Playing Frailing Style Banjo

Let me Introduce myself.....my name is Benny Bough and ive been playing banjo now for about 23 years. Frailing was my first introduction to the banjo.... hearing an old tape of Howie Bursen Playing from the late 70s got me hooked. I have played around with Bluegrass, but always end up coming back to Frailing and Melodic Clawhammer. I prefer the soft rolling sound of Frailing to Bluegrass, not that im putting Bluegrass down, it just comes down to an individual preference at the end of the day.

Frailing, or Clawhammer as it is sometimes known, was the way the old time musicians played the Banjo at Barndances and the like. Frailing has come a long way since its early beginnings as a background Instrument, to the solo Melodic Style of banjo players like Ken Perlman, Howie Bursen, and Bob Carlin.
The Basic Frailing Stroke.... i know it as the... Bum -- Tit -- Ty stroke, not for some weird sexual deviation i have........because thats what the rhythm of the stroke sounds like when you play it. Frailing is a very easy style to learn and will give you encouragement as to how quickly you can actualy get a tune from the banjo.


Click to hear Bum Titty

Playing the Frailing Style

The method for holding your hand in Frailing is shown in the hand on the left. The actual way you pick or strike the string is with the Middle finger of the right hand and is done in a rapping style movement....not a flicking movement with the middle finger as so many beginners seem to do. Its like rapping on a desk with the nail of your Middle finger. To start with you need to concentrate on the bottom string, make sure you follow through with the stroke and rap the head of the banjo, this is where frailing gets one of its many other names....Rapping...... concentrate on the up down motion at first, then when you feel more adventurous, try the same with string 2, its a bit harder as you will no doubt find out, as you have to get a "feel" where string one is, to stop you from hitting it by mistake. Do the same for the other 2 strings, you dont have to try string 5, as that is played with the Thumb. Once you get the motion its easy to "Rap" along without even thinking about it, which is what makes the frailing style so easy for beginners..so thats the basic Frailing Rap NOT the Bum--Tit--ty Stroke,..that comes later.

Note: not all frailers play banjo with the middle finger, as im' reliably informed by Rose Vines. Many prefer to use the index finger for the rapping movement, if the middle finger does not feel comfortable, try the index finger. (thanx Rose for info)

When you have mastered the Rap...the next step you need to practise is picking or to be more precise...Plucking the 5th string. What you need to do now is go back to the basic Rap on the first string only. But as you rap the first string you now Pluck the 5th string directly after it. Dont put your finger under the 5th string and pluck up the way as shown (Left) below ..... lay your finger parallel to the 5th string and pluck across it.....as shown ( Right ) below

Once you get this far your only a step away from the Bum -- Tit -- Ty Stroke....yes..... actually playing something akin to a melody ....well not quite, ....but it should keep you happy for a week or so.
Next step you have to master is the Brush or strum as some people like to call it. its basically letting your middle finger trail down or Brush the bottom 3 strings......nothing more complex than that. So.........at last the Bum -- Tit -- Ty Stroke or Strum if you prefer it.

move mouse pointer on a button to see an animation of each step

Start off with the rapping exercise...to get your rhythm going, once you have that Ol' rythm a' rollin along ( keep saying to yourself bum... bum... bum... for everytime you hit the bottom string.) now every hit of the bottom string brush the bottom 3 strings with your Middle Finger and say to yourself tit... (sounds stupid i know, but it does help) so your rhythm should now be..... bum... tit.. bum... tit... bum... tit... and so on ( if your neighbours start to avoid you, or give you funny looks you are saying it too loud ).

O.K. things should be really rollin' along .........you now put a pluck of the 5th string after you brush the bottom 3 and say to yourself ty...... so here we go the rhythm you should now be saying is ........Bum... tit ....ty ..........Bum... tit ....ty ..........Bum... tit ....ty ...........Bum... tit ....ty ....at last the famous Bum--tit--ty Stroke...keep working on that for a week or so........if you feel adventurous try adding a few chords .........and so your on your way to being the best Bum--Tit--ty player in the West.


Some Basic Frailing style Strums

Although Frailing and Clawhammer are basically the same style, some players tend to use the Drop Thumb more and the 3 string Brush less. Below are some examples of what a how a Frailer might play...and how a Clawhammer player might play the same part.





Beginners Tab

If or when you feel you can play the Bum-Tit-ty strum confidently and want to try some fairly easy Frailing Tabs, try the Cripple Creek or Buffalo Gals below, athough they do incorporate some slides, hammer ons and pull offs, ( Some examples of a hammer on, slide, and pull off can be found under the Beginners\Bits n' Pieces Section ) Sound Files included to help your Timing....try them ...they're easier than you think.

Click Here for Cripple Creek

Click Here for Buffalo Gals

Well I hope that little tutorial helps you on your way as a Banjo Player.......Remember one step at a time... you need to walk before you can run, if you get bored playing that same old Bum--tit--ty strum, remember how only a few weeks ago you would have given your eye teeth to get some form of music out of the Banjo....... Playing is a life long learning curve, .....keep faith and things will improve...........Dont forget to send me some of your tabs when you get famous....

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Heres a good Tip i received via E-mail:

My name is Arkansas Red-Ozark Troubadour and I live in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. I learned to frail from the late Dave Akeman (Stringbean) many years ago and went on from there. I'm glad to see a site on frailing. I was beginning to think it was a lost art. I don't have any nails to speak of and I heard of taking a Dunlop fingerpick and turning it around. It worked O.K. but too "metal-clicking" for me, so I simply cut the tongue off about 1/4/", epoxied on some industrial strength fake fingernails, buffed them out, added some Sally Hansen's "Hard As Nails" for strength, and Voila! A real natural nail sound. How to do it