Classic Banjo Technique

[Dr H]

This might actually be appropriate for the "Classic banjo... the continuing story" thread, but I wasn't quite certain and didn't want to derail that thread, so a new one seemed in order.  Presumably a moderator can fix this, if necessary.

Anyway... I just kind of jumped into the forum with my ragtime question, and not much background information on myself other than that I'm a composer & multi-instrumentalist.  My first instrument was actually piano, at which I began formal lessons at the tender (and, I now think, much too early) age of four.  My next was clarinet, taken up in the 4th grade and played with various degrees of dedication through grad school.  At 12 I picked up guitar, and went so deeply into it that I have long since considered it my primary instrument.  I've studied jazz, classical, and folk instruments formally, and delved into most styles at one time or another, from playing Visee and Bach in chamber ensembles to once actually taking an axe to an electric guitar on stage. :)

I first got the notion to play banjo at age 18, in college; I had just seen a live Roy Clark concert, and Roy is no slouch as a multi-instrumentalist himself.  After seeing that, I had to have a banjo, so I found someone selling a generic no-name 5-string at a price a starving student could afford.  I noodled around with that banjo for a couple of years on my own, trying to play bluegrass, mostly by ear.  I got to where I could play up to a pretty good bluegrass speed, and get melodies in there with the rolls, but somehow what I was doing felt awkward and never really sounded like "bluegrass".

Then I picked up Pete Wernick's "Bluegrass Banjo" book and discovered why. 

Essentially I had brought folk and classical guitar three-finger technique -- T/1/2/3 -- to the banjo.  Everything in Pete's book was two-finger technique -- T/1/2.  No wonder I always felt like I was tripping over my own fingers:  I was; I was using too many fingers for the style.  So, I set out to change my technique, and as with most habits it turned out to be harder to unlearn what I was doing than it probablay would have been to learn it the right way from the beginning.  Oy.  (Since then I have made it policy when I take up a new instrument to always at least try to seek out a qualified teacher, if only for a few months, to get the flavor of how the pros are doing things...)

Classic banjo is something I first encountered several years later when I had a banjoist roommate for a while who was actually playing classical banjo -- banjo arrangements of Visee, Sor, Guiliani, Bach, Beethoven, etc.  He used a regular bluegrass instrument -- a nice old Mastertone he inhereted from his dad -- with metal strings.  I was intrigued enough to dabble a little myself, off and on, but other things were happening in my life at the time, and I never really spent the time to delve very deeply into this style.  In grad school I was spending most of my time writing and practicing classical guitar, so although I was getting exposed to a whole new world of banjos -- wooden tops, gut strings, monster bass instruments, etc. -- they were kind of at the periphery of my musical insterest at the time.  If I needed a banjo part played, I knew plenty of people who could play them, so I didn't have to play them myself.

But all obsessions come back around to haunt us,  I think, and here I find myself once again l looking at classic banjo and wondering, "so what the heck is this thing?"  The ragtime connection alone is enough to keep me around for a while, and I am intrigued with trying nylon strings.  Which raises a number of questions for me:

 

First off, can any banjo be converted to nylon strings?  I have some spares I'm willing to experiment with, both with and without tone ring. 

Is there, perhaps, a different kind of head preferred than the stock Remo "Weatherking"? 

Does one tune the head to the same relative pitch for nylon as for steel?

Resonator or open back?

What is the prefered way to use the 5th string in this style?

And perhaps most critically for me right now, what kind of right-hand technique is most appropriate?  Is it still the T/1/2 of bluegrass playing, or is classic banjo, perhaps, the place to bring in my classical guitar T/1/2/3/ technique again?  Or even the T/1/2/3/4 of flamenco playing?

Well, I've droned on for far too long in one post, but I do expect I'll see at least a few interesting answers. :)

 

 

[Joel Hooks]

Hi Dr H,

I'll start, then we can all argue about it.

First off, can any banjo be converted to nylon strings?  I have some spares I'm willing to experiment with, both with and without tone ring. 

Yes, but to get good sharp tone and volume you might need a proper bridge.

Is there, perhaps, a different kind of head preferred than the stock Remo "Weatherking"? 

Those are fine.

Does one tune the head to the same relative pitch for nylon as for steel?

That is a weird bluegrass fetish-- don't worry about it.

Resonator or open back?

Both.

What is the prefered way to use the 5th string in this style?

It is noted in the music and instruction books. It is another note and useful for jumping positions.  Varies with the composition.

And perhaps most critically for me right now, what kind of right-hand technique is most appropriate?  Is it still the T/1/2 of bluegrass playing, or is classic banjo, perhaps, the place to bring in my classical guitar T/1/2/3/ technique again?  Or even the T/1/2/3/4 of flamenco playing?

I use (can't speak for all) a different attack than guitarists.  I play strong and hard close to the bridge (when appropriate).  Fingertips only-- no nail.  With practice your fingers will act like a rosined bow and really snap the strings.  Gentile plucking avoids the characteristic nature of the banjo IMO, but… it is your banjo and you can play it how you want.  Most of the later instruction books have exercises for "alternate fingering."

 

 

[Mike Moss]

Hi Dr H.,

first of all, welcome to the wonderful world of Classic style Banjo. There are a couple of outstanding points in your post I would like to address:

Classic banjo is something I first encountered several years later when I had a banjoist roommate for a while who was actually playing classical banjo -- banjo arrangements of Visee, Sor, Guiliani, Bach, Beethoven, etc.  He used a regular bluegrass instrument -- a nice old Mastertone he inhereted from his dad -- with metal strings.

Then I'm afraid you didn't encounter Classic banjo at all! Playing classical music on bluegrass banjos has been going on for a while, and it is a completely independent phenomenon from classic style banjo. John Bullard, Bella Fleck, etc. do that kind of stuff.

Even in those cases when Classic banjo players do play classical music, it is often of a completely different nature and with different technique. Here are a few outstanding points:

Bluegrass banjo-style classical music:

- Mostly baroque and early classical repertoire; expect the big names you mentioned above.

- Bluegrass technique; mostly melodic arrangements.

- Steel-strung Mastertone provides some sustain, making it more suitable for a lot of classical music than Classic-style banjos (IMO)

- Tremolo, if present, is always classical guitar-style (alternating finger) tremolo. Chord tremolo and finger-wag tremolo are not used.

Classic banjo-style classical music:

- "Light" or pop classics of the day -- many of which have fallen by the wayside nowadays. Expect airs from the popular operas of the day.

- The "big" authors are generally uncommon. Don't expect to find much Bach at all.

- Expect lots of finger-wag tremolo in many of them, being arrangements of vocal pieces. Mastering this unusual technique can be challenging.

- Many of them have a "novelty" flair to them. They are not really meant to be "legitimate" renderings of classical music.

And perhaps most critically for me right now, what kind of right-hand technique is most appropriate?  Is it still the T/1/2 of bluegrass playing, or is classic banjo, perhaps, the place to bring in my classical guitar T/1/2/3/ technique again?  Or even the T/1/2/3/4 of flamenco playing?

Classic banjo technique is idiosyncratic, and I would highly recommend you start afresh with it. The hand position is different both from bluegrass banjo and classical guitar. The fingers are held much closer, in a fist, and the strings are struck with the bare fingertips. It is important to use the tips rather than the fleshy pads, by the way.

Many classical guitarists who come to classic banjo (understandably, though unfortunately) don't want to change their RH technique, but as a result they often fail to get the characteristic tone of the style. If you're serious about learning CB, you should build your CB skills from the ground up, including its unique RH technique. T/1/2, of course. T/1/2/3 doesn't usually sound good in classic style and it is hardly present in period tutors and sheet music.

Following the R and L hand fingerings printed on the sheet music, by the way, is a great way to get started. Joe Morley pieces, in particular, often have thumb and index finger runs we would be tempted to play with the index and middle fingers -- but the drive and attack are completely different.

What is the prefered way to use the 5th string in this style?

Its use is indicated by a double stem on a G note, like so: 

But all obsessions come back around to haunt us,  I think, and here I find myself once again l looking at classic banjo and wondering, "so what the heck is this thing?" 

The best way is through direct experience -- listen to the recordings on this website, download and read the tutor books, read period publications... immersing yourself in CB-related material is the best way to get a feel for what it is.

Good luck on this new journey!

[Dr H]

Joel Hooks said:

Hi Dr H,

Yes, but to get good sharp tone and volume you might need a proper bridge.

======

Hi Joel; good job... I think you hit every one of my questions.  As to the bridge, I been fiddling around with bridges quite a bit recently on 4, 5, and 6 string instruments.  My 6-string came with a particularly thick, heavy bridge which made it sound more like a guitar than a banjo. So I got out my Dremmel™ and sandpaper, thinned it down considerably, and that brightened things up quite a bit.

For classic, are there particular preferences -- higher, lower; thinner, thicker, lighter, heavier -- to get me started?

 

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[Head tuning]

That is a weird bluegrass fetish-- don't worry about it.

======

LOL!  My bluegrass buddies would disown me if I told them that.  But OK, I won't sweat the head picth, for now.

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[5th string usage]

It is noted in the music and instruction books. It is another note and useful for jumping positions.  Varies with the composition.

======

Hmm... I guess what I was getting at was whether there were specific stylistic quirks that would dicatate using, say, the short G instead of the 5th fret fingered G on the high D string.  Or if it's just a matter of fingering convenience?

The reason I ask is ... I was recently looking over a banjo rag I wrote some years ago (when I was still using T/1/2/3 for some of my playing).  When I wrote this tune I also created a TAB chart for it, and put in -- what were for me -- the most logical fingerings.  I showed the piece to a friend of mine who was playing more in the classic style at the time, and he refingered maybe 2/3s of my high G's away from the 1st and onto the 5th string -- I still have his notes on the score.  I tried his fingerings and a lot of them worked just as well for me, but some of them just seemed downright awkward.  I find myself wondering now whether his motive for changing the fingerings might not have been stylistic rather than technique-driven?

Maybe I'll type that piece into a notation program and post it here, and see if there's any interest in it.  It's pretty much in the classic style, I think, except for using bluegrass tuning, with a low D instead of a low C.

 

------
I use (can't speak for all) a different attack than guitarists.  I play strong and hard close to the bridge (when appropriate).  Fingertips only-- no nail.  With practice your fingers will act like a rosined bow and really snap the strings.  Gentile plucking avoids the characteristic nature of the banjo IMO, but… it is your banjo and you can play it how you want.  Most of the later instruction books have exercises for "alternate fingering."

======

That's very useful info.  I get a little sense that it might be somewhat like the difference between playing classical guitar and flamenco guitar.  Flamenco technique and tone tends to be a little less "polite", and consequently a little more lively..., IMO, anyway. ;)

 

 

[Jody Stecher]

To add a bit to Joel's excellent answers:

Each player has to find the right combination of bridge, head, tailpiece, and string type on *each* banjo. What works on one banjo may not work on another and what works for player A on Banjo X might not be ideal for player B on the very same banjo.  

Most banjos that were built for steel strings need no conversion at all to nylon strings or to other kinds of soft strings (gut, nylgut, or something yet to be developed). sometimes the slots in the nut and bridge might need widening or reshaping and sometimes a different bridge (especially a two-footed one) is best. But not always. As has been pointed on this forum many times in the last few years, a string type or head type that works for player A on Banjo B does not work at all on Banjo B. this is for the same player. So I can't tell you if a Remo Weatherking will be good for your banjo for playing classic banjo or not. It might well be great. Or awful. Also there are several types of Remo Weatherking including frosted, clear, and Renaissance heads. The Ren heads often work very well for classic banjo. But not always. In climates with not much fluctuation in humidity a natural vellum (a treated animal hide) produces the most nuanced and complex sound.  Except for when it doesn't. 

Make sure the head is evenly tightened all around. Tapping the head will reveal whether the tension is even. If one section is higher or lower than most of the rest of the spots, make the appropriate adjustments. A  fairly tight head is usually good for this music. Here, some bluegrass derived advice might apply. Banjoist Johnny Whisnant always said "tighten her up till she breaks, then back down a notch or two".  But, as always, It Depends.

Watch the videos here and also the instructional materials here. That will tell you about basic technique. Scruggs technique does not apply here because that was developed around a different sort of melody type which gains character by dividing eights into threes and twos (2-3-3,  3-3-2, 3-3-3-3- 2- 2     etc).. This music is not built around those kind of "rolls". There is, however a lot of similarity in between the so-called "melodic" technique in bluegrass banjo, and some of the technique of some of turn-of-the (previous) century composers, such as Joe Morley.

Have a look at the music notation in the library. You will see that right hand moves are notated. X for thumb, one dot for index, two dots for middle. One may deviate of course but studying this will show you that the right hand serves the melody, the melody is not warped to fit a pattern.

[Dr H]

Mike Moss said:

Hi Dr H.,

Then I'm afraid you didn't encounter Classic banjo at all! Playing classical music on bluegrass banjos has been going on for a while, and it is a completely independent phenomenon from classic style banjo. John Bullard, Bella Fleck, etc. do that kind of stuff.

======

 

Thanks, Mike.  I suppose I could have given more detail, but I didn't want to clutter up the forum with a lengthy biography...  My friend who played classical banjo did also play classic banjo rep, and he was aware of the difference, although it was apparently of minimal importance to him, because he rarely talked about it.  But he did also play pop tunes of the late 19th/early 20th centuries along with the classical stuff.  Never did hear him play any ragtime, though.

Used the same banjo for all of it though -- we were all poor students at the time; money was tight, and alternate instruments scarce.

But anyway, I did get a little early exposure to classic banjo then, and I picked up a book of banjo music which included material ranging from classical guitar solos to Stephen Foster tunes and minstrel show stuff.

------

Classic banjo-style classical music:

- "Light" or pop classics of the day -- many of which have fallen by the wayside nowadays. Expect airs from the popular operas of the day.

- The "big" authors are generally uncommon. Don't expect to find much Bach at all.

- Expect lots of finger-wag tremolo in many of them, being arrangements of vocal pieces. Mastering this unusual technique can be challenging.

======

When you say "finger wag tremolo", are you refering to what, for example, a violinist would call "vibrato"?  Or something else?

 

------

- Many of them have a "novelty" flair to them. They are not really meant to be "legitimate" renderings of classical music.

======

That, I suppose, is a matter of perspective.  As a composer myself I take a pretty broad view of music.  For one thing, it's all legitimate.  For another, I don't generally divide music into classical/pop, but more into formal/informal.  "Formal" being where the music is explicitly written down, and intended to be played more or less exactly as written, and "informal" being music that either isn't written down at all (much folk music, for example), or that's written in pretty basic format and expected to be embellished in various ways by the performer.

I came to my approach because I realized that the perspective on music changes over time.  Ragtime, for example, was in its heyday the music of bars, brothels, and (later on) parlors).  Now, nearly 100 years after Joplin's death ragtime is considered a "legitimate" form of American classical music.  Pity that Joplin didn't get to see that; it's what he always wanted for his music.

Classic banjo, as you describe it, is congenial to me because for a long time I had tendencies towards similar music from the same era in my guitar playing.  As a fan of John Fahey I was led to pick up a lot of parlor tunes from what was essentially the American "Victorian" era.  Moving some of these guitar arrangements onto a quirky 5-string instrument is going to be interesting, I think.

------

Classic banjo technique is idiosyncratic, and I would highly recommend you start afresh with it. The hand position is different both from bluegrass banjo and classical guitar. The fingers are held much closer, in a fist, and the strings are struck with the bare fingertips. It is important to use the tips rather than the fleshy pads, by the way.

Many classical guitarists who come to classic banjo (understandably, though unfortunately) don't want to change their RH technique, but as a result they often fail to get the characteristic tone of the style. If you're serious about learning CB, you should build your CB skills from the ground up, including its unique RH technique. T/1/2, of course. T/1/2/3 doesn't usually sound good in classic style and it is hardly present in period tutors and sheet music.

Following the R and L hand fingerings printed on the sheet music, by the way, is a great way to get started. Joe Morley pieces, in particular, often have thumb and index finger runs we would be tempted to play with the index and middle fingers -- but the drive and attack are completely different.

======

Thanks for this information and tips.  

One of the reasons for the recent rekindling of my interest in the classic style is that I feel like I've finally reached a point in my technique where I am able to be flexible in moving between various styles -- something which was a lot more difficult when I was younger.

In an effort to break myself out of what was starting to become a rut of "guitar thinking", over the past several years I set out to learn the idiosyncratic styles of a number of exotic fretted instruments.  After spending a lot of time with mandolin, bouzouki, charango, ronroco, tres, cuatro, zither, and a bunch of other wacky stringed instruments, I'm pretty comfortable now with "starting fresh", as it were.  Hey, one of my instruments is made out of an armadillo; I had to learn flexibility. :-)

 

Some nice resources on this site.  I just watched a bunch of the videos, and have DLed a bunch of ragtime to play with.

 

[Mike Moss]

That, I suppose, is a matter of perspective.  As a composer myself I take a pretty broad view of music.  For one thing, it's all legitimate. 

Well, what I meant is that a lot of it was meant to be funny. Very much like the "cork opera" (minstrel show) parodied "high culture". But yeah, I agree that it's all legitimate in it's own way -- the difference is that sometimes I get the feeling that the modern Bluegrass players who play classical music are more "serious" in their approach.

When you say "finger wag tremolo", are you refering to what, for example, a violinist would call "vibrato"?  Or something else?

It's a unique technique in Classic style which doesn't have (to my knowledge) any equivalents in other instruments. It is a technique whereby one, two, three or even four strings are brushed repeatedly by oscillating the index or middle finger over them similarly to a plectrum.

I use this technique on and off throughout this arragnement by Farland: 

[Jody Stecher]

The tremolo of the Persian setar seems similar or identical. 

Mike Moss said:It's a unique technique in Classic style which doesn't have (to my knowledge) any equivalents in other instruments. 

[Mike Moss]

Yes, I forgot about that. The interesting thing is the banjo technique seems to have developed independently from the Persian one, and it is unique in the world of "western" instruments. Some late 19c. guitar players also took up banjo-style finger wag tremolo, but I would expect it to sound very quiet on a gut-strung guitar.

[Trapdoor2]

My $0.02.

For Classic Banjo, no different than any other genre, one may take the pedantic approach or a casual one. I prefer a mix of the two. I usually work up a tune strictly “as arranged” and then modify it for my own personal comfort. I started out in Bluegrass when “melodic” was starting to be in vogue, so I tend to convert much of the CB “single string” stuff to melodic. It all depends on how it feels to me though.

Fingertip vs Nail: this was a source of debate in the period (and obviously, still is today). I started out with a semi-fingernail attack, mostly because I came to Classic style w/o anyone to ask questions of. I knew it was done without picks, so I put my BG picks in my pocket and off I went. For the past few years I have been trimming my nails back to the quick and going “bare” but I have to confess that I have recently returned to using a short nail…and I prefer the sound.

Bridges: I have two favorites, the “Cole type” (sold by Elderly Instruments and which looks like an aqueduct) and the “Stewart type” of two-footed bridge (thin and very light). I have a small collection of vintage banjos (mostly Stewarts) and I let the banjo tell me what it likes.

Heads: Calfskin, vellum processed, is my favorite. However, I do use modern heads. I prefer a darker tone to my banjos (when I was young, I played an archtop with a clear mylar head…age has changed my ears somehow) and tend to like the “fiberskyn” type. I never got into the head tuning thing…though I own a drumdial and use it on other-people’s banjos (I often do setup work locally).

Open back, vintage style banjos are the preferred type of banjo for Classic playing…but it is simply part of the ‘vintage’ charm. Any banjo will do fine.

Regarding the use of the 5th string: it is almost never used as anything but the one note, “g”. Fretting it like a modern player is almost completely foreign to the Classic style. There are exceptions (notably, van Eps’ “Chinese Picnic”) but otherwise use it at your own risk (I do, when I feel I need it). Different arrangers, back in the day, used it differently. I find it best used as a transitional device to move from one position to another…and I default to the arranger if he/she has specifically noted its use (via flag or via “open” string indication).

Right hand technique: you win! Any technique that gets you there is viable. As has been mentioned, the style is primarily 3-finger, that is, TIM. There are as many characteristic “licks” in CB as there are in BG…and most tell the tale of 3-fingers. There are quite a number of ‘work arounds’ in this technique as well…getting 4 notes out of 3-fingers, etc.

[Dr H]

Mike Moss said:

Well, what I meant is that a lot of it was meant to be funny. Very much like the "cork opera" (minstrel show) parodied "high culture". But yeah, I agree that it's all legitimate in it's own way -- the difference is that sometimes I get the feeling that the modern Bluegrass players who play classical music are more "serious" in their approach.

======

Oh OK, sure, I know what you mean.  I think a lot of people in a lot og genres take themselves way too seriously.  As a composer who plays Bach, Bluegrass, and everything in between, I've put a lot of effort into trying to convince people -- frequently other musicians -- that one can be both serious and still have a sense of humor.  There's some humor to be had even in Bach, although you kind of have to immerse yourself in 300 year-old German cultural history to find it. :)

 

Yeah, novelties:  I think of a lot of the "novelty rags" of the late ragtime period -- "Kitten on the Keys," for example.  There was often a certain amount of obvious humor there.

------

It's a unique technique in Classic style which doesn't have (to my knowledge) any equivalents in other instruments. It is a technique whereby one, two, three or even four strings are brushed repeatedly by oscillating the index or middle finger over them similarly to a plectrum.

I use this technique on and off throughout this arragnement by Farland: 

======

Ah, OK, got it.

Actually it's similar to some of the rasguedo techniques used on flamenco guitar, although they wouldn't call it "tremolo" -- tremolo to them is fingered: a-m-i-a-m-i... etc. or some other combination.

[Dr H]

Trapdoor2 said:

Fingertip vs Nail: this was a source of debate in the period (and obviously, still is today). I started out with a semi-fingernail attack, mostly because I came to Classic style w/o anyone to ask questions of. I knew it was done without picks, so I put my BG picks in my pocket and off I went. For the past few years I have been trimming my nails back to the quick and going “bare” but I have to confess that I have recently returned to using a short nail…and I prefer the sound.

======

Current state of the art (or state of the argument, as may be) in classical guitar playing favors a more-or-less simultaneous stroke with both the fingertip and fingernail in contact with the string, as the basic technique.  I may start with that and see how it goes.  I really can't trim back my nails all the way, because not only do I still play a lot of classical guitar, but a lot of the South American instruments favor a lot of nail in the attack.  And they use a lot of back-of-the-nail, which nixes the use of fingerpicks.

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Bridges: I have two favorites, the “Cole type” (sold by Elderly Instruments and which looks like an aqueduct) and the “Stewart type” of two-footed bridge (thin and very light). I have a small collection of vintage banjos (mostly Stewarts) and I let the banjo tell me what it likes.

======

OK, I'm gonna start by getting some nylon strings on it (this weekend, hopefully), and see what happens.  From there, the bridge is the next likely spot for experimenting...

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Heads: Calfskin, vellum processed, is my favorite. However, I do use modern heads. I prefer a darker tone to my banjos (when I was young, I played an archtop with a clear mylar head…age has changed my ears somehow) and tend to like the “fiberskyn” type. I never got into the head tuning thing…though I own a drumdial and use it on other-people’s banjos (I often do setup work locally).

======

I really can't use natural skin where I live -- too damp in the rainy season and too dry in the dry season.  I used to have a calf-skin bodhran that I really liked the tone of, but for 9 months out of the year it was unplayable.  Had to dump it and go for synthetic.   I use bottom frosted on my tenor and top frosted on the rest, inlcuding the 6-string.  Tried a black head once, but the sound got muddy -- and more like a guitar than a banjo -- so I went back to white.  Haven't tried a fiberskyn -- something more to explore...

To tell the truth, I didn't used to worry much about head-tuning, either.  I used to tighten and play, tighten and play, tighten and play... until it sounded "good" to me.  Then I'd tighten some more until it didn't sound good anymore, and back off a turn from there.

But I've spent the last couple of months hanging around the Banjo Hangout site, where head-tuning seems to be a lively and on-going topic of discussion.  And being an engineer, I started doing calculations, tweaking, ...  well, you know how it is. :)

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Open back, vintage style banjos are the preferred type of banjo for Classic playing…but it is simply part of the ‘vintage’ charm. Any banjo will do fine.

======

Well, going open-back is easy enough; all the resonators come off.

 

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Regarding the use of the 5th string: it is almost never used as anything but the one note, “g”. Fretting it like a modern player is almost completely foreign to the Classic style. There are exceptions (notably, van Eps’ “Chinese Picnic”) but otherwise use it at your own risk (I do, when I feel I need it). Different arrangers, back in the day, used it differently. I find it best used as a transitional device to move from one position to another…and I default to the arranger if he/she has specifically noted its use (via flag or via “open” string indication).

======

Ok, sounds reasonable.

Does raise another question for me though:  do any classic players use converted 4-string plectrum banjos?  I used to have a 4-string, but eventually I sold it and when I neded to play plectrum stuff I just did it on the 5-string and didn't use the extra string.

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Right hand technique: you win! Any technique that gets you there is viable. As has been mentioned, the style is primarily 3-finger, that is, TIM. There are as many characteristic “licks” in CB as there are in BG…and most tell the tale of 3-fingers. There are quite a number of ‘work arounds’ in this technique as well…getting 4 notes out of 3-fingers, etc.

======

That's the thing that's going to be most interesting for me at this stage, I think. 

With all the weird instruments I've been playing in the past few years, left-hand technique is, really, pretty much the same on all of them (except for the zither, where it's "backwards"!)  But right-hand technique -- that's where the insteresting action has been.  Eventually I try to bring all of these RH techniques back to the guitar, to get some fresh sounds out of that axe.  So, the more the merrier.  At least until I get hopelessly confused and end up in knots.

[Trapdoor2]

 Dr H said:

Ok, sounds reasonable.

Does raise another question for me though:  do any classic players use converted 4-string plectrum banjos?  I used to have a 4-string, but eventually I sold it and when I neded to play plectrum stuff I just did it on the 5-string and didn't use the extra string.

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Well, the historical transition was the reverse: 5-string players started removing their 5th string and using a plectrum. Converting a plectrum banjo to a 5-string isn't rare...but it is usually not worthwhile. When I started to study the plectrum banjo, I simply "parked" my 5th string alongside the bridge. Works fine...and if you're serious about using the same banjo for both styles, a small 'parking notch' in the side of the bridge will keep the string in place better (in case it slips up and starts buzzing).

Re: fingertip vs nail: go here for a 1928 article: http://www.zither-banjo.org/pages/nails1.htm and here for a 1951 article on nail or fingertip: http://www.zither-banjo.org/pages/nails2.htm

Both of these articles are in regards to the Zither-Banjo but well represent what I've read from players of the regular banjo (in the 19th cent) as well.  My current method is equivalent to the "composite stroke"...but I don't really think about it at all. Oh, and I see where they both recommend avoiding the use of the thumbnail, which I use. Oh well!