Blues Bend - Slight Return

Went back over the old blues exercise I was doing while ago, incorporating some drop-thumb, hammer-ons and bends.

Boil 'em Cabbage Down (drop thumbing)

Been working hard on my drop thumbing technique, which is a tricky but great way of breaking the monotony of the 'bump ditty' frailing rhythm. It's hard to get the thumb to drop down and pluck an eighth note before the fifth string pluck, but its getting automatic now and gives a useful variation to throw into a tune.

Here's my version of Boil 'em Cabbage Down using drop thumbing.

12 bar blues drop thumbing

This is a version of the 12 bar blues in G but using drop-thumb.

12 bar drop in G

drop thumbing - new tunes over xmas

Started to try and get my head around drop-thumbing. This is where you drop you thumb down and pluck one of the first four strings instead of the 5th string. It's a a technique which breaks the monotony of the constant pluck-strum-pluck rhythm.

Pickin and Grinnin (How to Play Banjo - Tim Jumper p41)


Irish Melody (same)


Here's Patrick Costello showing how it should be done.