Round Peak Clawhammer Banjo with Matt Brown
This class will meet on Zoom and will be recorded. Students will have access to the videos of class even after the session has ended.
Though the Round Peak style is based on the playing of a small group of musicians who lived in and around Surry County, North Carolina in the 20th century, it has influenced some of the most celebrated clawhammer banjoists of the modern era including Adam Hurt and Abigail Washburn. This class will give you the tools you need to play all the Round Peak repertoire and to take those techniques and apply them to material of any era or provenance you prefer.
This is an intermediate/advanced class for banjoists who are already comfortable with the hammer-on, pull-off, and slide. We will spend most of our time in A tuning (aEAC#E) and D tuning (aDADE), and will become well versed in the drop-thumb, alternate string pull-off, and the iconic "Galax lick" (a.k.a. the "roll," but not like Earl Scruggs ever meant it).
This class will use as its textbook Brad Leftwich's book of tablature entitled Round Peak Style Clawhammer Banjo. Please acquire a copy of the book prior to the beginning of the session. Here's a link to purchase it.