Banjo
The banjo is a string instrument, that was first played by African slaves in the United States a few hundred years ago. The idea came from other African instruments.[1] The name banjo may have come from a Kimbundu word: mbanza, but it could have also come from a Senegambian word for the bamboo stick used for the banjo's neck.
 A four-string banjo | |
| Classification | string |
|---|---|
| Inventor(s) | Surinamese Creole peoples |
| Developed | Late 1700s-present |
The modern banjo comes in a variety of forms, including four- and five-string versions. A six-string version, tuned and played similarly to a guitar, has gained popularity. In almost all of its forms, banjo playing is characterized by a fast arpeggiated plucking, though many different playing styles exist.
Banjo Media
The Old Plantation, c. 1785–1795, the earliest known American painting to picture a banjo-like instrument, which shows a four-string instrument with its fourth (thumb) string shorter than the others; thought to depict a plantation in Beaufort County, South Carolina
The oldest known banjo, c. 1770–1777, from the Surinamese Creole culture.
The Briggs' Banjo Instructor was the first method for the banjo. It taught the stroke style and had notated music. Publication date - 1855
Banjo, from the Musical Instruments series (N82) for Duke brand cigarettes, 1888
Hubby Jenkins performing on solo banjo at the IBMA Bluegrass Live! festival in Raleigh, North Carolina on October 2, 2021
Melody to Yankee Doodle, on the banjo, without and with drone notes
Play without (info • help) and with drone (info • help).
Don Wayne Reno playing a banjo with fingerpicks on his thumb, index and middle fingers. Photographed at Brent Pelham Mayfest in May 2006.
Plectrum banjo from Gold Tone
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Related pages
References
- ↑ Bluegrass Music: The Roots Archived 2006-08-22 at the Wayback Machine." IBMA. Retrieved on 2006-08-25
Further reading
Banjo history
- Conway, Cecelia (1995). African Banjo Echoes in Appalachia: A Study of Folk Traditions, University of Tennessee Press. Paper: ISBN 0-87049-893-2; cloth: ISBN 0-87049-892-4. A study of the influence of African Americans on banjo playing throughout U.S. history.
- Gura, Philip F. and James F. Bollman (1999). America's Instrument: The Banjo in the Nineteenth Century. The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-2484-4. The definitive history of the banjo, focusing on the instrument's development in the 1800s.
- Katonah Museum of Art (2003). The Birth of the Banjo. Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, New York. ISBN 0-915171-64-3.
- Linn, Karen (1994). That Half-Barbaric Twang: The Banjo in American Popular Culture. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-06433-X. Scholarly cultural history of the banjo, focusing on how its image has evolved over the years.
- Tsumura, Akira (1984). Banjos: The Tsumura Collection. Kodansha International Ltd. ISBN 0-87011-605-3. An illustrated history of the banjo featuring the world's premier collection.
- Webb, Robert Lloyd (1996). Ring the Banjar!. 2nd edition. Centerstream Publishing. ISBN 1-57424-016-1. A short history of the banjo, with pictures from an exhibition at the MIT Museum.
Instructional (5-string Banjo)
- Bailey, Jay. "Historical Origin and Stylistic Development of the Five-String Banjo." The Journal of American Folklore 85.335 (1972): 58-65.
- Costello, Patrick (2003). The How and the Tao of Old Time Banjo. Pik-Ware Publishing. ISBN 0-9744190-0-1. Instruction in frailing banjo. Available online under a Creative Commons license on several web sites including ezfolk Archived 2007-11-17 at the Wayback Machine.
- Scruggs, Earl. "Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo". Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 0-634-06042-2. Instruction in Scruggs or 3 finger style 5 string banjo.
- Seeger, Mike (2005). "Old-Time Banjo Styles". Homespun Tapes. Seeger teaches several old-time picking techniques - clawhammer, two-finger, three-finger, up-picking and others.
- Seeger, Pete (1969). How to Play the 5-String Banjo. 3rd edition. Music Sales Corporation. ISBN 0-8256-0024-3. The seminal instruction book, still in print decades later. Seeger has since recorded an instruction video, available on DVD.
- Wernick, Pete (1985 DVD). Beginning Bluegrass Banjo. Full course in the basics of Scruggs style.
- Wernick, Pete & Trischka, Tony (2000). Masters of the Five-String Banjo. Acutab Publications. ISBN 0-7866-5939-4. 70 banjo pieces from Scruggs, Reno, Osborne and Crowe to Fleck, Munde, and Cloud. Technique, improvising, set-up, learning, backup, favorite banjos, practice tips, equipment.
- Winans, Robert B. "The Folk, the Stage, and the Five-String Banjo in the Nineteenth Century." The Journal of American Folklore 89. 354 (1976): 407-37. 14 Sep. 2006.
Instructional (Tenor Banjo)
- Bay, Mel (1990). Complete Tenor Banjo Method. Porcupine Press. ISBN 1-56222-018-7. An instructional guide.
- Bay, Mel (1973). Deluxe Encyclopedia of Tenor Banjo Chords. Porcupine Press. ISBN 0-87166-877-7. A comprehensive chord dictionary for CGDA or standard tuning.
- O'Connor, Gerry. 50 solos for Irish tenor banjo: (featuring jigs, reels and hornpipes arranged for E, A, D, G and A, D, G, C tuning). Soodlum, Waltons Mfg. Ltd. ISBN 978-1857201482.
- Richards, Tobe A. (2006). The Tenor Banjo Chord Bible: CGDA Standard Jazz Tuning 1,728 Chords. Cabot Books. ISBN 0-9553944-4-9. A comprehensive chord dictionary in standard jazz tuning.
- Richards, Tobe A. (2006). The Irish Tenor Banjo Chord Bible: GDAE Irish Tuning 1,728 Chords. Cabot Books. ISBN 0-9553944-6-5. A comprehensive chord dictionary in Irish tuning.
- Wachter, Buddy (2005). Learning Tenor Banjo. Homespun. ISBN 1-59773-078-5. An instructional guide.
Instructional (Plectrum Banjo)
- Richards, Tobe A. (2007). The Plectrum Banjo Chord Bible: CGBD Standard Tuning 1,728 Chords. Cabot Books. ISBN 978-1-906207-07-6. A comprehensive chord dictionary in standard tuning.
Instructional (Claw-hammer Banjo)
- Koken, Walt (2016) "Slo-Mo Banjo" DVD. Mudthumper Music.
Instructional (Cello Banjo)
- The cello banjo was introduced during the banjo orchestra craze of the early 20th century, to play, not surprisingly, the cello parts of the orchestra. Recently it has made a little comeback, thanks mainly to Gold Tone making two low-pitched instruments, a 5-string and the 4-string.
Instructional (Bass Banjo)
- Gibson produced a separate instrument called a "bass banjo" from 1930 to 1933. This was a 4-string instrument, played as an upright bass, with a stand substituting for a spike. It was tuned EADG, the same as Gibson's mando-bass.
Instructional (Bluegrass Banjo)
- Bluegrass music, which uses the five-string resonator banjo almost exclusively, is played in several common styles. These include Scruggs style, named after Earl Scruggs; melodic, or Keith style, named for Bill Keith; and three-finger style with single-string work, also called Reno style after Don Reno.