Apr 12 - May 3: Clawhammer Banjo: Beginner level 3 - Intermediate with Molly Tenenbaum

12:45pm – 2pm

Dusty Strings, 3406 Fremont Ave N

Maximum Enrollment: 16

Registration & Refund Deadline: Wednesday, April 9, 2025

We’ll take a tune or two each week and develop it in several layers, starting with an elemental version that might be played faster, say, in a jam, and adding in further levels of melodic and rhythmic complexity with drop-thumb and other techniques. Along the way, we’ll touch on skills for playing with others: how to learn by ear from the fiddle and other instruments, and how to contribute musically to sessions even if you don’t know the tune well yet.

Skills needed: This class follows from Beginning Clawhammer 2, but you don’t need to have taken that. This class is for you if you know a few tunes or songs in G tuning, sawmill tuning, and Double-C, are comfortable with a basic frailing (“bum diddy”) pattern, and can play the pieces you know at a steady moderate tempo without stopping. Drop-thumb is handy also. This class could also be for you if you play from tablature and would like to feel more comfortable playing by ear without looking at the notation.

What to Bring: 5-string banjo in playable condition, tuner, capo, recording device (smartphone or other), and paper and pen or pencil. Need to rent a banjo? Dusty Strings has an affordable rental program. Please come to the shop or call (206) 634-1662 as rental banjos are subject to availability.

Teacher: Molly teaches old-time clawhammer banjo (also called “frailing” or “overhand” style). A banjo teacher since 1987, Molly guides students to be independent players and learners, emphasizing old-time traditional repertoire from diverse sources. She deeply loves old-time music and is always excited to get students involved in the music and the community. Molly has been playing old-time banjo since she was a teenager and has since performed around the Pacific Northwest with bands including The Queen City Bulldogs and Dram County. She’s taught locally and nationally at camps including American Banjo Camp, Augusta, and The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes.