Clawhammer Banjo - LoudHymns.Com

My Most Recent Experiment

How I Got Hooked:

Clawhammer Banjo - what in the world is that? I've always been intrigued by the banjo but wasn't captivated by it until the summer of 2000. I fell in love with the Stanley Brothers gospel recordings then, but what cinched it was hearing Tim Eriksen play at Birmingham's "City Stages." Tim's music had a darker subtler character than anything I had previously heard. It certainly wasn't three-finger bluegrass. (Note that Tim released a fabulous solo vocal album in May 2001 and an equally impressive one in 2004. Here is a 230k Mp3 sound clip.)

A New Friend Found In Desperation:

Tim was kind enough to agree to tutor me, but immediately got called away to teach at Dartmouth. Impatient, I asked if he could recommend some instructional tapes. He referred me to Dwight Diller, a Mennonite minister, banjo instructor and recording artist from Hillsboro, WV. I did not know it at the time, but the referral would plunge me into a new friendship and expose me to a singularly unique type of music. Dwight Diller's banjo and fiddle playing draws most from his association with the Hammons family of Pocahontas County WV. The Hammons' befriended Dwight as a young adult. He became immersed in their individualistic mountain lifestyle so intertwined with traditional West Virginia, particularly their fiddle and banjo playing. Dwight tells his students to spend as much time as they can listening to the "old people" such as the Hammons'. The elder Hammons have passed away, but we are fortunate to have a number of their recordings in circulation. The Library of Congress distributes one entitled "The Hammons Family" (Library of Congress Archives. See the recording with the green header on the Moning Star Folk Arts site.) which includes a gloriously rich set of liner notes. However, I prefer the Hammons tapes titled the "Diller Collection" as originally distributed by the Augusta Heritage Center. I think that the one captioned "Old-Time Banjo: The Diller Collection Volume 2" is a knockout, and Dwight prefers Volume 1. Dwight informed in a November 2004 that some friends have been working on all of the tape recordings that Dwignt made from '69 to '72 of the Hammons plus some recordings that were made by another friend. The total tracks surpass 2000! The first compilation of this material is a 60 track CD of Lee Hammons' banjo playing. This set, and other delights, are available through Elaine Diller's Morning Star Folk Arts web site.

The Maddeningly Unique and Captivating Style of Dwight Diller:

While Dwight's personal playing is heavily influenced by the Hammons, it is not intended as a copy. To the contrary, he has developed his own signature style that is distinctive and complex. It is doubtful that anyone has been able to precisely replicate Dwight Diller's playing, and many hundreds of students and performers have tried. Two things make Dwight's music unique. The first is the subtle and precise manipulation of note timing, and the second is the notion that this variable yet uncannily precise timing swells up from one's innermost being rather than through the mechanical application of written notes on the page.

What is Dwight's Secret Technique?

Those of you that have visited LoudHymns previously will note that I have deleted most of the material in this section. It contained feeble attempts at describing Dwight Diller's banjo playing in analytical terms. I should have known better, of course, having failed in such efforts during my first camp experience in 2001. The fact is, you can't analyze, quantify or particularize what Dwight does. Certainly, a few attributes are obvious. For example, he stresses that rhythm is everything. He states that clawhammer banjo is 95% rhythm and 5% melody. Being a singer at heart, that message is as appealing as squeaky chalk on a blackboard, yet it is undeniably true. Dwight is also distinctive in terms of where his playing originates from. It starts in the soul rather than the mind, then it flows from his lower back instead of the hand, wrist or arm. Watching the effortless and endless way that Dwight varies and syncopates his rhythm using parts of his anatomy far flung from his picking fingers, one is left with two thoughts: first - a sense of awe (hopefully not envy, yet it is inevitable), secondly - a certainty that Dwight's genetic makeup originates somewhere south of the Mediterranean, really far south. As a student, you live or die in Dwight's eyes depending on how well you maintain and coordinate your rhythm with the music and the other musicians.

Self-Imposed Incarceration at the Diller Enclave:

I have been fortunate to attend two Diller camps in West Virginia. Both sported a fabulous 2-to-1 student/teacher ratio allowing exceedingly personal instruction. You won't disappear into a sea of students at a Diller camp. Your strengths will be there for everyone to see and your weaknesses will be equally visible. Yet regardless of this humbling visibility, Dwight is careful to be as uplifting as he is demanding. No student is made to feel inferior or without hope of being a better player when they leave. He is a great equalizer. Self-proclaimed "advanced" players had better eat some humble pie before showing up on Mr. Diller's doorstep. With nary a word, he will let their playing style speak volumes about bad habits; habits so entrenched that progress comes only after serious effort.

The West Virginia camps are guaranteed to offer students "total immersion," both musically and culturally. Surrounded by gorgeous mountains, streams and meadows, you are assured an experience worth every penny before you even pick up your banjo. Couple that with instruction from one of the most formidable clawhammer masters alive today and the experience is priceless.

In terms of the musical instruction, the better part of the week is spent developing proper right hand technique. Students play against muted strings while the instructors (and some of the advanced students) play songs on banjo or fiddle. Everyone starts learning the same way, regardless of whether they are a rank beginner or an advanced player. As a person who is a tad driven I find Dwight's instruction style perfect. Those of gentler constitution might find it a bit intimidating although Dwight insists that no one has done away with themselves following his banjo instruction; to his knowledge anyway. Here are some pictures of the March 2001 camp. The first couple are of Dwight.

Fiddles and Banjos go together. Dwight has played the fiddle nearly as long as he has the banjo.		Banjo in the morning, banjo in the evening, banjo all day long. For as much as we did though, the week went much too quickly.
Caleb Diller, Dwight's son, providing some banjo instruction of his own. Caleb has great musical talent and is one of the few people that Dwight says was a "natural" when it came to learning the right hand Clawhammer style.		I was glad to have met the fellow on the right. Ed is a dedicated organic farmer in Virginia, where he retired after a lifelong career as an accomplished surgeon in Florida. Ed's patience and open minded acceptance of advice taught us a lot.
Group session: Banjo playing, cultural immersion, discussions about context, life and faith. We covered it all.		(2002 Update) Hard work by a lot of people went into construction of a new lodge for retreats: sleeping accommodations and bright airy training facilities.
	(2002 Update) We visited Bear Town State Park, a breathtaking labyrinth of rock towers, passageways and vistas. It was truly God's handiwork in all its splendor. Dwight told us that we should take our time and soak it all in. He was right. It was one of the highpoints of camp this year.

My Most Recent Experiment

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