It came naturally to me. I started out in Scruggs (with his 1967 book) and picked up clawhammer after I'd been playing for 5 yrs or so. I had a sort-of teacher though. Tommy Jackson would come by the music shop and I'd watch him play...then try to match what I heard and saw. Now, clawhammer is what I usually play. I rarely play Scruggs but I do keep a hand in by playing Classic 19th C 3-finger.

Probably the best advice I can give is to pick a tune you like (as simple a tune as you can stand) and just obsess over it. There are many, many online videos and teachers. If you read Tab, there's tons of it out there.

I think the first tune I learned was "Old Jake Gillie" from the "Clawhammer Banjo" book by Miles Krassen. Probably went to "Cluck Ol Hen" next. It is a great book, full of excellent tunes.

Id you're learning a new style, new genre, it will take time for your fingers and your brain to get used to that different style. Give it time, do lots of practicing of the bum-ditty style until it come naturally.

I also had a problem learning clawhammer, but I took it slow and worked hard at it and one day it just suddenly all came together and I got the rhythm and went from there. It took me quite a long time, months, but I wasn't really into clawhammer, it was just something I wanted to learn to do. Once I got the hang of it, I went back to Scruggs. Sounds like you really like the sound, so you probably won't have the problems I did.

1. Take 3-6 lessons with a teacher, in person if possible, online works too.
2. It takes time, patience and determination wins the day.
I played Scruggs bluegrass since 1979, I tried to learn clawhammer on my own with limited success. Then the took lessons and on the first lesson my teacher got me to play the standard bum ditty. It’s been four years and 30 tunes that I play confidently. I love clawhammer!

Took me about 3 months of daily struggle before I could play anything.
I took a few lessons that really helped.
The best lesson i ever had was: “ it’s all down strokes”. Understanding that really helped to keep my brain in the right place. Second best lesson was: “ when you are playing drop thumb you usually aim for the second string”.

Old-time banjo players were all over the place when it came to the mechanics of playing, and a lot of what sounds like (or is called) "clawhammer" is something other than the rapping/knockdown/stroke style (stroke down with a fingernail, pull with the thumb) that usually bears the name nowadays.

Doc Watson could rap, but usually, if you hear him playing what sounds like clawhammer style, he's actually playing index-lead 2-finger style-- all the index finger notes are plucked upward, and the hand is usually planted (I think Doc rested his wrist on the head, but most will use the 4th or 3rd+4th finger, like Scruggs).

When Ralph Stanley said he was playing clawhammer style, he might have sometimes been rapping, but when I saw him, he was plucking up on the downbeat, and brushing down on the upbeat. That's the way Pete Seeger first learned to play (from Samantha Bumgarner)-- He called it the "basic strum" in his banjo instruction book, from which too many pickers got the wrong idea that it was simplified, rudimentary, and suited only for beginners. IMO it's actually easier to play really fast and smoothly that way than it is rapping.

I guess my point is, aim for the sound you want to make. Watch (and/or take instruction from) those that get that sound, but remember that your body isn't put together exactly the way anyone else's is, and also that your first impression of how they're doing it is liable to be way off the mark.

Clawhammer is a FOUR part sound, Bum – Pause – Dit – †y. Tap your foot on the Bum. Take any simple song to get the pattern/rhythm down. For me it was Skip to My Lou for the rhythm followed by Cripple Creek for the slides, hammer-ons, and pull-offs while keeping the rhythm going. For drop thumb and tunings Dan Levenson's Clawhammer From Scratch is pretty good. A teacher can cut down the learning curve time significantly, would have saved me YEARS! With the internet probably that "years" would be reduced to months. For songs and also learning all the above, The Banjo Player's Songbook by Tim Jumper is great! Wherever you are at on the learning curve, just enjoy it! banjered

It is like learning to ride a bike. Tough, and you have to keep at it, but once you get it you never forget.

Think hand and arm—not fingers. Downstroke clawhammer should move from the elbow, and fairly slightly. I play with my index or middle finger only slightly extended from the “claw” of my right hand. To emphasize the point about arm motion, I can play (though I don’t) with my Ringy finger leading. Although the sound differs slightly, it really makes no difference whether you play with index or middle finger for your lead note. Just remember your finger should move with your hand and from your elbow.

About a year back I made a video examining what I consider to be the five essential differences between clawhammer and three finger picking. It might help you to get a better handle on the new muscle memories you are trying to develop, which in turn might help you break through some of the barriers to your progress. Bill Rogers has alright hit on one of those differences (#5 in my video)—your finger (and thumb) don’t pick, but go along for the ride as your arm moves. I spent about half the video looking at this critical difference. Keep at it. It will come in time.
 

https://youtu.be/uQ-NENFcxnc

All the advice given is excellent, to which I would add the following:
As Bob Carlin advised: "Take your left hand, put it behind your back and forget about it. Really work on your right hand because that is what makes the sound."
I suggest starting with "bump - a - did - dy" as the basic rhythm -- thumb hitting the fifth string on "a" (double-thumbing), and once that is mastered, thumb hitting the inner strings on "a" -- starting with the second, then moving to the third and eventually the fourth (drop-thumbing). When you can perform all those moves fluidly, leaving out the thumb note on "a" will give you the "Bump - did - dy" rhythm -- Pete's "basic strum."
Then you can bring your left hand out of retirement and let the music begin.

I also recommend you take Dan Levenson's Clawhammer From Scratch as your starting spot. There's no limit to were you can go from there. Dan has more instruction that you can use for much more progress.
I make this recommendation because I Didn’t take it and it continues to limit me today.

Lots of good advice. Don’t forget that Mark doesn’t need to learn left-hand stuff. He’ll adjust easily once the basic right hand comes around.

I think you make the same mistake as I did when I started. Once I was trying to learn three-finger and clawhammer at the same time, but I made the mistake to clawhammer with the finger, not the hand. It is two different right-hand techniques that are used, and the two styles can be learned at the same time only when you really learn them as separate right techniques techniques.

The clawhammer finger (for me it is index, but a lot prefer middle finger) shall not be flicking - it is the movement of the hand, not the finger, that plucks the string (even if it is the finger that touches the string).

Also remember the same about the thumb in clawhammer. Don't pluck with the thumb: the thumb shall be more or less fixed and it is the movement of the hand that sounds the fifth string. In this case it is when the hand starts to move upwards that the fifth string is played.

There are a lot of videos and books that describe this in more detail.

I haven't been playing for very long, but I started by practicing the three-finger style and then the claw hammer style.
I often switch between the claw, three-finger, and two-finger styles—that's good for my arthritis. Also, for me, there are songs that belong to a certain style; for example, I only like “Blackberry Blossom” when played with the three-finger style.

When I first tried the claw hammer grip, a credit card in my right hand really helped me.

Awesome advice everyone! REALLY appreciate all of your great ideas. You've provided new perspectives on how to treat the mechanics/technique....something that will get my pea-brain in the right place from the start. I also think getting a good teacher is a wise investment. Thanks again and I'll keep you posted on my adventures!

Just learning clawhammer; started with this free download: 8 Essential Steps to Clawhammer Banjo, from Brainjo academy. No affiliation, just what I thought was a novel approach to learning, especially at my age. It might be worth a look.

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Originally posted by GerryR

Just learning clawhammer; started with this free download: 8 Essential Steps to Clawhammer Banjo, from Brainjo academy. No affiliation, just what I thought was a novel approach to learning, especially at my age. It might be worth a look.

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Thanks @GerryR - great suggestion! 

A Skruggs style banjo player here, learning clawhammer as well. One thing that is helping me, and that is I'm bilingual. And because of that, I have learned that you have to think in the language that you are speaking. You can't think of clawhammer in Skruggs style terms. It is a whole different style. Kick Skruggs style out of your head and think in clawhammer terms. Hope that helps.