Chapter 5

Sliding, Hammering, and Pulling: Adding the Left Hand

In This Chapter

Playing slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and chokes

Using left-hand techniques in clawhammer and bluegrass banjo

Whether you’re moving up or down the strings while fretting, coming down on the string to create a higher pitched note, snapping off the string to sound a lower pitched note or bending a fretted note up in pitch, the left hand has a lot to say in the world of banjo music. You can hear a big difference in your own playing after you can make the left hand not only talk the talk but also walk the walk!

In this chapter, you’re introduced to the left-hand techniques that all banjo players use to make melodies flow more smoothly and sound more interesting and varied. All the techniques in this chapter focus on how the left-hand fingers can create notes that embellish what your right hand is picking. These left-hand techniques are similar for both clawhammer and bluegrass banjo and, when combined with the right hand, are the building blocks for both ways of playing the banjo.

You don’t have to worry about playing the techniques in this chapter on the 5th string. The function of the 5th string in both clawhammer and bluegrass banjo is to provide a steady, high-pitched drone (a drone is a repeated pitch; bagpipes typically have low pitched drone notes while the banjo has a high pitched drone). Stick to strings 1 through 4 with these left-hand techniques and you’ll be picking fine in no time!

As you gain mastery over each new left-hand technique presented in this chapter (the slide, hammer-on, pull-off, and choke), don’t forget to have some fun with these ideas as you perfect them. Mix them up and play the different techniques at random to get used to moving from a slide to a hammer-on or a pull-off to a choke on different strings.

Approach the exercises in this chapter as if you’re learning the vocabulary of a new language. As you gain more experience in playing, you’ll encounter many more new phrases and gain greater skills in how to combine these phrases into meaningful musical expressions. If you’ve mastered the techniques in this chapter, you’re off to a great start in “talking banjo,” and you can confidently go on to the next step — learning some actual banjo tunes (which you can do in Chapter 6)!

Slipping into the Slide

You can’t find anything quite like the sweeping sound of a well-played slide on the banjo, just like the ones you hear at the beginning of “Cripple Creek.” Slides add emphasis to a melody note by moving to that note from another pitch. They can add a bluesy feeling to your banjo playing, resembling the sound of the lonesome wind, a baying hound, or even a speeding train.

To play the slide, you use a left-hand finger that’s already fretting a string to sound a new note by moving up or down the banjo neck along the same string to a new fret. The left-hand technique you use is the same regardless of the string you’re on. However, the frets that you begin and end each slide on vary according to which string you’re playing.

In this section, you’re introduced to the basic mechanics of the slide (using the 3rd string) and then move on to playing other slides on the 3rd string before going wild with additional slides on the 4th and 1st strings. (I don’t include 2nd-string slides because they aren’t as common.)

The secret to a good-sounding slide is to maintain enough fretting pressure with the left hand so that the sound isn’t cut off.

Getting down the slide: The basics

To play a slide, check out each of the following steps (I use the 3rd string for the sake of example; you play slides on other strings too, starting and stopping at different frets, but use these basic mechanics for all strings):

1. Press down (or fret) the 3rd string at the second fret with the middle finger of your left hand.

I tend to use the middle finger of my left hand for all the slides on all strings in this section, because I feel like I have the most control with this finger. However, depending upon what’s happening with your left hand at a particular moment in a song, you may sometimes need to use another left-hand finger to execute a slide. The left-hand index finger is another good choice for any of the slides you encounter in this section.

2. Pick the 3rd string with your right hand.

If you’re playing clawhammer, move down across the string with your right-hand index finger (or your middle finger, if you’ve decided to use this finger for melody notes). If you’re picking bluegrass, play the note with the right-hand thumb pick by moving down across the string.

3. After the note has sounded, slide the left-hand middle finger along the 3rd string from the second fret to the fourth fret.

Keep exerting the same amount of pressure with the fretting finger as you originally used to fret the string and stop the finger just behind the fourth fret. You want to hear a continuous sound as your left-hand finger moves from one fret to another.

4. Keep the left-hand finger fretted at the fourth fret and let the new note ring.

Congratulations! You’ve just successfully played your first slide.

Just like you don’t need a whole lot of pressure for the left-hand fingers to get a clear sound on a fretted note, you may also find that you don’t need to exert much pressure with your fretting finger to get a good sound out of your slides. Experiment to find the least amount of fretting pressure you need to still maintain the ringing sound of the picked note as you slide from one fret to another.

Keep reading to find more slides you can play not only on the 3rd string, but also on the 4th and 1st strings too.

Trying 3rd-string slides

If you can play a slide on the 3rd string moving from the second to the fourth fret (I show you how in the preceding section), it’s time to try two more 3rd-string slides, once again by using the left-hand middle finger.

You can tackle these 3rd-string slides in a few different ways. Both of these slides paint a banjo blues mood:

Slide from the second fret up to the third fret: You can follow the same basic steps of a slide from the preceding section; just remember that you don’t slide all the way to the fourth fret.

Slide from the third fret down to the second fret: You carry out this slide in the same way as a slide that starts lower and moves higher. You’re simply going in a different direction.

In banjo tablature, the s indication lets you know that you’re supposed to slide. For example, you can see what these three 3rd-string slides look like in banjo tablature in Tab 5-1 and listen to Track 26.

Tab 5-1: Playing 3rd-string slides: second to fourth fret; second to third fret; and third to second fret (Track 26).

Undertaking 4th-string slides

After conquering third-string slides (see preceding sections), you’re ready to move on to the brave new world of the 4th-string slide. The 4th string is the lowest pitched string on your banjo. If you strike it with some force before you move your left-hand finger for the slide, you can get a booming slide that you can feel all the way into your belly (this is good, by the way).

The 4th string is thicker and heavier than your 3rd string, so don’t be surprised if you have to fret a bit harder with your left-hand finger to sustain the sound of the note with your 4th-string slides.

Follow the basic instructions in the section “Getting down the slide: The basics” presented earlier in this chapter for the mechanics of the slide and don’t forget to use your left-hand middle finger to fret the string for the following 4th-string slides (note that both of these slides end at the fifth fret):

Slide from the fourth fret up to the fifth fret: You don’t have far to go on this slide, but remember to apply the appropriate pressure so you can get the sound you’re looking for.

Slide from the second fret up to the fifth fret: Although this slide moves impressively three frets up the neck, other slides cover even more fretted territory. Remember that you don’t want to hear all the pitches that lie between the beginning and end points of your slide. Make it a smooth, continuous swoop, and you’ll be playing it the way that other banjo players like to hear it.

Check out the tablature for these two 4th-string slides in Tab 5-2, and listen to Track 26 on the CD.

Tab 5-2: Playing 4th-string slides: fourth to fifth fret; and second to fifth fret (Track 26).

Focusing on 1st-string slides

You may need some slides on the 1st string every now and then to catch some high melody notes. You may notice that the following 1st-string slides are very similar to the 4th-string slides (you’re just on a different string):

Slide from the fourth fret up to the fifth fret: Because the 1st string is lighter in weight than the 3rd or 4th strings, sustaining the sound of this slide shouldn’t take much pressure at all.

Slide from the second fret up to the fifth fret: You’re covering a greater distance with this slide, so use more pressure with the left-hand middle finger to sustain the note.

To get a feel for these 1st-string slides in tablature, take a look at Tab 5-3 and listen again to Track 26.

Tab 5-3: Playing first string slides: fourth to fifth fret; second to fifth fret (Track 26).

Nailing the Hammer-On

An aggressive and well-played hammer-on, like you hear at the very beginning of “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” can be one of the most exciting moments in banjo music. This technique lets everyone in the room know you’ve got a banjo, and you know how to use it! Hammer-ons can crack like a whip, its sound hitting you like a hair-raising blast of freezing-cold air. Hammer-ons are an important part of banjo music — and they’re a heck of a lot of fun to play.

With the hammer-on, you create a new note with the left-hand fretting finger by bringing it down with some force on a string that’s just been played by the right hand. You aren’t moving along the string as you do with the slide (see the section “Slipping into the Slide”), but you’re coming straight down on it with the tip of your finger — like a hammer. Like the slide, you use the hammer-on to embellish or emphasize a melody note — the note that’s being “hammered on.”

You can hammer-on either from an open string to a fretted string or from one fretted string to another, which I show you how to do in the following sections.

Playing open-string hammer-ons

You can get a feel for the open-string (unfretted) hammer-on by following these step-by-step instructions (for the sake of this example, go ahead and begin on the 4th string; you use the same procedure for different strings as well):

1. Play the 4th string open with either the index finger of the right hand if you’re a clawhammer player or the right-hand thumb if you’re a bluegrass player.

2. Let the note ring for a moment.

3. While the open string is still sounding, push the string into a fretted position just behind the second fret with the left-hand middle finger (like a hammer).

You need to use enough speed with the left-hand finger so that the sound isn’t cut off as your finger moves down to fret the string. You should hear an uninterrupted sound from beginning to end of the hammer-on, just as you do in the slide.

That’s all there is to it. You’ve just played a hammer-on! Now you can try the same hammer-on on the 3rd and 1st strings, moving from the open string to the second fret on either string. Banjo players prefer to use fretted hammer-ons (see the following section) instead of open hammer-ons for the 2nd string, so you don’t need to worry about this string right now!

You can check out what these three hammer-ons look like in tablature (the h indication tells you to play a hammer-on) by looking at Tab 5-4. And listen to Track 27.

Tab 5-4: Playing fourth, third, and first string hammer-ons (Track 27).

Although you use some force to get your hammer-ons sounding right, try not to raise your left-hand finger too high above the fingerboard to achieve this (it’s not like you’re a baseball pitcher in a wind up — after all, it’s just a hammer-on!). Keep your finger just above where you want to play the hammer-on, with the finger in a position that’s fairly close to the banjo fingerboard (see Figure 5-1). When it’s time to play the hammer-on, you can have more accuracy if your finger has to travel just a short distance to the fingerboard.

Giving fretted hammer-ons a chance

Fretted hammer-ons are a little trickier than open-string hammer-ons (see preceding section), because you’re coordinating the movements of two left-hand fretting fingers. To get started, I want you to try one of the most awesome maneuvers you’ll ever play on the banjo: the world-famous “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” 2nd-string hammer-on, and be sure to pay attention to the mechanics because you use this same technique for fretted hammer-ons on other strings:

1. Fret the 2nd string at the second fret with the index finger of the left hand.

2. Play the 2nd string with either the index finger of the right hand (in clawhammer banjo) or the right-hand index finger or thumb (in bluegrass).

Figure 5-1: The wrong (a) and correct (b) way to position your left-hand finger for a hammer-on.

3. Let the note ring for a moment.

4. Bring down the left-hand middle finger just behind the third fret of the 2nd string, using enough force to sound a new note, and hold the middle finger down behind the third fret to let this string ring for a moment also.

Give yourself a round of applause. You’ve just played two notes exactly like Earl Scruggs plays them — just 99,999 to go! (For more info on Earl Scruggs, check out Chapters 8 and 14.)

When you use this technique in bluegrass, you often play two of these hammer-ons right in a row. Try practicing the fretted hammer-on on the 2nd string many times in succession, keeping the left-hand index finger that’s fretting the second fret down the entire time.

Now try this same hammer-on technique on the 3rd and 4th strings, again moving from the second fret to the third fret. (Although you can also play fretted hammer-ons on the 1st string, you don’t need to worry about it to play any of the tunes in this book.) Check out the written fretted hammer-ons on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th string in Tab 5-5, and listen to Track 28.

Tab 5-5: Playing fretted hammer-ons on the second, third and fourth strings (Track 28).

Pulling Off the Pull-Off

Like the hammer-on (see preceding section), the pull-off is another left-hand banjo technique that carries a lot of potential firepower. A pull-off can explode like a firecracker on the Fourth of July, be as mournful as a scorned lover’s sigh, or as rhythmical as a horse’s gallop. It’s the most percussive of all the left-hand techniques and is generally used to connect a higher melody note to a lower note.

With the pull-off, the left-hand finger is already fretting a note on the banjo fingerboard. You create a new note by giving the string a slight sideways pull or push, either up or down (some folks use the term push-off for the latter kind of pull-off, but I use the term pull-off in this book to refer to both kinds). As your left-hand finger moves across the string, it snaps off the string literally sounding a note that can have as much power as a note played by a right-hand finger.

In this section, I show you how you can play pull-offs either from a fretted to an open string or from one fretted note to another on the same string. You can also use the pull-off in a special way that’s unique to clawhammer style. I cover it all in the following section!

For most folks, pull-offs are a bit trickier than slides or hammer-ons. If you lift straight up off the string with your left-hand fretting finger, you likely won’t snap the string with enough force for a strong enough pull-off note. The trick is getting used to the very small sideways movement that’s also required of the fretting finger to pluck the string. Keep reading for more on this movement.

Digging into open-string pull-offs

You can start by taking the open-string pull-off step-by-step (I show you how to do it on the 1st string, but you can use this same technique on the 3rd and 4th strings):

1. Fret the 1st string at the second fret with the middle finger of your left hand.

2. Play the 1st string with your right hand.

Use the index finger if you’re playing clawhammer or your middle finger if you’re playing bluegrass.

3. Let the fretted note ring for a moment.

4. Pull the string with your left-hand finger to sound the open string.

Your left-hand finger should move both sideways (to pluck the string) and up.

Listen to the (hopefully) clear and beautiful sound of the open 1st string!

Banjo players don’t use pull-offs often on the 2nd string but nothing is holding you back from trying this same pull-off on the 3rd and 4th strings, transitioning from the second fret to the open string, just as you did in the steps on the 1st string.

In banjo tablature, the letter p lets you know that a pull-off is in your very near future, as you can see in Tab 5-6. Give it a listen on Track 29 of the CD.

Tab 5-6: Playing open-string pull-offs on the 1st, 3rd, and 4th strings (Track 29).

Mastering fretted pull-offs

In addition to playing a pull-off to an open string (see preceding section), you can also play a pull-off to another fretted note. With fretted pull-offs, you want to make sure that you use your left hand to fret both notes at the same time before executing a pull-off.

The 3rd-string pull-off from the third to the second fret is a defining characteristic of the sound of bluegrass banjo. Here’s how you “pull-off” a 3rd-string fretted pull-off (and be sure to note the technique, because you use this procedure for other strings as well):

1. Fret the 3rd string at both the third fret with the left-hand middle finger and the second fret with your left-hand index finger (see Figure 5-2a).

2. Pull the string, moving both sideways and up, to avoid the 2nd string; as you pull-off with the middle finger, keep the index finger in place on the second fret (see Figure 5-2b).

3. Let the new note ring!

Figure 5-2: Positioning the fingers for a fretted pull-off (a); position of fingers after playing a fretted pull-off (b).

Now try this fretted pull-off on the 1st and 4th strings (using the 2nd string isn’t common), pulling off from the third to the second fret as you did on the 3rd string. You can take a gander at the tab for fretted pull-offs on the 1st, 3rd, and 4th strings in Tab 5-7, and listen to Track 30 on the CD.

Tab 5-7: Playing fretted pull-offs on the third, first and fourth strings (Track 30).

Headbanger’s banjo: A heavy metal lick

You can play anything on the banjo — including rock and roll! Listen to Track 31 on the CD and check out the signature heavy-metal banjo lick shown in Tab 5-8, which consists of a fretted hammer-on followed by a pull-off. Repeat for as long as possible or as long as your audience can stand it (whichever comes first).

Note that you use only the right hand for the first note of this lick, freeing up the right arm to make lots of sweeping big stadium rock hand gestures. This endless (and some might say mindless) lick can be played anywhere on the neck (but probably shouldn’t really be played anywhere).

Tab 5-8: A heavy metal lick that’s also a great way to practice hammer-ons and pull-offs (Track 31).

Sizing up special clawhammer pull-offs

You may want to use the pull-off in a way that’s unique to clawhammer banjo. The technique is similar to what you play for an open string pull-off (see the section “Digging into open-string pull-offs” earlier in this chapter), but in this case, you don’t play the string with the right hand at all. The sound is created only by the left hand moving across the string. This kind of pull-off is played almost always on just the 1st string. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do this special clawhammer pull-off:

1. Fret the 1st string at the second fret with the middle finger of your left hand.

2. Without striking the string with the right hand, pull off the first string with the middle finger of your left hand.

This pull-off emphasizes just the sound of the open string. Because a note isn’t actually fretted, many players simply grab the string with their left-hand finger (without actually bringing their finger all the way down to the fingerboard) and pull down from the 1st string.

Bending the Chokes

When you’ve got a serious case of the blues on the banjo, you’re going to be playing some chokes on your instrument. This left-hand technique involves pushing or pulling on a fretted note to raise its pitch and then releasing the pressure to lower it back again. A choke is sometimes called a bend. (I could have called this section “Choking the Bends,” but that sounded even worse than what I came up with, don’t you think?) Blues and rock guitarists utilize this technique all the time to imitate the cry of the human voice, but it sounds equally great, if not better, on the banjo too, in my humble opinion. You can discover how to play a choke in the following sections.

Playing the Foggy Mountain choke

The classic choke for bluegrass banjo players is once again from Earl Scruggs’ “Foggy Mountain Breakdown.” The Foggy Mountain choke is way up at the tenth fret of the 2nd string. Here’s a step-by-step guide to a Foggy Mountain choke:

1. Place your left-hand index or middle finger at the tenth fret of the 2nd string (see Figure 5-3a).

Using either finger is fine; try both and see which one is strongest for you.

2. Play the 2nd string with your right-hand index finger.

3. While the note is still ringing, push the 2nd string towards the 3rd string with your left-hand finger while still maintaining enough fretting pressure to hear a continuous sound (see Figure 5-3b).

This movement is called the choke. Remember that the pitch goes up as you choke the string.

Most banjo players like to raise the pitch of this Foggy Mountain choke the equivalent of almost two frets. You have to really bend the string to do this — so much that the left-hand fingernail should come into contact with the 3rd string and push it out of the way.

4. Release the fretting pressure from the left hand to mute the note and return back to a normal fretted position, but don’t lift the left-hand finger up off the string.

You’re now ready to repeat the sequence. Playing two or three chokes in rapid succession in a song isn’t unusual, but this requires a lot of coordination! The trick to playing one choke after another smoothly is to release the left-hand fretting pressure when a choke is done. This quickly returns the string — and your left-hand finger — back to the starting position and readies you to play another choke.

Figure 5-3: The finger positions before (a) and after (b) playing a Foggy Mountain choke.

In tablature, a Foggy Mountain choke is indicated with an upward arrow, as you can see later in Tab 5-9.

Experimenting with choke variations

You can also try playing the standard Foggy Mountain choke in almost the same way I describe in the preceding section, but this time, keep downward pressure on the string as the finger returns to the normal position. This technique is called a choke and release. You should hear the pitch go up with the choke and then come back down again with the release.

Another way to add expression to your playing with chokes is to bend the string before striking it with your right hand, and then bring the pitch back down to its normal fretted sound by releasing the choke (but still keeping enough fretting pressure to sound the string!). This technique is called the pre-choke, for obvious reasons.

In tablature, a choke and release is indicated with an arched arrow going up and coming back down again, but a pre-choke is indicated with a line going straight up from the note with an arched arrow moving downward, as you can see in Tab 5-9 and hear on Track 32.

Tab 5-9: Playing chokes on the banjo: Foggy Mountain choke, choke and release, and pre-choke (Track 32).

Putting Your Hands Together

The slide, hammer-on, pull-off, and choke are key ingredients to great banjo playing, but it’s not until you add these left-hand techniques to right-hand picking that you can really begin to cook. After you’ve coordinated the movements of the right and left hands together, you’ve taken a giant leap forward as a banjo player.

In the following sections, I go over a few of the right-hand basics I cover in Chapter 4 to make sure you’re ready to move on. Then you begin to put the hands together to play short phrases that are some of the most important building blocks of clawhammer and bluegrass banjo music.

You want to be totally comfortable with the right-hand patterns before adding the left-hand techniques I discuss in this section. This means you should be able to play the right-hand patterns consecutively without stopping and without looking at the music. If you’re a bluegrass player, you should be able to move from one roll to the next without interruption. If you’re playing clawhammer, you want to have enough right-hand control so that your finger can go to whatever first note or melody note you want to play — and actually hit that note a great majority of the time. If you’re uncertain about your right-hand skills, you may want to take a moment to go over the info on right-hand patterns for clawhammer and bluegrass banjo, which I cover in Chapter 4. (You can do it now, if you want. I can wait here.)

Make sure that you keep a constant rhythm with your right hand as you add the left-hand techniques. Begin by playing the following exercises slowly, building up speed as you gain confidence. Note that you play all the left-hand techniques relatively quickly, finishing the technique before you play the next note with the right hand. These slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and chokes are indicated with either eighth or sixteenth notes in the tab examples. And be sure to listen to the corresponding examples on the CD to internalize the sounds of these rhythms.

Making sure your clawhammer right-hand is ready

Try the basic clawhammer right-hand technique (see Tab 5-10), playing strings 4 through 1 for the melody note (which is what I call the first note played in the basic pattern). You can hear an example on Track 33.

Tab 5-10: Playing basic clawhammer technique (Track 33).

Even though the tab indicates that the index finger plays the melody note and the brush, don’t forget that you can use either the index or middle finger for these techniques. You can also choose to brush across one, two, or three strings, depending on how you want your playing to sound at that moment.

If you feel like you don’t quite have your clawhammer right-hand ready, head back to Chapter 4 for a more detailed explanation of clawhammer right-hand positioning and technique.

Double-checking your bluegrass right-hand skills

Get those fingerpicks on your right-hand thumb, index, and middle fingers and warm up by playing the bluegrass right-hand patterns I introduce in Chapter 4 (and if you didn’t know that bluegrass players use picks on their fingers, definitely check out Chapter 4 right now before proceeding!).

Following Tab 5-11 and Track 34, mix it up by playing alternating thumb, forward-backward, and forward rolls — bluegrass style.

Tab 5-11: Playing the alternating thumb, forward-backward, and forward rolls in bluegrass style (Track 34).

Joining forces: Using both hands in clawhammer banjo

Banjo players use slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and chokes most often to add flavor or draw attention to melody notes. The first note you pick with basic clawhammer right-hand technique usually corresponds to a melody note in the song that you’re playing. That’s the note that’s going to get the royal left-hand treatment.

In the following sections, you get to use all the left-hand embellishments I cover earlier in this chapter together with the basic right-hand clawhammer technique (from Chapter 4), adding up to some remarkable banjo sounds!

Clawhammer slides

You’ve probably mastered 4th-, 3rd-, and 1st-string slides (see the section “Slipping into the Slide” earlier in this chapter). All of these slides work in clawhammer banjo.

For each of the following examples, you want to execute the left-hand technique just after striking the string with the right hand, finishing the technique before the brush. Practice each individual measure over and over again until it feels comfortable and sounds smooth before moving on to the next measure.

You start by working on integrating the 3rd-string slide into clawhammer technique, because you play this slide most often, and then you move on to playing slides on the 1st and 4th strings.

3rd-string slides

Play the three 3rd-string slides from the section “Trying 3rd-string slides” earlier in this chapter: the second- to the fourth-fret slide, the second- to the third-fret slide, and the third- to the second-fret slide. Follow each slide with an index or middle finger brush and a 5th string played by the thumb.

Tab 5-12: Playing 3rd-string slides in clawhammer banjo (Track 35).

1st-string slides

Play the two 1st-string slides I introduce earlier in this chapter: the fourth- to the fifth-fret slide and the second- to the fifth-fret slide, following each slide with a right-hand brush and 5th string to get the full clawhammer effect. See Tab 5-13 and listen to Track 36.

Tab 5-13: Playing 1st-string slides in clawhammer banjo (Track 36).

4th-string slides

The two 4th-string slides use the same fretted positions as the 1st-string slides (see preceding section), but don’t be surprised if you have to fret the 4th string a bit harder to make the notes really ring. See Tab 5-14 and listen to Track 37.

Tab 5-14: Playing 4th-string slides in clawhammer banjo (Track 37).

Clawhammer hammer-ons

If you know how to play a hammer-on, you’re now ready to put the hammer-ons to work by integrating this technique into basic right-hand clawhammer playing (flip to the section “Nailing the hammer-on” earlier in this chapter for a refresher on hammer-ons).

One key to quickly integrating the action of the hands together is to first gain mastery over the skills required from each separate hand. Also, keep the rhythm of what you play with the right hand steady no matter what happens when you add the left hand. You can coordinate the activity of both hands much more quickly if you let the right hand lead the way.

The following exercises group the open hammer-ons together, followed by the fretted hammer-ons:

Open-string hammer-ons

As you play the open-string hammer-ons from Tab 5-15 in the clawhammer style, remember to repeat each individual measure over and over until it sounds good to you, and then move on to the following measure. Your ultimate goal is to play all three measures in succession without catastrophe, much like what you can hear on Track 38.

Tab 5-15: Playing open-string hammer-ons in clawhammer banjo (Track 38).

Fretted hammer-ons

Fretted hammer-ons are always a bit tougher to play than open-string hammer-ons, but you can master them with some dedicated practice. Try your hand at the exercise in Tab 5-16, which you can hear on Track 39. With this exercise, you’re at least moving from the second to the third fret on each string to ease you in nice and slow.

Tab 5-16: Playing fretted hammer-ons in clawhammer banjo (Track 39).

Clawhammer pull-offs

You’re probably no stranger to 4th-, 3rd-, and 1st-string pull-offs by now (especially if you went through the section “Pulling Off the Pull-Off” earlier in this chapter). And — you guessed it — the pull-off works perfectly in clawhammer banjo.

Don’t forget to make the pull-offs in the following sections really pop by putting some energy behind your left-hand motion. You want to play the pull-off so that it’s rhythmically placed exactly between the first melody note and the right-hand brush, as you can see in the accompanying tab.

4th-string pull-offs

In the clawhammer 4th-string pull-off exercise in Tab 5-17, you play an open-string pull-off followed immediately by a fretted-string pull-off, both on the 4th string. Most players use their left-hand middle finger for both pull-offs. Note that you move the middle finger from the second to the third fret for the second measure of this exercise. Listen to the example on Track 40.

Tab 5-17: Playing 4th-string pull-offs in clawhammer banjo (Track 40).

3rd-string pull-offs

The left-hand fingering for these pull-offs in Tab 5-18 is the same as for the 4th-string variety (from the preceding section). Begin with an open-string pull-off from the second fret to an open string and follow it up with a fretted pull-off that begins at the third fret and ends on the second fret, as you can hear on Track 41.

Tab 5-18: Playing 3rd-string pull-offs in clawhammer banjo (Track 41).

1st-string pull-offs

Clawhammer pull-offs work well on the 1st string too. However, don’t pull so hard with your left hand as you execute the pull-off that you pull the string off of the fingerboard! Give the exercise in Tab 5-19 a try, and listen to the example on Track 42.

Tab 5-19: Playing 1st-string pull-offs in clawhammer banjo (Track 42).

Special clawhammer pull-off

What’s so special about this pull-off? This technique is clawhammer-only — where you pull-off on the 1st string without hitting the string with the right hand first (and that’s pretty special). The timing is the same as for all the other pull-offs in this section.

Most players use their left-hand middle finger for this pull-off, positioning it behind the second fret. You can play this pull-off after any initial melody note in clawhammer banjo. In the exercise in Tab 5-20, you use the pull-off while playing melody notes on the 2nd and 3rd strings. Give Track 43 a listen.

Tab 5-20: Playing the special clawhammer pull-off in clawhammer banjo (Track 43).

Clawhammer choke

Although the Foggy Mountain choke is usually the domain of bluegrass pickers, it is also a very hip thing to play in clawhammer banjo, as you can see as you play along with Tab 5-21. The secret to successfully integrating the choke into right-hand clawhammer technique is to concentrate on keeping the right-hand rhythm steady. Play very slowly at first to maximize the sound of the bending pitch in each stroke and to work into your motor memory the coordination required of the two hands. And it wouldn’t hurt to listen to the example on Track 44.

Tab 5-21: Playing the Foggy Mountain choke in clawhammer banjo (Track 44).

Keeping both hands busy in bluegrass banjo

Slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and chokes add tremendous excitement to bluegrass banjo music. In the following sections, you can take a look at how some of the left-hand techniques I introduce earlier in this chapter work with the alternating thumb, forward-backward, and forward rolls from Chapter 4.

You’re taking a big step in your bluegrass education when you combine both hands in these ways. Don’t forget to use the examples provided by the tablature and the accompanying CD as you work to gain mastery of these skills.

Bluegrass slides

Remember to keep the rhythm of your right-hand roll notes evenly spaced as you add slides to the bluegrass roll patterns. Play the slide quickly, letting it occupy the rhythmic space of one roll note. If you arrive at your destination fret with the slide just about the time you strike the next string in the roll pattern, you’re playing it like the pros!

In the following sections, try playing slides in combination with the various right-hand roll patterns (for a refresher on how to play a slide, you can refer to the section “Slipping into Slides” earlier in this chapter).

As with clawhammer banjo (see previous section), having good command over the left- and right-hand techniques separately before you combine them is important. (For a bit more practice, you can turn to Chapter 4 for the right-hand instructions and to the sections on the specific left-hand techniques earlier in this chapter.) When you’re ready to add the left hand, keep your rhythm steady with your right-hand picking, and it should sound great!

Alternating thumb–roll slides

Try a second- to fourth-fret slide on the 3rd string, followed by a second- to fifth-fret slide on the 4th string with the alternating thumb roll, using Tab 5-22 and Track 45 as a guide.

Tab 5-22: Playing slides with the alternating-thumb roll (Track 45).

Forward-backward roll slides

Try the 3rd-string slide from the preceding section, but at the beginning of a forward-backward roll. You then follow this with a 4th-string slide that starts at the second fret and ends at the fifth fret. You can use Tab 5-23 as a reference and listen to Track 46 as well.

Tab 5-23: Playing slides with the forward-backward roll (Track 46).

Forward-roll slides

Using left-hand techniques with the forward roll is one of the trickiest bluegrass banjo moves, but it’s well worth the effort, giving your playing an authentic and hard-driving sound.

Try playing the forward-roll slides pictured in Tab 5-24. In this exercise, you begin on the 3rd string in measures one and two, playing a second to fourth fret slide. For measures three and four, play a 4th-string slide that starts on the second fret and ends on the fifth fret. Note that after playing the 4th-string slide for these last two measures, you finish the roll by playing two 3rd strings with the right-hand index finger. Hear what I mean on Track 47.

Tab 5-24: Playing slides with the forward roll (Track 47).

Bluegrass hammer-ons

Many bluegrass banjo players place the hammer-on between the notes of the roll pattern, especially on slower tempo songs. As the speed of a song increases, you don’t have enough time in between your right-hand roll notes to worry about this, and your hammer-on may occur at the same time as you pick the next note in the roll. Both ways of playing the hammer-on are good — as long as you maintain a consistent rhythm in your right hand, that is! You can try out this technique in the following sections.

Repeat each measure over and over until you’ve mastered each technique, and then move on to conquer the next measure. Take things one step at a time, and you’ll rule your own banjo kingdom in no time!

Alternating thumb–roll hammer-ons

Try mixing open-string hammer-ons and fretted hammer-ons in this exercise. Begin with open to second-fret hammer-ons on the 3rd and 4th strings before moving to second- to third-fret fretted hammer-ons, using the alternating-thumb roll as shown in Tab 5-25 and demonstrated on Track 48.

Tab 5-25: Playing hammer-ons with the alternating thumb roll (Track 48).

Forward-backward roll hammer-ons

Whatever works in the way of hammer-ons for an alternating thumb roll (see preceding section) also works for a forward-backward roll. In this exercise, you play four different hammer-ons: open to second-fret hammer-ons on the 3rd and 4th strings and second- to third-fret fretted hammer-ons on these same strings. Note how the reverse roll changes in measures two and four to accommodate these 4th-string slides. Jump in and get your feet wet following Tab 5-26 and listening to Track 49.

Tab 5-26: Playing hammer-ons with the forward-backward roll (Track 49).

Forward-roll hammer-ons

Try open and fretted hammer-ons on the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd strings with the forward roll by giving the exercise in Tab 5-27 a go. Note that the strings you play with the right hand change according to which hammer-on you choose to play. In measure one, you begin the forward roll on the 4th string, but in measure two, you start on the 3rd string. In the last two measures, you start the forward roll on the 2nd string. It’s all on Track 50 of the CD.

Tab 5-27: Playing hammer-ons with the forward roll (Track 50).

Bluegrass pull-offs

Aggressive, gritty-sounding pull-offs, like you hear master players such as J. D. Crowe and Ron Block play, are a hallmark of traditional bluegrass style. Professional players try to place pull-offs in between the notes of the roll pattern, which requires some quick and precise communication to the left hand. Start slowly with the exercises in the following sections and work up speed as you gain confidence.

Alternating thumb–roll pull-offs

Try open-string and fretted pull-offs in the bluegrass style by using the alternating-thumb roll (see Tab 5-28), taking note to how the notes you play with the right hand change according to the pull-off that you choose to play with the left hand. Listen to the example on Track 51.

Tab 5-28: Playing pull-offs with the alternating thumb roll (Track 51).

Reverse-roll pull-offs

You can mix things up a bit and start this roll with a second- to third-fret slide on the 3rd string, followed by a third- to second-fret pull-off. (You can use Tab 5-29 and Track 52 as a guide.) Bluegrass players use this phrase frequently. Note that at measures two and four, you can relax by playing the reverse-roll pattern without these left-hand techniques.

Tab 5-29: Playing slides and pull-offs with the reverse roll (Track 52).

Forward-roll pull-offs

You can take that third- to second-string pull-off on the 3rd string and use it in a forward roll, starting the measure with a fretted hammer-on on the second to third fret, as you can see in Tab 5-30 and hear on Track 53.

Tab 5-30: Playing hammer-ons and pull-offs with the forward roll (Track 53).

Bluegrass chokes

When combined with the right-hand forward roll, that Foggy Mountain choke can send listeners into paroxysms of wonder and joy (at least I think it’s wonder and joy . . . I’m never quite sure, really!). This phrase, which you can see in Tab 5-31 and hear on Track 54, is an intensely idiomatic bluegrass banjo lick. Be sure to apply the left-hand choke each time you strike the 2nd string.

Tab 5-31: Playing chokes with the forward roll (Track 54).