Clawhammer Banjo For Beginners
When I First Started with banjo chord shapes…
I still remember the first time I sat down with my banjo and started working on chord shapes. It honestly felt like my brain and my hands had made a secret agreement not to cooperate. It was as if I’d split my brain into two separate pieces — and neither of them knew what the other was doing.
Trying to get both hands to work together was even worse. Usually, it ended up with neither hand doing what it was supposed to. My frailing hand would be off racing ahead, while my fretting hand stood frozen like a deer in the headlights, unsure if it was safe to move.
Then one day, I had a realisation:
My frailing hand was not fully developed. I was playing too fast and too sloppy.
My fretting hand needed the confidence to “cross the road” even if it couldn’t see what was coming.
The only way forward was for my frailing hand to slow right down — slow enough to “walk the deer across the road” safely. And more importantly, my frailing hand had to become automatic — something I could do without even thinking about it.
That was a tough pill to swallow, because I knew it would take weeks (maybe months) of what I now call banjo brain training — almost like Pavlovian conditioning — before that hand would truly play on its own. But I also knew it was possible, because my teacher could do it. I’d seen him, so I knew one day, I’d get there too.
In this video lesson, I’ll share exactly why adding chords — starting with the humble D7 chord — adds such juicy flavour to our songs. You’ll hear how even three chords can unlock all sorts of rich and diverse sounds in your playing.
You’re doing great. Keep going. We’re all walking our own “banjo deer” across the road — one slow, steady step at a time.