Workshops and Classes

In normal times, Ken offers classes and workshops in banjo and guitar throughout the year. For details, see Ken’s Itinerary page. But for the moment, one-on-one lessons continue digitally and group classes are being held via Zoom.

Join Ken on Zoom for his live clawhammer banjo workshop series

$25 for each 90 minute Zoom workshop. Click a topic title below to learn more and sign up

 

Clawhammer Clinic Encore Collection

In case you missed one, we are offering unlimited GoogleDrive access to videos of Ken’s past Clawhammer Clinic workshops, complete with printable tab documentation for all featured tunes, exercises and musical illustrations.

New!!: Special Deal.

Order any three topics through this website, and get a fourth title free. Simply email Ken with the name of your fourth topic, and he’ll send you all four at once.

~~  TOPICS  ~~

Syncopation in Clawhammer

Playing Up the Neck

Pull-Offs & Alternate-String Pull-Offs

Playing Jigs (& other 6/8 Time Tunes) in Clawhammer

Playing Waltzes (& other 3/4 Time Tunes) in Clawhammer

Drop-Thumbing & Double-Thumbing in Clawhammer: a Complete Guide

Creating Variations & Breaks in Clawhammer

Celtic & Canadian Reels, Clawhammer Style

Canadian Jigs (from Cape Breton & Prince Edward Island), Clawhammer Style

Strathspeys and Marches, Clawhammer Style

Playing “Cross-Tuning” in Clawhammer: Playing In One Key When the Banjo Is in a Tuning Designed for a Different Key

Beyond the “Galax Lick”: the Arpeggio Technique in Clawhammer

Some Great Modal Tunes from West Virginia Fiddler Henry Reed

Classic Bluegrass Fiddle Tunes, Played Note-for Note in Clawhammer Style.

Triplets & Grace Notes in Clawhammer: How to Obtain Them & Use Them in Tunes

The Clawhammer “Roll” Technique in the “The Cuckoo” & Beyond

Syncopated Double-Thumbing Patterns (& How to Use Them)

Melodic Fingering Shapes in Open G-Tuning (Frets 1 thru 9)

Techniques of the Great 20th Century Roots Clawhammer Banjoists

Melodic Fingering Shapes in Double C and G-Modal Tunings (Frets 1 thru 10)

The Real Round Peak: Learn Tune Versions by Kyle Creed, Fred Cockerham & Others

Harmonized Scales: Using 3rds & 6ths to Spice Up Your Clawhammer Arrangements

Playing Celtic Reels with Taste & Authority, Clawhammer Style

Playing in the Key of D from Open G Tuning (gDGBD)

Arranging a Song or Simple Melody for Performance, Clawhammer Style

Up-the-Neck “Melodic” Fingering Forms That Feature 5th-String Fretting

“Keith”-Picking: Adapting the Principles of Melodic Bluegrass to Clawhammer

Movable Major & Minor Chord Shapes in Double-C / Double-D Tuning

Playing Hornpipes in “Hornpipe Style” on Clawhammer Banjo

Modes & Pentatonics in Old-Time Music

Creating Variations via Scale Formulas on Clawhammer Banjo

Demystifying “Crooked” Tunes in Old-Time Music

Private Banjo and Guitar Lessons in person or via Skype or Zoom

Ken has been teaching private students to play clawhammer banjo and fingerstyle guitar since the mid-1970s (when he started, Gerald Ford was president!!). He offers a highly systematic approach, which he can instantly modify to adapt to the needs of each individual student. Click for contact information.

Over the Internet

Until we’re out of the pandemic woods, Ken will be teaching entirely over the internet, and has grown increasingly impressed at how well suited video conferencing “apps” such as Skype and Zoom are for teaching fretted-instrument skills.

In-Person Teaching

When things return to “normal,” Ken will also teach in person lessons from his home in West Roxbury, Mass. Contact Ken by phone or email about scheduling and other arrangements. “West Rox” is in the southwestern corner of Boston, Massachusetts. For the dedicated student, it’s also within practical driving range of much of southern and eastern New England.

Ken now teaches frequently over the internet via the Skype program. To set up a lesson, simply contact him via phone or email.