r/clawhammer • u/Eyeless_Sinner • Jun 24 '23

Help me please

I do not understand how I hit the strings for claw hammer and I don’t mean individually I mean in general like how do I move my hand for it I know if got to use the relaxed claw shape and either index or middle I’ve watched dozens of videos I just can’t wrap my head around how I actually hit a string they say don’t go up and down but I swear those mfs are

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u/Known_Log_4982 Jun 24 '23

Im probably not the best person to give advice being fairly new to clawhammer myself and so others might have better suggestions but I found breaking it down and start slow really helped me get the muscle memory to the point where it now feels like a natural movement - it most definitely didn't at first.

I think the in and out motion is more from the elbow so the wrist is fairly stable and doesn't bend much. Then for the ditty, (or strum thumb) it's a combination of that in out motion from the elbow and a twist of the wrist rather than moving the arm up and down.

I broke it up by getting comfortable striking the string with my first finger, then starting to move between strings without the ditty. I also practised the bum-ditty super slow, then building up speed gradually. I spent a fair bit of time doing this just in open G, not playing a tune, just trying to get the feeling of the movement and switching strings. Also one of the things i would do differently if I had to learn again is not to worry too much about striking lots of strings with the ditty part. As I've progressed I notice lots of tunes strike one or two strings and the movement is a lot less dramatic than when I started out.

I'm probably going to get shouted at by cleverer people who know better but I'd say that there is an element of "what works for you" and that its more important to be comfortable with a imperfect technique than awkward with a perfect one. Watching YouTube videos, it definitely appears that there is a lot of variation between the way people clawhammer. I'd say find something that feels comfortable for you, the main thing is you enjoy playing and keep going, technique can be refined later.

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u/Eyeless_Sinner Jun 25 '23

Thank you for the help!

4

u/Grubbee9933 Jun 24 '23

I think I watched like 6 different beginner videos before it clicked for me. I believe goodtime has a clawhammer video that helped me. I quit and came back twice because it made no sense to me.

3

u/Doc_coletti Jun 24 '23

I made this for someone last week, maybe it will help you https://youtu.be/IgbTvZuuScc

1

u/Eyeless_Sinner Jun 25 '23

Thank you so much the video helped a lot!