Slot head 5 string banjo neck

[Frank S]

I just wished the last song had been done in video form so I could watch the hand movements. I get as, if not more fascinated by watching good banjo as hearing them

[Crusty]

Search Youtube for Walt Koken and you'll find plenty of videos of him playing. The problematic thing about claw hammer style playing is that the hand hides the important action so it's difficult to see what's going on.

The basic motion looks a bit like someone swinging an imaginary claw hammer: the forearm with a curled hand comes down towards the strings and the thumb comes to rest on the fifth string every time as the nail tip of the middle finger hits the desired string - the desired string hit is selected by opening or closing the gap between the thumb and the index finger, which determines the string that the middle finger hits. The most basic claw hammer stroke consists of a melody note hit, followed by a strum of several strings and finally the thumb plucks the fifth string, all in the rhythm of bum-ditty and this simple technique sounds much more complex than it really is. Since you're only using one finger for melody notes it's inherently slower than three finger style, which I consider to be too busy sounding but many people enjoy it.