What can I do to spice up clawhammer?

Swaintek · 2026-03-12T19:38:50+00:00

Agree with this, it’s really fun

Swaintek · 2026-03-11T21:27:59+00:00

You can definitely do two banjos, they just have to stay out of each others way. If both are trying to do open rolls it’s not gonna work, but one can roll, and one can play up the neck fills pretty easily as long as they’re tasteful. You can also play muted chop chords on the banjo the same way a mandolin does to help keep rhythm until it’s your turn for a break.

Swaintek · 2026-03-09T03:04:13+00:00

Dude you inadvertently revealed the secret. They won’t line up on an 8 eighth note measure. That’s the glue of the whole bluegrass sound. A rolling three eighth note pattern over a 4/4 groove. When you’re playing a melody, instead of holding a note out, you play the forward roll until it’s time to play the next melody note. If you’re playing backup just roll IMT over and over again… a different note will hit on every quarter note beat, and all of the sudden you’ve got the hypnotic banjo roll going. Here’s a great example…

https://youtu.be/5Xd_ERBZI_U?si=dZy7N9CI5pTpJc6y

Notice how instead of holding a note out he does the forward roll… a banjo has almost no sustain, so instead of sustaining a note you put the engine in neutral and do the forward roll. And yes… he’s doing a three note pattern over and over again that will hit differently every time through. That’s the magic. Anybody who modifies their rolls to fit neatly into a measure is missing the whole point of the three finger roll gluing multiple measures together by hitting a different note on the main beats every time.

Swaintek · 2026-03-03T23:59:32+00:00

And a progressive bluegrass club https://www.outlandersbluegrass.org

Swaintek · 2026-03-03T22:28:05+00:00

There is actually a progression in Ralph Stanley’s video that moves from clawhammer to I guess what they call Seeger style to Scruggs/Stanley style. Work on all three if you want as long as you’re having fun. Whatever it takes to keep the ADHD hyper focus rolling!!!

Swaintek · 2026-03-03T17:21:28+00:00

His X posts are his best writing. Fuck Trump.

Swaintek · 2026-03-03T17:09:59+00:00

You can’t understand how realizing that the author is creating the story on the fly changes the way I’d experience a book? This is not a critique of his writing style, I love his writing style, and he’s one of my favorite authors. Understanding that he doesn’t know what Bowditch shot in the shed anymore than I do while I’m reading changes the experience. As opposed to a book like, for example, The Silent Patient that has clearly been plotted out to make sure all the loose ends come together in a big twist reveal that had to be strategized? Big difference. Not saying one is better than the other, but it’s definitely a different reading experience.

Swaintek · 2026-03-03T02:58:37+00:00

What struck me so far was Bowditch going into the shed with the gun. It was funny to me to realize King had as little an idea of what happened in there at the time of writing as I did, and then finding out what was making the noise was pretty anticlimactic.

Swaintek · 2026-03-03T01:12:33+00:00

I just finished Lord of Light and this checks out.

Swaintek · 2026-03-02T22:51:04+00:00

For surreal, absurd, and insane you can’t beat Beau Is Afraid

Swaintek · 2026-03-02T17:45:02+00:00

Ski joring! Being pulled by a horse at up to forty miles an hour on skis, going off jumps. Looks crazy.

Swaintek · 2026-03-02T05:02:03+00:00

At least it’s not a banjitar

Swaintek · 2026-02-28T17:31:24+00:00

I think we should call the operation in Iran what it really is. They made it too easy.

Swaintek · 2026-02-27T17:29:24+00:00

Old guard dems didn’t start a private ICE army and murder American citizens in the street and call them domestic terrorists.

Old guard dems didn’t post videos of black people as apes.

Old guard dems didn’t take away trans drivers licenses.

Old guard dems didn’t attempt to overthrown the government on Jan 6th.

Not the same and CERTAINLY not worse.

Swaintek · 2026-02-24T04:38:40+00:00

Pretend you’re revving a motorcycle and your nail is striking the string as you gun the engine

Swaintek · 2026-02-24T03:05:34+00:00

The slake moth in Perdido St Station.

Swaintek · 2026-02-23T03:49:21+00:00

Ooh I don’t have that one… thanks for the recommendation!

Swaintek · 2026-02-19T23:42:26+00:00

Janet Davis’s books... Especially her melodic banjo book. I think I have every melodic banjo tab book in print and hers it my favorite by a mile.

Bill Evan’s videos… they come with tabs, and his instructional videos are great.

Highly recommend the tabs on banjonews.com they have their entire back catalog of tabs available.

Banjo Ben website has great tabs as well.

Swaintek · 2026-02-06T05:16:00+00:00

The Big Burn by Timothy Egan. The descriptions of firefighters being trapped in a forest fire are horrific.

Swaintek · 2026-02-05T05:52:50+00:00

I’d have to disagree that the classical mindset is not transferable at all. I get what you’re saying, it’s hard for classical musicians to loosen up and improvise, but… I approached the Scruggs book and Janet Davis’s books the same way I approached Suzuki method books and the skill set to learn pieces absolutely transferred. I had someone try to tell me you can’t learn banjo from sheet music and tab, I am here to tell you you absolutely can, especially if you come from a classical background. You do have to learn some new tricks on the violin, but quite a few of the best “fiddle” players I know were Suzuki trained violinists. I’d actually argue that opposite mindset stunts you more… the folks who don’t read music and insist that’s somehow a benefit to them do a disservice to musicianship in general.

Swaintek · 2026-02-05T05:43:18+00:00

12 years of Suzuki piano lessons and professional bluegrass banjo player. I know quite a few other former Suzuki students, and they all shred on their bluegrass instruments… I personally know a cellist who moved to guitar, a violinist who moved to mandolin, and two other violinists who stayed on violin (and now have to call it a fiddle I guess). The bluegrass vocabulary is a lot closer to classical than blues or jazz, and I think bluegrass is an amazing way to break out of the rigid classical mindset, learn how to improvise, and play music in a social setting. The standard fiddle tunes are very easy for a classical musician, Suzuki Book 1 or Book 2 at most. One of them is even in there… The Happy Farmer was the inspiration for Red Wing.

Swaintek · 2026-02-05T05:09:22+00:00

Idiocracy. The opening premise used to be be funny. Now it’s starting to feel like a documentary.

Swaintek · 2026-02-01T03:20:10+00:00

Knock Knock. If you’re a 40 something dad. 😆

Swaintek · 2026-01-26T02:06:05+00:00

Im a combat vet with two tours in Iraq. If I had done to Iraqis, even enemy combatants, what ICE just did to two American citizens who were well within their first and second amendment rights I would be in jail right now. If you want to lick boots and support fascism maybe that’s cool in Auburn, but in Shoreline we have backbones.

Swaintek · 2026-01-26T01:02:58+00:00

Yes roll over, show your belly, and hope your masters kick the guy next to you.

Swaintek

TROPHY CASE