Clawhammer for Ukulele: Revolutionize your Rhythm

1. Clawhammer Intro: D If you're passionate about the ukalle, but feel like it's often underestimated, you've come to the right place. I'm Lancelot Houston, musician and producer. In this class, I'll challenge the notion that the ukele is mundane by introducing you to an exciting technique borrowed from the Banjo. It's called Clawhammer, and it revolutionizes your approach to picking, and rhythm. Instead of the typical up picking motion, clawhammer involves a downward stroke, originating from African traditions. You'll discover a fresh perspective on rhythm and elevate your musicality. This class caters to all experience levels. So grab your yoke and let's get started. 2. Clawhammer Class Orientation: Today, you're going to learn clawhammer on the ukelele. By the end of this class, you've learned a new technique that will develop your rhythmic skills and set your playing apart. In my project, I'll be demonstrating the clawhammer technique on ukele by playing a piece I wrote using this method. All you'll need is a ukelele to get started. Here's what I'll be looking for in your class project. Playing each element of the claw hammer rhythm seamlessly, combining clawhammer with cord shapes, and incorporating clawhammer with other techniques. You can submit your project by recording yourself on your phone or another recording device. Next, we'll take a look at the basics of calmer and the shared qualities between Banjo and Eucalle. 3. Foundation What is Clawhammer: Before we get into playing claw Hhammer, let's develop a foundation of understanding by covering the basics of what claw hammer is and the similarities between ukele and Banjo. What is claw Hhammer? Clawhammer describes a method of playing where the strings are struck using the back of your index or middle finger now. Then plucked with your thumb. The term clawhammer refers to both the shape of your hand as you play, which is claw like, and the way that you strike the strings by hammering them. Claw Hhammer incorporates a rhythm that will be recognizable to anybody familiar with American folk music. That rhythm is this bum ditty, bum, ditty, bum ditty, bum ditty, bum ditty, bum ditty, bum ditty, bum ditty. There are variations of how you can speak this rhythm to. The other most common one I've come across is boom chicka. Boom chicka boom, Chicka boom, chicka boom, Chicka boom, chicka boom chicka. This rhythm can be broken down into three parts. Bum represents the first part called the hit, or I've heard it sometimes referred to as the strike. Here you'll use either your pointer or middle finger to come down on the string and hit it with the back of your finger. The second step or d is the brush. Here you'll be using the same finger as the hit to sweep across the strings. The last part, t is the pluck. The plu uses your thumb to play the drone string and finishes the pattern. Those are the steps that outline the claw hammer rhythm. But don't worry about learning all of that here in this lesson because we'll go over each one of those steps throughout the rest of the class. Here's a little bit of how it sounds together. Now, I want to show you how claw Hammer is able to work on both Bango and Eucalle. Bango and Eucalle share a small string that I'll be referring to as the drone. This string is located where the lowest note would typically be on an instrument like guitar, for example. I'll also note that there are several types of bangos, but in this case, we're only referring to the five string traditional bando. Because the drone string is higher in pitch, it forces a different style of playing than your standard strum. Next, we'll take a quick look at navigating the ukele neck and you'll be one step closer to learning claw hammer. Oh. 4. Foundation Uke Navigation Basics: Oh. In order to play claw hammer seamlessly, we'll need to go over some basic navigation of the eucalle. It's important to know the note names of the strings. We'll start with the first string, A. The second string is E. The third string is C and the fourth or the drone string is G. When the open strings are played together, you have a C six chord. Oh. You'll most likely have fret indicators on your uk as well. In this diagram, you'll see single diamonds on the frets three, five, seven, and nine, and a double diamond on the 12th fret. The 12th fret is important because it indicates an octave above the open strings. The notes played open are the same notes played at the 12th fret. Now that we've covered the basics of navigation and eucalle terminology, let's dive into the first part of the claw Hammer technique, the hit. Oh. 5. The Hit: Over the course of the next three lessons, you're going to learn each part of the claw hammer technique separately. In this lesson, we'll start with the first part. The hit. The hit or sometimes called the strike represents the bum of the bum ditty rhythm. We're going to start off by putting our hand in a claw like position. Next, you'll want to pick which finger you want to use for the hit, either your pointer or middle finger. I'll be demonstrating on my middle finger because that's what's most comfortable for me, but this really just comes down to personal preference. Now, using the nail of whichever finger you chose, I want you to aim for the second string or the E string and come down and hit it like so. We're going to do this over and over and over again until it becomes natural. Don't worry about being perfect each and every time. All we're doing here is focusing on repetition and building muscle memory. Great job on getting through the hit. Next up, we'll look at the second part of claw Hammer, the brush. Oh 6. The Brush: The brush is the second step of the claw hammer technique, which is playing the part of the bum ditty rhythm. With the brush, you're going to want to use the same finger you used as the hit, which is going to be either your pointer or middle finger. You're going to use that finger to glide across the C E and A strings or the 12 and three strings. After brushing across these strings, you'll want to position your thumb so it catches on the drone or the fourth string. This part is probably the most important part of learning the claw hammer technique. Getting your thumb to land correctly on the drone string is the secret sauce you'll need in order to put all the elements together. We're going to repeat this times. Remember to go slow, Rushing through it won't help you in the long run. Great job on getting through the brush. Next up, we'll look at the last step of the claw Hammer technique, the pluck. O 7. The Pluck: The pluck is the final step in the claw hammer technique, which plays the t part in the bum ditty rhythm. When finishing the brush, remember your thumb should be catching the drone string. With the pluck, all you're gonna do is play the drone string, and you'll be done. After that, you're ready to repeat the claw Hammer pattern starting with the hit. Congratulate getting through each step of claw Hhamer. In the next lesson, you'll learn how you're going to put them all together. 8. Clawhammer Put it all together: In this lesson, you're going to learn to put all of the elements of claw Hammer together. Remember to take it slow, and if you're having trouble with a particular step, go back and isolate that step and repeat it several times until it's starting to feel comfortable. Also, it may help you if you say the rhythm while playing it. Now I'm going to start off slow and build the tempo as I go. T. T. O. O. Once you have that down, I'm going to add a layer of complexity to it by alternating the hit between the E and the C strings. In other words, every time you repeat the pattern, you'll switch between which string that you hit. So we'll start off with E, and then we'll go to C. Once you got that down, now let's add another layer of complexity to this by incorporating our hand and some cord shapes. Here, I'm going to switch between the cord and G. Great job on putting all the elements of claw Hhammer together. Next, I'm going to play a piece that I wrote using the claw Hammer technique in my class project. M 9. Clawhammer Class Project: Now you've reached the point where I'll be demonstrating claw Hammer in my class project. In my project, you'll see that I've incorporated the hit, brush, and pluck, along with some extra hits on occasion to emphasize the melody. 10. Clawhammer Conclusion: On making it to the end of this. I hope you're coming away with a deeper exit and knowledge about the Uk Lele and its possibilities. Be sure to post your final projects in the project gallery, and post any questions you may have in the discussion section. Remember, practice makes perfect, and I hope to see you in some of my classes in the future. I'll see you next time.