Clawhammer Style Banjo

by Ken Perlman

(Banjo). A complete guide for beginning and advanced banjo players! From Ken Perlman, here is a brilliant teaching guide that is destined to become the handbook on how to play the banjo. The style is easy to learn, and covers the instruction itself, basic right and left-hand positions, simple chords, and fundamental clawhammer techniques; the brush, the 'bumm-titty' strum, pull-offs, and slides. For the advanced player, there is instruction on more complicated picking, double thumbing, quick slides, fretted pull-offs, harmonics, improvisation, and more. The book includes more than 40 fun-to-play banjo tunes.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1983

Reviews

[Abe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haven't made it all the way through yet (or else I'd be an expert), but this is the only banjo book you will ever need. By the time you finish, you will never need another instructional book. Ken covers every technique at every level from how to hold the instrument to advanced techniques. Each lesson is illustrated by dozens of examples and exercises which are clearly annotated. Ken's arrangements sound fantastic and are damn impressive when you play them for friends and family. I've been playing on and off for about 5 years and in a matter of weeks, thanks to this book, I've improved more than I have in that entire time. Cannot recommend highly enough.

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are a surprisingly large number of books that will do a good job of clawhammer instruction. But I’ll assert that the first book any banjoist should own is Ken Perlman’s.

For one thing, Ken writes long, patient explanations about all the basic mechanics of the instrument, and then gives plenty of examples. If he’s illustrating how pull-offs work, he explains what you have to do, and then you play three simple tunes that use pull-offs. It’s such an obviously good approach!

And what’s more, he goes all over the world and uses arrangements from a huge group of players. For sure, most of the arrangements are his own, and done in his distinctive style, but he sets them right alongside everyone else’s. He describes the other players’ philosophy of playing, and it’s an interesting read—I mean, who knew there would be such strong opinions about the banjo’s role as a backup instrument, or the importance of the bump ditty, or the relative need for every melody note? Now, of course, it wouldn’t surprise me, having seen the battles in the online banjo community. But I’m glad I got to first see it in Perlman’s book, because he took such a detached make-your-own-opinion view of all that.

From the word go, you get to play songs that are completely enjoyable. Having gone through a lot of books, this is hands down the one to start with.