Unlike Bluegrass banjo, which is played with metal thumb and finger picks, Old Time clawhammer banjo is most often played without picks. I say most often because there are players, and good players too who do use specialized clawhammer picks, sometimes of their own devising (using materials such as ping pong balls).
There are different ways of achieving sounds in clawhammer banjo but at its simplest, the fifth string is plucked with the thumb and the other other strings are struck with the back edge of either the index or middle finger. Sometimes the thumb is also used to pluck a melody note and as well there are left-hand techniques such as hammer-ons and pull-offs which have their own unique sounds.
I’ve tried a couple different clawhammer picks that are available but I don’t like them. I like the feel and the effect of striking the strings with my nails. The problem is that I don’t have the strongest nails.
I try to make up for this by using a nail hardening product which has the side-effect of making my nails shiny (+ it smells). The label says it will make my nails diamond hard, but I suspect the actual effect is limited to my imagination. I can tell you that if I play for a couple hours, that pretty much takes the coating off my playing nail. I have a strong imagination though so I continue to use the product.
I normally use my index finger to play. I feel I have the most dexterity that way and I can control the range of sounds I get best using that finger. Unfortunately, I broke that nail while playing a few days ago. You can see in the picture that I’ve filed it back to about the right shape but it’s a little short to play effectively. I keep my middle fingernail longer as well as a back-up and until my index nail gets longer, I’ll be playing with my middle nail. This takes a little adjustment for me, but I’m getting used to it. I keep my ring fingernail longish as well because I use that nail to help get percussive effects when I’m playing.
Some players get an acrylic nail put on and they swear by it. I’ve never tried this. I seem to be getting by OK without that kind of extreme measure (although I suppose some folks would think painting hardener on my nails is an extreme measure).
So if you see a banjo picker fussing with his/her nails, you can be pretty sure that person plays clawhammer vs bluegrass. There are other clues. Bluegrass players often wear nice outfits and have big hair. Clawhammer players often wear a dirty ball cap. Bluegrass players keep talking about some guy named Earl.
27th Street 