Thursday, July 24, 2025

Some Tips On Playing Like Dave Hum

First, let me say that I humbly don't think I can play like Dave Hum and I never will. That is not my goal. My goal is to learn his techniques and implement them into my own playing.

Dave is such an amazing and intriguing musician. I don't think I will ever fully grasp why he plays ghost notes, which he does quite often. That is where he extends his left hand several frets up the neck to make it look like he is picking a note up there, but he's not. He is picking an open string instead, creating an optical illusion, but it looks so cool. I have no desire to do this as a means of artistic expression. I understand what Dave is doing, but I cannot figure out why. I wish I had the passion like Dave did to play ghost notes, but I just don't and I don't know any other banjo player that does. Dave was truly one of a kind! I sincerely don't think Dave played ghost notes to impress others; but rather, he enjoyed doing it. In this song, 'Behind The Haystack,' you can see Dave playing several obvious ghost notes.

Dave Hum is excellent at Pick Blocking and he uses this technique at times. I first learned how to do pick blocking on the pedal steel guitar. I learned from Jeff Newman (1942-2004), in his 'Woodshed Workshop' series of pedal steel guitar courses. Here is a pedal steel guitar website that explains pick blocking. Picking blocking is often used with Double Stops in music. A “Double Stop” is playing two notes simultaneously on a musical instrument.

Here are some audio examples that I made of using pick blocking on the banjo, using the patterns that I have tabbed for you....
  1. Pick Blocking Example 1
  2. Pick Blocking Example 2
  3. Pick Blocking Example 3
I'm sure many of you have already been doing Pick Blocking and Double Stops and perhaps didn't even realize it. It's a bit tricky to learn at first, but a very simple and rewarding technique. You simply pick a note and then use the same pick to block that note while you pick another note, creating an alternating note picking pattern.

These are some of the basic chord patterns they Dave uses (.pdf). Here is the .tef version. In these tabs you will see Double Stop PATERNS 1, 2 and 3. If you have a good ear for music, then you can hear the chords as you play these patterns that I've tabbed, so that you don't even need the tabs. You should commit these patterns to memory, so that you know them fluently. Only then can you be free to ad lib and improvise on the banjo as a true professional musician. In these tabs you're essentially paying a complete musical scale using Double Stops (i.e., your playing the scale by using two notes). The reason why Dave sounds so uniquely different than other banjo artists is because he does a lot of improvising, using scales to express himself musically. You can easily do this too, if you'll learn these scale patterns and implement them into your playing.

Dave uses Double Stops quite often. In the song 'Tobin's Jig' (Double C Tuning) Dave Hum uses Double Stops. He's not using pick blocking here. Also, in the song Mason's Apron (Standard Tuning) he is using pattern one above. I enjoy using Double Stops often. In Raggle Taggle Gipsy (Standard Tuning), Dave also uses Double Stops.

In Dave's video, 'Speed The Plough,' at 1:47 time he uses the first chord pattern that I shared with you, improvising. In this clip Dave is playing strings 1 and 3 in combination with using Double Stops. A Double Stop is playing two notes simultaneously on a musical instrument. If you pay attention to Dave's videos, you will notice that he often uses Double Stops with strings 1 and 3 and at other times strings 2 and 4. In the same song, 'Speed The Plough,' Dave uses Double Stops for the introduction on strings 2 and 4. If you use the third chord pattern in the tabs that I shared with you, you'll be able to figure out what Dave is doing.

There are no exact notes that you must play. If it sounds good, you've got the right chord. I have studied Dave Hum's playing probably more than any banjo enthusiast. I have learned that he simply sticks to the chord patterns (mostly the one's I showed you). There's no magic to Dave playing. He well understands the tunings that he uses. Every musical instrument and tuning has a specific chord pattern to it. For example: I love the 'Double C Tuning' (gCGCD) on the banjo, but it has a very different chord pattern than 'Standard Open G Tuning' (gDGBD). I am familiar with the Double C Tuning. If you've never tried Double C, you are missing out. In 'Maid Behind The Bar' (Double C Tuning), you can here Dave employ Double Stops very well.

I love Dave Hum's banjo playing. He was a great man, having done something that no one else did musically. I love Dave's backing tracks and am so thankful to his family for making them available for everyone. The banjo is such a happy instrument. Music makes the world a better place.

Dave Hum (1966-2012)

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5 String Banjo Instruction [1967] - Earl Scruggs

5 String Banjo Instruction Album [1967] - Earl Scruggs