I always take a steel string long-neck to acoustic sessions in pubs (UK) where I can be heard over the din. For this I use flat pick and 2 finger country guitar-style, so I can roll, mute, vamp, pick single note runs, bend, dig in, solos, anything in any key, except rarely do I use the pick to strum (too harsh). Also easy to switch to guitar mid song. When any bluegrass reso players turn up they're always sittin around waitin their turn whereas I can play accompaniment on just about all as it goes round. The only rule about banjo - there's no rules - 'cept good tuning!
When you can play and sing like you can Clifton, you don't need a band. Uncle Dave didn't have rules nor did Earl..damn the rule bookers...full strumming, picking, frailing, drop thumbing (or any combination of these) ahead!😊
Amen, mister. I started a decade ago playing three finger Scruggs style. Realized something soon enough I would never sound like Earl, I would sound like someone who sounds like someone who sounds like Scruggs. Also, and people don't get this, Bluegrass is an ensemble performance tradition. It's not for dancing, it's for sitting and listening. And it's for soloing in a group, but everybody would sound pretty lame if they were doing the exact same thing alone. Not true for so many trad styles of banjo! And it was boring! (Although I do occasionally use picks on one of my favorite open backs--that way I offend more than one class of banjo players!) Once saw Ralph Stanley live in a little bar with a stage and he talked about how everybody he knew when he was a youth played a bunch of different styles--just before he did some clawhammer tunes. So anyway, I hear ya, rules can wring the enjoyment out of the banjo. Just one rule I live by: If it don't sound good, stop it.
Thanks for posting your videos Clifton. I haven't even bought my first Banjo yet and am just testing the water with myself to see what style would suit me. I think your videos are a testimony to your ability both as a player and as a teacher. You really feel your way around the instrument and I love your approach to allowing creativity within styles. I don't like being hemmed into anything in life. thanks for everything you share on here.
Clifton, I'm from Belfast in N. Ireland and I've loved Bluegrass all my life. Lately I've seen all those rules coming into the style of playing not only banjo , but guitar as well. It's crippling individual style and and killing personal musical growth. I fully agree with a lot of what you say and I'll tell you one thing I'd rather listen to you than most of the crap the the big recording companies churn out simply to line their pockets. Its a crying shame, man, and I thank heavens there's still men like you around with balls big enough to do you're own thing and encourage others to do the same. I laughed when you said about anchoring your picking hand and putting on picks because those two rules alone are becoming almost like the 11 and 12 commandments and I can't believe the people that preach them don't realise how crazy they are. All the nuances of tone and timbre while plucking at different positions on the pot and even on the neck lost, just like that. They're not doing the instruments any justice at all. Anyhow, sir, you keep on plucking wherever the heck you want and continue being yourself and may the powers that be continue to give you the strength to stand your ground well away from those masses of plucking idiots. Just love your style, you're a class act and there's a spirit in you that links you to the uthentic music and musicians from a time that to my mind they want to erase because it probably causes someone somewhere a bit of offence. Sad days my friend.
What you say rings true for the old-time jams around here (central NC). The circles are fiddle-centric, and the game for the banjo is to follow the fiddle note-for-note (or as best can be achieved at 220 bpm). It's exhausting and not a huge amount of fun. I still want to fit in, though, so thanks for the tip on wearing crocs. That'll put everything right.
The poor banjo player that finds themselves lassoed into one of these goat-ropes is usually compelled to function more like a court typist than a banjoist. Hence the term "typewriter banjo" coined in recent years.
Thanks for your explanation but I figure if someone gets offended they must have nothing else to do. I have tied several ways to play and gave up 5yrs ago because the basic 3 finger(Scruggs) style just did not work very well for me. Brain issue for me and not the banjo. LOL. I tried Clawhammer thinking it was easier. Not true. It just seemed to fit me better. I feel more comfortable with the old time style. Still want to play a few bluegrass Scruggs style songs to exercise my brain finger coordination just really being a challenge to me and a brain exercise for the day. I love the natural way of playing without picks and also like the bit of trying to sing while playing Clawhammer style. It is just pure fun. I always considered clawhammer, old time and traditional banjo playing basically the same. No rules but a lot of good rhythm and picking when needed. Listened to a tape I had of Dwight Diller and got hooked again. This time there is no turning back.
Far as i'm concerned you can take or leave his conclusions on the topic, but without listening to him discuss the matter i would have never known that banjo subculture drilled down deeper and wider than just a "bluegrass" vs tradish dichotomy. learning something new from ever video over here
Thanks for another interesting post. I think one more reason there's so little singing in old time jams is that most people really struggle to sing the songs in the keys fiddle players, tuned to standard, play them. Amazing how singable it all gets if you tune down two or three half steps.
Post-modern fiddlers being brainwashed into playing _everything_ with tuning pegs jacked up to A or D is one of the tragedies of the recent Folk Revivals. Most people simply _cannot_ sing that high. Meanwhile the average human voice (at least among men) falls in E, F and G. Not only do the latter keys more closely resemble the human voice, they also sound better to my ears and, especially at F, the strings respond better to my fingers. Everyone needs to take a step back from their tuners and their capos and try tuning to their own voice. _That_ is our heritage.
I played with a violinist trying to become a fiddler who said "put that capo down, this box can play in any key" and proceeded to churn out some really nice double stop droney stuff, never using a single note on an open string. We played in G and C, mostly because it was easy for me and the guitarist and because most of our repertoire was sung in those keys around a campfire with just a guitar. She asked me for a bit of the melody, then repeated the most important parts in multiple positions to find a comfortable way to play it, said "I got it" and off we we went. We had some great fun.
I think coming from guitar to banjo bluegrass style is easier to pick up as I'm struggling with the overhand movement but I prefer old-time just perseverance and hopefully I'll get the strings to twang instead of mutely plonk
Oh man I LOVE that intro song! Hope you post the whole song someday! I completely agree with you about Bluegrass. Scruggs is a great banjo player but I never have cared for that style at all. Sold a lot of records but turned many off to the Banjo. Don't know much about Roundpeak to comment. Surprisingly this Millennial generation really has embraced the old time music and made it more popular. It wasn't until a few years ago I happened to run into a band at a folk festival called, The Lowest Pair, a Banjo duo and they played slow and soulfully and I was really taken by that sound. Then I happened to click on a Derroll Adams video here on UA-cam called Oregon and that led me to you and a few others and I`ve been a huge Old time Banjo music fan since. Two finger and overhand (clawhammer) are my favorite styles. I like the way you and Derroll Adams play the upstroke style very much as well.
I don’t care for most Blue Grass banjo, since it strikes me as all virtuosity and no soul. I feel so lucky finding this UA-cam channel right when I purchased my first banjo. I first started using a four finger picking style on the banjo, since that’s how I played the guitar, but I’ve also been doing claw hammer and Hick’s two finger style. I’m going to be all over the map in my playing style, just like Hicks is, although I’ve yet to try the 3 finger, rolling style.
I have loved the banjo for years and about to take it up. I seem to like open-backs more than resonator. I agree with, whilst everything seems to be guided by rules, they can be broken to do what you need to do. Very enlightening talk on your open views, I agree totally. I want to learn frailing, strumming, picking and rolls all on an open-back.
Really refreshing I have been stuck on the g tuning playing or trying to the bum diddy etc I am 72 just picked up the banjo as a gift a year ago,i have always broke conformity in my life so to hear this it's great loving the sound I can now hear the banjo for the 1st time, it always sounded flat sat behind it playing so keep on doing what your doing because as a young elder I need young voices so I can learn would appreciate more of what your doing welcome to the UK
Yes, Jeremy. I think the same dynamic exists in any traditional music scene. I've heard from people involved in Irish, blues, Cajun, Native American, and even Indian classical music. All report similar experiences.
Personally i use several styles of picking, depending on the song. Some songs sound better in different styles. I think it's a shame that so many people want to sound like earl Scruggs or other people, instead of wanting to sound like themselves. Also i firmly believe that if one needs to use picks to get more volume, their technique needs adjusting. If you can't get the most out of your instrument with your hands than your not playing it correctly. That may be my classical and flamenco guitar background talking but I've applied that mindset to all my instruments and have had nothing but positive responses.
I too like some bluegrass, but I much prefer the old time style. I think it is the direct ancestor of Celtic music but the banjo came from Africa, so it really is truly diverse
George Gibson and Lee Sexton broke me out of the mould. I still pick bluegrass but I lean hard toward Sonny, but Lee and George changed my whole world and revived my true passion for the banjo.
They did that for a lot of us.
There's only ONE right way to play a banjo, and that's the way that gets it to make the sounds you hear in your head. Fuck what anyone else says.
Wish I could give this video more likes!! The whole competitive nature and rules reminds me of what happened to guitar in the late '80's. (in the hair-band metal era). It all became about being more of a technician than a musician. Musicality lost out to technical virtuosity. Eventually it all imploded, with the backlash called grunge. Everybody was sick of the Twiddly-Widdly how many notes can you fit in mentality, and people started writing real songs again. And the audiences responded positively. There's always going to be musicians who are obsessed with technical playing, as it is a big personal challenge to achieve. I feel that it is also a path some choose, in place of possessing an innate musicality. So I've come from being a metal guitarist, to playing and loving the sheer heart and musicality of these more traditional banjo influences. Thanks heaps Clifton.
Brian, I'm with you.... I was the lead guitarist in hard rock bands, some metal, mostly electric blues. After years and years of people coming up and saying 'Play something fast...' They didn't even want to hear a song. Like it or not, rock and roll, which was 'here to stay', has left. People in famous bands are playing the same stuff they played 30 years ago. Now I'm restoring my 1880 Buckbee....I just need something with a melody... Sometimes, the only thing left is to sit under a tree and play 'Lorena'...
I am 63, disabled, and live in the UK. I am about to purchase my first Banjo. You spoke a lot of sense young man, and listening to your song, accompanying your Banjo made me realise that duelling banjos, although brilliant, is same old, same old. You are a credit to your instrument and I will try my hardest to follow your good advise. Thank you, Colin
I play the blues harp and am a singer songwriter.
Hearing your style of banjo was the first time that I felt it spoke to me and I understood its beauty as an instrument. I never understood why, but this explanation helped a lot. Your style always seemed more complex, subtle and free-flowing than any other I'd heard before.
You're doing the Lord's work keeping this music alive, thank you sir.
4:00 - "There's no reason to get worked up over this, we're just talking about Banjos, right?" You are one cool character!
I’m from western NC and grew up with all this music. The only thing Clifton says that I take issue with is about dancing. I find it just as easy to flatfoot to bluegrass as I do to old time/traditional music.
Actually, in the interest of full transparency and humility, what I should have said is that I find it just as easy to dance poorly to bluegrass as I do to dance poorly to old time/traditional music.
You're not imagining things, Clifton. My favorite anecdote: I was at Fiddlers Grove one year, and someone asked me who my favorite old-time fiddler was. When I told her, "Ralph Blizard," who learned fiddle in the hills of Kentucky in the 20's, played on the radio in the 30's, and gave up fiddle for religious reasons until he resumed his career in the 70's, without batting an eye, she replied, "But he's not really old-time, is he." Granted, his fiddling was influenced by the Texas swing he heard on the radio, but he was as genuinely old-time as it gets. And the pressure to conform to a formula was also underscored by Nick Hornbuckle, who by necessity is an outstanding TWO FINGER bluegrass player. In an interview, he tells how, even after he was only playing two-finger, he would still wear the extra finger pick so as not to draw attention. Love your channel and I love your style. Keep up the good work!
Hi Clifton
I saw Jeff Warner playing his banjo and singing old tunes in a folk club over hear in the UK in 2014. I never liked banjo till then, I associated it with bluegrass. Following my retirement later that year, and Jeff's advice, I bought a five string with a Whitelady tone ring, found a clawhammer teacher (George Davies, who in turn was taught by Ken Perlman) and so began my life's journey with banjo. Whilst I struggle with playing, I have built a passionate collection of great old and new player's old time and traditional music. I have recently taken up a keen interest in the history of the banjo and it's music. I play and sing banjo and songs in a folk club, attend a social history group and have been invited to give a talk on the roots of banjo in slavery and modern times.
So when I saw your UA-cam page and patreon I was blown away. A person with the same thoughts and passions as myself (albeit me from the UK and no great shakes at playing ). I wish you great continued success with the project ; you can rely on my support.
my first comment was made before you started talking about your music experience. Dang you hit the nail on the head. It's happened to me too. I grew up going to the KY state fiddling championship every year. The best times were in the campground picking. I've felt those rules pushed on me many times. To get out I just learned to play all the instruments so I wouldn't get boxed in... when it got boring on one I'd switch to another. About 12 years in I began wondering if Bill Monroe himself would get run out of the jam circle? Pure freedom... I love it
Jam juggernauts and fiddle fascists everywhere - tread lightly, an uprising is in the offing. The Banjo Liberation Front cometh and is "done talkin'."
And as soon as the Banjo Liberation Front appears the Liberation Front for the Banjo will split off.
PS. Othias sent me here.
I will never bow to the Banjo Liberation Front. Liberation Front of Banjos forever!
I play scruggs style, but I just cant get the other styles. Because of your picking, You’ve got me interested in the 2 finger style now…
@@themanhimself1229 front for the banjo liberation bloc until death!
Pardon the pun, but this video resonates with me, big time. I started playing banjo on my own without lessons in order to back up a singer songwriter. I used a banjo with a resonator and finger picks. People automatically assumed I played Scruggs style bluegrass even though I have yet to play a single song in that style (although I love bluegrass). I eventually started learning claw hammer style and added drop thumbing and such and bought me an open back banjo at the local pawn shop. I absolutely love it!!. I also learned many traditional old time tunes in my own style and when I go to jams, I enjoy them, but definitely feel intimidated and out of place by the unspoken "rules" of old time jams and the styles associated with it. I'm legit scared to show up to Clifftop! I literally don't fit into any banjo crowd because of the supposed 2 categories that you just HAVE to fit into in order to be considered legit. I love playing my own style and being able to play with or with or without picks, resonator, or frets for that matter. There is such a freedom in it and I can play along to most anything because I have more than one tool to work with. I love learning from other famous players, but if all we do is mimic their styles, we are limiting ourselves so much!! My favorite thing is to play in a way that backs up my singing (in the key of C, and slowed down a bit, so you can actually pick out the melody - shhhh, don't tell anyone!) I just wish I could find more folks to jam with that aren't so pickersnickity about it all or feel that you have to pick a side and consider the other side less legit when there is a way larger world of banjo than bluegrass and old time. Thanks for the video and keep doing what you do!!! The way you play and sing has been very inspiring to me as I continue to learn - but no worries, I won't copy your style and create a third category of banjo playing ;O).
I’m disappointed that I’ve only recently discovered your channel! Your content in this particular video resonates deeply with me. I stopped plying banjo because I got sick of the rolls. Ended up selling my banjo and haven’t had one since. I’ve listened to traditional banjo and folk music my whole life and loved every minute of it. Weirdly enough, my family originates in the mountains of West Virginia so one might say it’s in my blood. You’ve inspired me to fall back in love with playing. Now on to convincing my wife to let me buy a nice open back! I hope to meet you someday and pick with you!
I love all styles of banjo playing.
I think this would be even better with a lot more musical examples.
"Buddy, it ain't nothin' but rules." That's the truth. Music competition, which I used to participate in, is soul crushing. As soon as someone starts reeling off the prizes they won I head for the door.
I agree a lot with you. I'm new to playing, but the more i learn the more i see the picking as just a way to show off who can play the fastest.
Hey Clif, I just want to tell ya, I've been playing banjo since Christmas and it has been a struggle picking a style. Most of the songs I hear on the radio (mostly XM) are bluegrass style, and the old man and I are regular attenders of the annual bluegrass festival here in southern Michigan, where the bluegrass style is about 98% dominant. I chose to learn clawhammer early on because it was the traditional style and I felt like it was respecting the instrument and the music more but as of late I was thinking about switching over and learning bluegrass, just because I felt like it might be more versatile. Thanks to you, I realize now that the facts are completely the opposite. I needed this tonight, I have felt a little perplexed about the whole thing. Clawhammer is definitely the style I'll stick with. And out of all the guys on youtube giving banjo instruction and interesting info along with it, you are by far the best in my opinion. Please keep doing what you are doing, it really means and motivates a lot!!
I saw you play and sing at Swannanoa a couple of weeks ago. You blew away the audience, and I don't mean sent them running! There is an appreciation for what you do. The rules come from people who intellectualise and formalise something that has evolved and continues to evolve. The talk and performance by George Gibson was excellent too, of course, and your performance highlighted what he had to say.
Thank you. George Gibson is both an exceptionally fine musician _and_ a cutting edge banjo researcher--to say that I was honored to share the stage with him would be an understatement. Both of us were fairly impressed by the staff and organization at the Swannanoa Gathering and hope to be invited back in the future. Thanks again for your kind words and insight.
Great insight subbuteo71, we too have those who prefer to intellectualise and formalise traditional music collected in Australia. Occasionally at a gathering someone in frustration will say, "just play the F$%!ng thing mate" Lol.
Crocs and swim trunks. Ha!
"And the judges just sit there waiting for the next -clickity-clickity- typewriter guy" LOL!
THANKYOU for that.
I'm in the uk, got given a broken banjo by a neighbour and have fixed it up.
I watch your style and tutorials and simply enjoy.
I've played guitar for 20 years and they are gathering dust as I am in love with the clawhammer style.
All that your saying is obviously new news to me.
I just like playing and singing songs.
I've yet to master the two finger picking and am in love with the journey.
It's been a saving grace for me during the lockdowns.
I love you, you sound so fantastic.
I hope you know Jesus, selfishly, coz I hope to see you on the other side, God bless. Xx
Your insight on that wonderful instrument is nothing less than inspirational,thank you
I often find myself coming back to where my true spark for the banjo came from, that little intro song that you played. Thank you.
You're soo right about the jam/convention scene. THE BANJO is just a tool of expressing what you're feeling inside. It HAS NO limitations. Thank you for your videos sir
I’ve watched this a dozen times and the part about the contests is still as funny as the first time that I saw it. I started three finger style as a teenager and like you, I got bored with it after a couple of years for that very reason. I’m 47 now and have played two finger style for several years and am just now learning frailing style. I won’t look back and you’re videos on here and patreon keep me pressing on, so thanks for what you do for our tradition.
This is so spot on man. I’ve been to Mt Airy, been invited to Clifftop, spent many hours “jamming” with old time guys...you and I have had parallel experiences. There is some truly wonderful music happening, for sure, but that driving rhythm you and I love is shunned with a glare, you feel so unwelcome. I play in a string band that does everything from old-time to Whitney Houston and we don’t fit at bluegrass festivals or old time things, we just are what we are. I play a bottleneck slide primarily in the band, try taking THAT to an Old Timey thing! Thanks for being a beacon in the traditional banjo world, I think that your lessons and videos really resonate with a lot of players who don’t fit in to the current two party banjo system.
Perfect.
Very well said. This is why, for the most part, I’d rather sit alone and explore my banjos possibilities than sit in a jam or play in a band.
This dude is the Jedi Knight of banjo picking
Real
I agree i much prefer oldtime to Bluegrass banjo.
This has opened my eyes. I love so many traditional banjo musicians and after taking lessons and playing the three-finger bluegrass style, I still found myself unable to play the songs I loved most. And when I found out that they were playing a completely different style, I realized I had been pursuing something completely separate from what I wanted. My instructor insists that this is the only way that matters and that it’s the best way to play. It’s a shame to see such a strange conflict in the entire community.
I’ll continue learning the “Scruggs” style because I’ve advanced so far but now will be taking lessons from two instructors. 😊
Thanks for writing, Nathaniel. You might find my Banjo Heritage course useful: BanjoHeritage.com
I've found there to be waaaay more rules in the old-time scene. Bluegrass is much more open to variation whereas old-time is extremely strict about what's allowed musically
We call that "McOldtime." It's terrible, and should not be confused with _traditional_ banjo music.
@@CliftonHicksbanjo I'm not sure I fully understand the distinction. Regardless, I actually think we may be experiencing a similar phenomenon within the old-time community, albeit from different angles possibly. But I appreciate both the inclinations to preserve tradition and conform to a style and the impulse to break from tradition and be more inclusive of a broader set of techniques and various approaches. Always a balancing act which I find fascinating. On a different note, would you call Noam Pikelny's or Bela Fleck's style limiting or boring?
I have never listened to Noam Pikelny, so won't comment, but I saw Bela Fleck live in concert at the age of 13. Fleck's style _is_ limited in that I never saw him do anything other than three-finger rolls (sans rhythm) using metal fingerpicks. The fingerpicks really limit his style. And it is, to me, absolutely boring.
A guy like Don Reno is a lot more exciting than bela fleck to me. Bela is way too much of a technician, his music is just wanky bullshit in my opinion. Don reno was truly innovative and his use of single string picking wasn't just to show off his knowledge of theory, it was purposeful
Such a great video, I've been watching a lot of your videos lately. It really hit home about you talking about the freedom that comes with Traditional Banjo playing.
As a bluegrass player, I have always gravitated more towards guys like Don Reno, John Hartford and Eddie Adcock because they basically take the no rules attitude and it makes their styles so much more fun! To me the banjo is the ultimate source of musical experimentation and if you find something that works for you, run with it! (P.S. I love the term 'the typewriter guy'😂)
Exactly. The guys you mentioned have a lot more in common with traditional "guitar style" banjo pickers pre-scruggs
Just rewatched this! I think it is probably my favorite QandA/Discussion you’ve had over on your Patreon site.
THANK YOU. I’ve been following along with you for a few years now and my brother and I both play traditional banjo. He went to Belmont and I went to App. Go ‘Neers! It grinds my gears when people are disappointed that I can’t play bluegrass, but I have no interest in doing so. Keep on doing what you’re doing!
Hit the nail on the head here I started with my banjo a year and a half ago almost gave it up because it seemed everyone wanted to emulate Scruggs and I hated the finger picks, but Mr. Clifton your style inspired me to keep at it now I’ve got a good 3-4 solid songs under my belt!
You're becoming the best banjo 2-finger, tuning, history and lessons dude on the internet. Hero!
I knew about the three finger style made popular by Flatt & Scrugs and had also heard of the clawhammer style. It was interesting to hear a bit about the differences in the styles as well as some of the other styles. I also recently saw a video on UA-cam titled "Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn: Clawhammer vs. Three-Finger Banjo Style". That video indicated to me that three finger doesn't have to be as simple or as boring as you seem to have found it. It was also interesting to hear that a banjo player might play in only one particular style and doesn't often do both three finger and clawhammer.
Driving all over Boone trying to find organic bluegrass is like trying to find the good ginseng (and just as impossible to find). I was at the ol' cabin in the "holler" around Meat Camp all this year, trying my best to pick out sounds and concepts that are genuine and tied to an actual people, culture, and history.
I took a break from the mountains and went to Raleigh for the IBMA's, which, imho, were just completely soulless. Bela Fleck won banjo player of the year if that says anything to anyone. The bluegrass and traditional music course at East TN State seems cut from IBMA's cloth - both are clearly promoting a politicized agenda where it seems to matter more what type of person is doing the playing and what philosophical message they're promoting, than how good or genuine the music actually is.
Anyway - this commentary from Clifton was so refreshing to hear. I say that as someone who plays mostly the bluegrass, three-finger styles. That said: I've been experimenting with ways to mimic the more traditional sounds (which usually has me tuning out of the standard G-position and to an odd C-tuning I found in the back of that old Banjo Case Chord Book). Why do this? Just listen to a standard tune like Scruggs' Cumberland Gap, then listen to a Clawhammer guy do the same song. It's almost completely different! If one of my Appalachian ancestors heard the Scruggs version he wouldn't know what he was hearing.
I always remember the old southern agrarian poet Donald Davidson, in his book Still Rebels, Still Yankees, when he echos Yeats: true art needs to be like a centaur, head and intellect of a man, looking up to the skies, but rump firmly and forever planted in the culture and people which gave it life. On that view, I'd rather hear a saxophone if it was truly singing for my culture and people, rather than a hundred-banjo-orchestra, playing about some alien romance...
Thanks for all you do, Clifton! (You're mountain ginseng).
Love your craft and Identify with your take on the Banjo. Myself, am on my own. I was shown the basic Pee Seeger bump ditty in 1976 and have been plugging along ever since. I recently adopted the Clawhammer strum and basically do what my instincts come up with. Drunks love what I do. They say I'm better than Earl Scruggs. That is a ridiculous compliment to be sure. Folks ask, how long you been playing? I don't know about playing, but I can say how long I've owned one. Your a genuine instinctive player/singer, making songs with your own twist. Great! You are a wealth of info that I have received great advice from. True original and entertaining. You have renewed my banjo interest also. I have done beer joints, fish fries, and small parties on a whim and ended up making a contribution to old fashioned fun. I have played around with songs like Bad Moon rising, Going up the Country, and some others with the old time style of Banjo and having fun with it. Praise God for the small audiences of drunks and also Old folks that remember the music from the past. When people get up and dance, and you see foot tapping, and there are beers stacked on the table/bar where I sit, it gives instant joy to see happy faces. Keep up your work for you bring Joy to the world!
I loved your song at the beginning so much! I could listen to that for hours! Thank you for the history lesson and thoughts
Just a newbie here I started with finger picks, but I have moved to claw hammer,and I am eyeing down 2 finger style as well. I use a standard banjo with a resonator, nothing fancy, but it sounds good. I was also looking at getting into a slow jam group, but they all want you to use a capo. I play violin too, I can't see why they the fiddler player can't play in G. Interesting talk.
This has really helped me. I started with picking and got bored so gave up. Now I'm trying clawhammer, 2 finger style and Seeger style. Super video
I've been on the banjo for bit now. After spending a few years writing my own music. I'm now just starting to educate myself about the history of the instrument, and styles of playing. I definitely find your channel interesting and enlightening Clifton. Folks come up sometimes after our gigs and ask my what style I play. I don't know. Suppose it's a clawhammer variant of some kind. Most gigs it'll get all clickity clackity in my head after a while, and I get bored. Then I just try to figure out another way to play that can serve the song. I've also had banjo players come up and tell me "I'm doing it all wrong". My general response is "Well buddy, I just got done playing music we wrote with four of my best friends". I too have been shunned a couple times from our local bluegrass get togethers. And to think I used to feel that the rock music scene was full of ego and male bravado. Shiet.
Sheeit. Those "you're doing it all wrong" people are just ignorant house slaves. Ignore 'em.
I’m not a good banjo player at all, but I won’t stop. I’m self taught so my style is a mish mash of claw hammer, two finger and up picking - backless banjo. Your channel is helping me refine my messy style. Thanks.
don't stop being you!
great video Clifton! i am new to clawhammer banjo and have fallen in love with it. I enjoy the old time sound. i think people should play whatever style makes them happy but i totally get your point on the limitations that may be there for each style. i will say i have watched a lot of banjo players on youtube and you are one of the few (along with Patrick Costello) that has shown me that playing is more than just picking notes and memorizing tabs. the music becomes part of you. i love history and Appalachian to be exact so i respect where the music roots come from and my main goal is to sit on my porch in the woods and enjoy playing my banjo!! i do it for me and the ones that came before me. Movies like the Mountain Minor, Songcatcher, Cold Mountain, Old Brother Where Art Thou, that music is what I truly enjoy. keep up the great work.
I have been watching your vids for 4 yrs and today was the first time I watched this vid. When I first stumbled on your page I was trying to play with metal finger picks etc …. I watched your “how to play German War” vid and that vid changed my whole mind on how I wanted to play. 🍻🍻🍻😎
This was a brilliant video...I got to say I've really been waiting for some one to say this, and tell it like it really is .....
Well said, I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels that way!
Wow, Ive had such an extremely different experience at these festivals. I play melodic clawhammer. Even a tad more progressively than trad round peak. My banjo doesn’t have a railroad spike and I don’t own a capo. I just tune my strings to the tune being played. And Ive NEVER been put down for it. I’ve had a few of the older players get upset that play too many syncopations and harmonies. But that’s about it. Other than that I’ve found that if I just ignore whatever perceived rules there are, that I get along just fine and almost everyone welcomes me at their jam.
Fascinating, Clifton, I’ve been listening to many interesting opinions on festivals and that community, lately. Never been to a fest though; I come to this old time community late in life. But I agree, trying out bluegrass style a million years ago, I was not attracted to the successions of rolls. I fell in love with banjo though the movie, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, as many people did, and I tried to learn a little bit. Fast forward, I came across your channel, and found the traditional sound (and, later, instruction) that I loved.
Years of observation have made it clear to me that festival musicians mostly play festival music. The bulk of their "old-time" repertoire has its roots in the 1960s urban folk revival--not in vernacular tradition. If, like me, you draw attention to this reality, you may find yourself excommunicated from the cult.
I can’t agree more with the comments - I didn’t realise that what you’ve said is what I’ve felt ever since I first heard banjo music & what hooked me. Back in the 80s & by just good luck my parents bought me John Burke’s ‘Old Time Banjo & Fiddle Tunes’ which included a floppy plastic record of short pieces. I wore this out playing it over & over and then recorded it to cassette (which eventually got chewed up). I’ve since lost that record & tape but I’ve never forgotten those old time tunes & what they mean to me.
I have a banjo & play claw hammer (badly) but I’ve consumed as much old time music a possible over the years through CD & in the last few years thanks to UA-cam; coming from the UK means we’re not lucky to have a vibrant old time festival circuit to tap in.
It’s so great to see & hear your love & appreciation of old time banjo and demonstrate such natural virtuosity. More importantly though one can see your feel for the music which is everything.
What’s a reasonable amount to pay for a banjo and what brands should I consider or stay away from?
Gold Tone AC1 is the best beginner banjo today. Stay away from Deering and Pisgah (low quality and overpriced).
@@CliftonHicksbanjo Really interesting you don't recommend Deering. I'm only an occasional banjo player in the UK and I'm more than satisfied with my bottom of the range Good Time open back 5 string. Decent tone, easy playability and stays in tune. No complaints.
After a bunch of looking around, a lot of deerings didn’t feel right, sort of cheap and clunky, found a used gold tone, I think an mc150a or something like that. Love it.
I just bought a Gold Tone AC1…. Excellent no-frills banjo that sounds good and is well made.
The AC1 is affordable cuz it's built in China, while the Deering Goodtime is US built. The quality differences are subjective.
I have nothing against capos and do more bluegrass than anything else (although I just bought my first open back) but I hear ya. Really like your stuff. Tell it like you see it and keep making great music. I'll make it a goal of mine to chase off a whole jam some time!
I have always just picked. Your EPIC and i agree fully. My momma said she'd sit on the porch up om greasy ridge OH an hear pure bluegrass pickn and fiddle echo through the hollers. THANKS for the inspiration to get my banjo back out.
That was a great podcast Clifton, I took up Banjo 4 years ago and am loving playing overhand (Scruggs-style was always too "mechanical" to my ears), but when I hear your sound, I know that is what I really want to do with my Banjo. I prefer to play songs and would love to have folks dance although most of them just run away at the moment ;) But I'm jumping aboard your freedom train! Just got to master this 2 finger style !
And those guys like to play FAST. First time I watched one of your videos I thought, now this guy has rhythm, what they call the pure drop in Ireland.
I grew up with bluegrass my uncle plays mandolin and my father plays guitar and I’ve recently started learning banjo my aunt always dances when we or they would jam. I think it is more preference but I like old time traditional folk banjo you name it. I think we find it more that when we come to a point of euphoria we develop arrogance and I’m not calling you arrogant but it is what it is. I don’t think my 3 picks are gonna hurt nobody.
I don't play well, but I learned from an older fellow from central NC named Marvin Gaster. He plays his own old-time finger picking style. It probably wouldn't pass muster in Galax or Mt. Airy but he did win the N.C. Heritage Award in 2000, for old-time banjo. Go figure....
11:57 I'm a big fan of good old clawhammer fiddle groove, it's pure feeling, I love to play it and that's what make people get up and dance. I also like the ''speedy mechanical scrug picking style'' creating a beautiful percussive background in bluegrass music. I don't understand why you put a ''way to play banjo'' superior than the other since the intention of the instrument in both case are completely different. It's not even the same style of music
I have been a Scruggs player since the start, but as I age, I am drawn more to old timey. Truth be told, it's really a lot easier on the untrained ear than hotrod bluegrass 3 finger. I love them both, tho. Great video. You cover it all.
Thank you for this discussion. You took a chance, and I'm glad I heard it.
Beautiful playing mate! I'm not a banjo player and am from a wildly different musical tradition, but I've been interested in playing the banjo. How would you define traditional banjo playing? Is it just a freer version of clawhammer that may or may not include singing? In any case, you've convinced me on what I want to learn on the banjo, once I get one, that is.
Unfortunately for my location and age demographic, most people associate the banjo with rapid fire picking with the same old licks. Funny that when it comes to rock music, anything goes for us. Get a guitar, maybe some drums, and go wild! Thank you for keeping the beauty of music alive.
West Kentucky I can relate. I’d been vibed out by the jams . They never wanted to share when I don’t come from bluegrass … I wanted to learn but they were a little short with me. I like this style you play , all the folks I’ve met that play like that also are nice to me and very forthcoming about sharing songs and Melodies, much like the idiom I came from
Just found this video. Wear it out young man. Awesome.
Just so you know Mr. Hicks I am a traditional banjo player. Just clawhammer and two finger style. I agree with your comments completely sir.
Lovin the drop thumb. I just learned clawhammer but I really need to get my thumb moving off the little string.
Right on brother keep doing what your doing. I just let the banjo do what it wants, I follow no rules. It's my favorite instrument and sometimes I'll close my eyes and play. Take care
I agree every musicians should have a freedom of expression and not be forced to play a instrument a certain way. I play bagpipes and it’s the opposite,you are shunned if you don’t play it the traditional way. I like bluegrass but I like the old mountain folk music more, we do have some of that music tradition in Arkansas especially since many of the settlers to the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas was came from Appalachia . Well they of course settled southern Missouri too. A few of my favorite tunes are probably considered American folk , The Wildwood Flower and of course since I’m a Arkie , Arkansas Traveler .
In my experience, all of the rural people who inhabit the Southern states from Florida to So-Cal (be they Anglo, Afro, Indigenous, or Hispanic) are _one_ people. We share so many cultural traits that our differences become irrelevant.
Thanks for the video! A big turning point in my banjo playing was when i discovered your youtube videos! It was nice to see someone doing something different. Haven't been playing in a while though. I'll have to get back into some banjo again.
For a learner.. What would be the best style to start with
For me it was easiest to learn two-finger picking first: ua-cam.com/video/dVWW9kQcuz8/v-deo.html
Practice the technique you want to play.
I love this.
And completely agree, you're talking stuff I wanna hear. I've been playing various banjo styles and techniques for years now and learned to hate the idea of conformity more and more as time passes. Same goes for lots of instruments (think Hendrix), he broke all the rules!
The thing about the 5-string banjo is that it's so ripe for creativity and variation, so why limit to roll patterns anyway?
My fav is probably 2-finger on gut-string mountain, or big civil war-type fretless banjos. I regularly throw in a few extra fingers where necessary for a particular song, use a metal slide on the third finger for fretless. Makes the banjo sing.
I also like watching Sarah Nichols play and sing, the way she brings tunes right down to the pure melody and banjo tone.
I always take a steel string long-neck to acoustic sessions in pubs (UK) where I can be heard over the din. For this I use flat pick and 2 finger country guitar-style, so I can roll, mute, vamp, pick single note runs, bend, dig in, solos, anything in any key, except rarely do I use the pick to strum (too harsh). Also easy to switch to guitar mid song.
When any bluegrass reso players turn up they're always sittin around waitin their turn whereas I can play accompaniment on just about all as it goes round. The only rule about banjo - there's no rules - 'cept good tuning!
When you can play and sing like you can Clifton, you don't need a band. Uncle Dave didn't have rules nor did Earl..damn the rule bookers...full strumming, picking, frailing, drop thumbing (or any combination of these) ahead!😊
"there's no reason to get offended...we're just talking about banjos right?" love it
I love your way of playing, well I love the banjo sound period. But really like hearing you play and sing
Amen, mister. I started a decade ago playing three finger Scruggs style. Realized something soon enough I would never sound like Earl, I would sound like someone who sounds like someone who sounds like Scruggs. Also, and people don't get this, Bluegrass is an ensemble performance tradition. It's not for dancing, it's for sitting and listening. And it's for soloing in a group, but everybody would sound pretty lame if they were doing the exact same thing alone. Not true for so many trad styles of banjo! And it was boring! (Although I do occasionally use picks on one of my favorite open backs--that way I offend more than one class of banjo players!) Once saw Ralph Stanley live in a little bar with a stage and he talked about how everybody he knew when he was a youth played a bunch of different styles--just before he did some clawhammer tunes. So anyway, I hear ya, rules can wring the enjoyment out of the banjo. Just one rule I live by: If it don't sound good, stop it.
Thanks for posting your videos Clifton. I haven't even bought my first Banjo yet and am just testing the water with myself to see what style would suit me. I think your videos are a testimony to your ability both as a player and as a teacher. You really feel your way around the instrument and I love your approach to allowing creativity within styles. I don't like being hemmed into anything in life. thanks for everything you share on here.
Clifton, I'm from Belfast in N. Ireland and I've loved Bluegrass all my life. Lately I've seen all those rules coming into the style of playing not only banjo , but guitar as well. It's crippling individual style and and killing personal musical growth. I fully agree with a lot of what you say and I'll tell you one thing I'd rather listen to you than most of the crap the the big recording companies churn out simply to line their pockets. Its a crying shame, man, and I thank heavens there's still men like you around with balls big enough to do you're own thing and encourage others to do the same. I laughed when you said about anchoring your picking hand and putting on picks because those two rules alone are becoming almost like the 11 and 12 commandments and I can't believe the people that preach them don't realise how crazy they are. All the nuances of tone and timbre while plucking at different positions on the pot and even on the neck lost, just like that. They're not doing the instruments any justice at all. Anyhow, sir, you keep on plucking wherever the heck you want and continue being yourself and may the powers that be continue to give you the strength to stand your ground well away from those masses of plucking idiots. Just love your style, you're a class act and there's a spirit in you that links you to the uthentic music and musicians from a time that to my mind they want to erase because it probably causes someone somewhere a bit of offence. Sad days my friend.
What you say rings true for the old-time jams around here (central NC). The circles are fiddle-centric, and the game for the banjo is to follow the fiddle note-for-note (or as best can be achieved at 220 bpm). It's exhausting and not a huge amount of fun. I still want to fit in, though, so thanks for the tip on wearing crocs. That'll put everything right.
The poor banjo player that finds themselves lassoed into one of these goat-ropes is usually compelled to function more like a court typist than a banjoist. Hence the term "typewriter banjo" coined in recent years.
Thanks for your explanation but I figure if someone gets offended they must have nothing else to do. I have tied several ways to play and gave up 5yrs ago because the basic 3 finger(Scruggs) style just did not work very well for me. Brain issue for me and not the banjo. LOL. I tried Clawhammer thinking it was easier. Not true. It just seemed to fit me better. I feel more comfortable with the old time style. Still want to play a few bluegrass Scruggs style songs to exercise my brain finger coordination just really being a challenge to me and a brain exercise for the day. I love the natural way of playing without picks and also like the bit of trying to sing while playing Clawhammer style. It is just pure fun. I always considered clawhammer, old time and traditional banjo playing basically the same. No rules but a lot of good rhythm and picking when needed. Listened to a tape I had of Dwight Diller and got hooked again. This time there is no turning back.
Far as i'm concerned you can take or leave his conclusions on the topic, but without listening to him discuss the matter i would have never known that banjo subculture drilled down deeper and wider than just a "bluegrass" vs tradish dichotomy. learning something new from ever video over here
Y'all ain't heard a Bela Fleck smh. I'm kidding, but really, there's so much variation in any good banjo picker.
YES!!! I don't jam and I don't go to festivals for the reasons which you mention. Well said. If you don't fit into the box then you aren't accepted.
Thanks for another interesting post. I think one more reason there's so little singing in old time jams is that most people really struggle to sing the songs in the keys fiddle players, tuned to standard, play them. Amazing how singable it all gets if you tune down two or three half steps.
Post-modern fiddlers being brainwashed into playing _everything_ with tuning pegs jacked up to A or D is one of the tragedies of the recent Folk Revivals. Most people simply _cannot_ sing that high. Meanwhile the average human voice (at least among men) falls in E, F and G. Not only do the latter keys more closely resemble the human voice, they also sound better to my ears and, especially at F, the strings respond better to my fingers. Everyone needs to take a step back from their tuners and their capos and try tuning to their own voice. _That_ is our heritage.
I played with a violinist trying to become a fiddler who said "put that capo down, this box can play in any key" and proceeded to churn out some really nice double stop droney stuff, never using a single note on an open string. We played in G and C, mostly because it was easy for me and the guitarist and because most of our repertoire was sung in those keys around a campfire with just a guitar. She asked me for a bit of the melody, then repeated the most important parts in multiple positions to find a comfortable way to play it, said "I got it" and off we we went. We had some great fun.
I think coming from guitar to banjo bluegrass style is easier to pick up as I'm struggling with the overhand movement but I prefer old-time just perseverance and hopefully I'll get the strings to twang instead of mutely plonk
KEEP RUNNIN OFF THEM JAMS CLIFTON!!!! MAD LOVE SON!!
Oh man I LOVE that intro song! Hope you post the whole song someday! I completely agree with you about Bluegrass. Scruggs is a great banjo player but I never have cared for that style at all. Sold a lot of records but turned many off to the Banjo. Don't know much about Roundpeak to comment. Surprisingly this Millennial generation really has embraced the old time music and made it more popular. It wasn't until a few years ago I happened to run into a band at a folk festival called, The Lowest Pair, a Banjo duo and they played slow and soulfully and I was really taken by that sound. Then I happened to click on a Derroll Adams video here on UA-cam called Oregon and that led me to you and a few others and I`ve been a huge Old time Banjo music fan since. Two finger and overhand (clawhammer) are my favorite styles. I like the way you and Derroll Adams play the upstroke style very much as well.
I don’t care for most Blue Grass banjo, since it strikes me as all virtuosity and no soul. I feel so lucky finding this UA-cam channel right when I purchased my first banjo. I first started using a four finger picking style on the banjo, since that’s how I played the guitar, but I’ve also been doing claw hammer and Hick’s two finger style. I’m going to be all over the map in my playing style, just like Hicks is, although I’ve yet to try the 3 finger, rolling style.
Thank you for this. Always felt the same
I like your style, traditional style, best.
what a great video.. Glad I found your channel
I have loved the banjo for years and about to take it up. I seem to like open-backs more than resonator. I agree with, whilst everything seems to be guided by rules, they can be broken to do what you need to do. Very enlightening talk on your open views, I agree totally. I want to learn frailing, strumming, picking and rolls all on an open-back.
Really refreshing I have been stuck on the g tuning playing or trying to the bum diddy etc I am 72 just picked up the banjo as a gift a year ago,i have always broke conformity in my life so to hear this it's great loving the sound I can now hear the banjo for the 1st time, it always sounded flat sat behind it playing so keep on doing what your doing because as a young elder I need young voices so I can learn would appreciate more of what your doing welcome to the UK
Try double C tuning. It is easy to learn and it opens new horizons.
My dad played clawhammer and was learning Scruggs style when he passed away.
Wide open traditional. I like that.
Thank you. I see a parallel with blues guitar playing
Yes, Jeremy. I think the same dynamic exists in any traditional music scene. I've heard from people involved in Irish, blues, Cajun, Native American, and even Indian classical music. All report similar experiences.
I hear old Blues in Traditional. Delta.
Personally i use several styles of picking, depending on the song. Some songs sound better in different styles.
I think it's a shame that so many people want to sound like earl Scruggs or other people, instead of wanting to sound like themselves.
Also i firmly believe that if one needs to use picks to get more volume, their technique needs adjusting. If you can't get the most out of your instrument with your hands than your not playing it correctly. That may be my classical and flamenco guitar background talking but I've applied that mindset to all my instruments and have had nothing but positive responses.
I too like some bluegrass, but I much prefer the old time style. I think it is the direct ancestor of Celtic music but the banjo came from Africa, so it really is truly diverse
Quick talk but big lesson!!! Appreciate that!
This cracked me up at the same time putting a tear in my eye.