This topic was discussed years ago, with some interesting replies - I thought I'd canvass the masses again.
Does anyone play clawhammer banjo in sessions? Or play in a session with someone that does? Do they play mainly melody or backup?
Reason I'm asking is because I'm a fairly accomplished clawhammerer in American old-time styles (both New England/contradance and appalachian), and I also play a number of Irish tunes for my own amusement. When I play by myself, I play the tunes (full melody, some ornamentation that is natural to the instrument/tuning), but I think it has some possibilities for backup in a melody-outline implied-harmony kind of way.
Any thoughts? I realize it's not at all traditional in the Irish session scene - but thought it might work in some of the "looser" sessions...
"years ago"- Tony Furtado used to show up once in a while at the session i played in. He could make it work passably well.But to my mind the innate rythm of the clawhammer style compromises the innate rythm of irish trad. same thing goes for flatpick guitar and recorder heh heh...
cheers, pipewatcher
Alan - I, for one, would be interested to see what can be done with clawhammer banjo and Irish music. Want to put up a little video on youtube and show us?
I think clawhammer banjo works well with Irish "Folk" Songs, but not really to well with tunes. Unless of course you want to play Irish tunes in an Old-Timey fashion. Ken Perlman might disagree with me.
Avi - I don't have the necessary equipment to make a video, no functioning computer at home.
Check out Cathy Moore on Youtube (search under Banjomeetsworld). She does a few irish tunes clawhammer style - medley of Cooley's and the Congress, and the Old Bush medleyed with an american tune called Durang's Hornpipe. Pretty neat stuff.
check out ken perlman's website. he is wonderful to listen to and great fun at sessions. his derry hornpipe is truly sweet. i think he's giving a house concert with grey larsen in bloomington, IN, this week or next, i think, and i wish i could get there for it.
cathy moore is another great player, but she finds it so easy to speed that she can be hard (for me) to stay with.
musically, the lack of percussive punch can be unsettling at first, but the legato is beautiful. and the instrument is loud enough to make itself heard....
I am in a band with a 5-string player who manages pretty well to accompany the tunes with a combination of melody and harmony.
There is another local 5-string player who can play melody as fast and cleanly as many fiddlers, but the old bluegrass sound creeps in to some extent.
Alan - I just went and checked out Cathy Moore on youtube. She is tremendous! I'm a big Andy Irvine fan and all that Bulgarian influences in her music just feed into that.
Very inspiring
Avi
p.s any idea what kind of a banjo she is playing?
I’ve heard some lovely playing of Irish tunes on clawhammer banjo, going back thirty years or more, but it always sounds to me more like bringing the Irish tunes into the clawhammer banjo world than bring clawhammer into the Irish tune world. Not that there’s anything at all wrong with that.
I’ve played clawhammer banjer for a loooong time, but never felt the desire to play The Tunes on it, but I still think there are some interesting possibilities for an accompaniment role.
Avi - Cathy's playing is tremendous, no question. I think her approach fits in with what Bob is alluding to - she takes Irish tunes (and other easternish trad tunes) and adapts them to fit her style, which is "old timey" clawhammer banjo.
I think she's playing an old 1920's SS Stewart.
Bob - I was thinking along the lines of accompaniment, sort a bouzouki like approach, maybe with some melody or melody outline in places...
Georgi - you're right on about the tuning changes. with clawhammer banjo it's important to have as many open strings as possible because of some technique limitations. I've found aDADE works pretty well for everything but the G tunes. Problem is, there are alot of G tunes!
"Bob - I was thinking along the lines of accompaniment, sort a bouzouki like approach, maybe with some melody or melody outline in places... "
Right. That's the way I envision it. I dabbled just a bit years ago. Didn't develop anything serious, just enough to make me think it had possibilities.
Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
This topic was discussed years ago, with some interesting replies - I thought I'd canvass the masses again.
Does anyone play clawhammer banjo in sessions? Or play in a session with someone that does? Do they play mainly melody or backup?
Reason I'm asking is because I'm a fairly accomplished clawhammerer in American old-time styles (both New England/contradance and appalachian), and I also play a number of Irish tunes for my own amusement. When I play by myself, I play the tunes (full melody, some ornamentation that is natural to the instrument/tuning), but I think it has some possibilities for backup in a melody-outline implied-harmony kind of way.
Any thoughts? I realize it's not at all traditional in the Irish session scene - but thought it might work in some of the "looser" sessions...
Thanks!
Alan
# Posted on October 10th 2008 by Alan B
Re: Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/7557/comments
That is the thread from years ago you referred to I guess.
# Posted on October 10th 2008 by Bren
Re: Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
Yes, thank you Bren.
Just to clarify, this is 5-string banjo, usually tuned aDADE for Irish music...
# Posted on October 10th 2008 by Alan B
Re: Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
"years ago"- Tony Furtado used to show up once in a while at the session i played in. He could make it work passably well.But to my mind the innate rythm of the clawhammer style compromises the innate rythm of irish trad. same thing goes for flatpick guitar and recorder heh heh...
cheers, pipewatcher
# Posted on October 10th 2008 by pipewatcher
Re: Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
Alan - I, for one, would be interested to see what can be done with clawhammer banjo and Irish music. Want to put up a little video on youtube and show us?
Thanks,
Avi
# Posted on October 10th 2008 by improziv
Re: Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
I think clawhammer banjo works well with Irish "Folk" Songs, but not really to well with tunes. Unless of course you want to play Irish tunes in an Old-Timey fashion. Ken Perlman might disagree with me.
# Posted on October 10th 2008 by drinkybanjo
Re: Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
Great comments so far!
Avi - I don't have the necessary equipment to make a video, no functioning computer at home.
Check out Cathy Moore on Youtube (search under Banjomeetsworld). She does a few irish tunes clawhammer style - medley of Cooley's and the Congress, and the Old Bush medleyed with an american tune called Durang's Hornpipe. Pretty neat stuff.
# Posted on October 10th 2008 by Alan B
Re: Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
check out ken perlman's website. he is wonderful to listen to and great fun at sessions. his derry hornpipe is truly sweet. i think he's giving a house concert with grey larsen in bloomington, IN, this week or next, i think, and i wish i could get there for it.
cathy moore is another great player, but she finds it so easy to speed that she can be hard (for me) to stay with.
musically, the lack of percussive punch can be unsettling at first, but the legato is beautiful. and the instrument is loud enough to make itself heard....
# Posted on October 10th 2008 by 'tinamatt
Re: Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
I am in a band with a 5-string player who manages pretty well to accompany the tunes with a combination of melody and harmony.
There is another local 5-string player who can play melody as fast and cleanly as many fiddlers, but the old bluegrass sound creeps in to some extent.
# Posted on October 10th 2008 by oldstrings
Re: Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
scottish pipe tunes sound good on 5-string.
for example Tthe Drunken Piper, sounds good with gDGBD if you play it in G.
# Posted on October 11th 2008 by DubChieftain
Re: Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
http://www.pelicancrossing.net/banjo.htm
http://irish5string.homestead.com/chrisG.htmlhttp://www.irish-banjo.com/instruments/five-string-banjo/index.html
# Posted on October 11th 2008 by dafydd
Re: Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
I heard Tom Paley play £42 Cheque on the 5-string a while ago.
# Posted on October 11th 2008 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
I would imagine the constant key changes would be a source of some consternation...
# Posted on October 12th 2008 by Georgi
Re: Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
Alan - I just went and checked out Cathy Moore on youtube. She is tremendous! I'm a big Andy Irvine fan and all that Bulgarian influences in her music just feed into that.
Very inspiring
Avi
p.s any idea what kind of a banjo she is playing?
# Posted on October 13th 2008 by improziv
Re: Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
I’ve heard some lovely playing of Irish tunes on clawhammer banjo, going back thirty years or more, but it always sounds to me more like bringing the Irish tunes into the clawhammer banjo world than bring clawhammer into the Irish tune world. Not that there’s anything at all wrong with that.
I’ve played clawhammer banjer for a loooong time, but never felt the desire to play The Tunes on it, but I still think there are some interesting possibilities for an accompaniment role.
# Posted on October 13th 2008 by Bob himself
Re: Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
Avi - Cathy's playing is tremendous, no question. I think her approach fits in with what Bob is alluding to - she takes Irish tunes (and other easternish trad tunes) and adapts them to fit her style, which is "old timey" clawhammer banjo.
I think she's playing an old 1920's SS Stewart.
Bob - I was thinking along the lines of accompaniment, sort a bouzouki like approach, maybe with some melody or melody outline in places...
Georgi - you're right on about the tuning changes. with clawhammer banjo it's important to have as many open strings as possible because of some technique limitations. I've found aDADE works pretty well for everything but the G tunes. Problem is, there are alot of G tunes!
Regards,
Alan
# Posted on October 13th 2008 by Alan B
Re: Clawhammer Banjo in sessions?
"Bob - I was thinking along the lines of accompaniment, sort a bouzouki like approach, maybe with some melody or melody outline in places... "
Right. That's the way I envision it. I dabbled just a bit years ago. Didn't develop anything serious, just enough to make me think it had possibilities.
# Posted on October 13th 2008 by Bob himself