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Fretted instruments with a drum-like
body, strings supported by a bridge resting on the
head, and extending over a neck appear in many cultures.
They have been used in ancient times and are in use
today. The forerunner of the banjo came from Africa.
The akonting, currently played in Senegal and Gambia
in West Africa is similar in appearance and construction
to the banjo. Players of the akonting use a technique
unmistakeably related to stroke styles, the earliest
known banjo technique.
On the left is an akonting. On
the right is an artifact currently housed at the Rijksmuseum
voor Volkenkunde in Leiden, Holland. Note the short
string, a precursor of the modern fifth string. Images
courtesy of Ulf Jagfors.
What is a banjo?
The Five String Banjo
All banjos are considered part of the lute family
of instruments. The banjo developed in America during
colonial times. Five string banjos probably preceded
Joel Walker Sweeney. The painting “The Banjo
Man” by James Warrell is dated 1813, and depicts
a five string banjo. Three major types of banjo have
been invented: the five string, the plectrum banjo,
and the tenor banjo. Other types of banjos fall within
these categories, or are the hybrids, or hyphenated
banjos. A five string banjo is pictured below. Through
the history of the instrument a great variety of five
string models and styles have been developed.
S. S. Stewart
Special Thoroughbred Banjo, 1896
From S. S. STEWART’S EXTRA FINE BANJOS catalog
reprint, 1973. Used by permission.
Most five string banjos played today have these features:
- Four long strings, and a shorter string, the fifth
string.
- Twenty two frets. Technically, they are “fret
wires”, set snugly in the fingerboard.
- The rim or “shell”, a hoop.
- Bracket hooks adjusted to keep tension on the
banjo head (the drum head) by means of the stretcher
band or tension hoop.
What is a banjo?
The Plectrum Banjo
The precise appearance of the plectrum banjo is as
yet unknown. The plectrum banjo is a four string banjo,
usually tuned like the five string banjo in standard
C tuning––CGBd. Late in the 19th century,
players removed their fifth string, and played with
a flat pick (plectrum) or thimble in several varieties
of music. The plectrum banjo appeared in jazz bands
and orchestras prior to World War I. Plectrum banjo
manufacture was plentiful during the 1920’s,
though tenor banjos outnumbered them by about 11 to
1.
Plectrums are usually made with a resonator, the sounding
board fastened to the back of the banjo rim.
The great Joe
Roberts with his No. 6 B & D Ne Plus Ultra Silver
Bell plectrum banjo
Plectrum banjos usually
have 22 frets. The strength of the plectrum banjo
is in chord voicings. The harmonies are “…almost
equal to the Piano [sic] in obtaining pretty chord
effects…” according to Charles McNeil,
author of the superb McNeil Chord System
books for plectrum and tenor banjos.
What is a banjo?
The Tenor Banjo
In the United States, the tenor banjo probably originated both from the banjo-mandolin, and as an altered banjeaurine. The shorter scale length banjeaurine, designed for use in banjo orchestras, is tuned a fourth higher than the standard banjo, c’Fceg. The viola tuning, CGda, became the standard for the tenor banjo. The first tenor banjos were made in 1885 by John Farris in Connecticut. Tenor banjos began to be manufactured in earnest about 1910, meeting demands of popular music trends toward American jazz. A violinist, cellist or violist could find employment playing the tenor banjo in a jazz band in those vintage years.
The banjo came to Ireland in the 1840's, with the minstrel troupes who toured the British Isles and European continent. The Irish
had a complex role in minstrel music, the pop music of that era.
American Irish musicians incorporated the tenor banjo using its standard tuning, CGda, circa the 1920's, notably played by Neil Nolan, and also
by Mike Flanagan of the Flanagan brothers band.
Barney McKenna, playing with the Dubliners, seems to be the first to use and popularize the G'DAe tuning about the late 1950's, using heavier
strings, conveniently tuned one octave lower than the fiddle, so that all the magnificent traditional tunes could easily be adapted by banjoists. The tenor banjo has found its way back to Ireland from America and is a vital component in modern Irish traditional music. Per capita, the banjo is now more popular
in Ireland than in any other country.
Both the Celtic and American versions of the tenor banjo were and are played with a thimble or plectrum (flat pick) rather than with the fingers or the stroke technique.
The tenor banjo lends itself best to linear or homophonic music. The tuning in fifths enables easy access and commonly established fretting from the bowed instrument family.
A Weymann Tenor
Banjo
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