While many see the banjo as an emblematic symbol of African-American culture, its widespread acceptance during the 1840s had more to do with traveling white minstrels who performed in blackface than with its popularity as an instrument used as part of their acts that often mocked aspects of African heritage brought over from Africa. The banjo often served as part of their acts that satirized aspects of African traditions brought from Africa.
Origins
While most Americans associate the banjo with Appalachian Mountains and Beverly Hillbillies music, its origins can be found in Africa. Similar stringed instruments found throughout West Africa – like sitar, kora, and mbira – the banjo has its origins there as well. It is thought to have taken its name from an African word meaning “play”, though its true source remains unknown. Most commonly played using a plectrum- a piece of plastic or metal that fits between your thumb and first two fingers- often used with claw-hammer fingerpicking styles or more strumming styles like flatpick – these instruments originate in Africa!
The banjo was first brought to America during the minstrel show craze of the early 19th century. White minstrel performers such as Joel Walker Sweeney used this instrument in their shows and used it for everything from plantation and folk songs, sentimental melodies, waltzes, mazurkas and polkas; performing them at urban locations such as hotels or race tracks.
Sweeney is widely recognized for introducing the fifth string to the banjo. He likely added it so as to enhance musical interest and imitate the drone sound of Scottish bagpipes.
By the mid-1850s, interest in the banjo had grown considerably and it began being played in numerous settings – from popular dance music and theater productions to folklore performances. Around this time musicians started altering their banjos by increasing its size and adding metal strings, as well as using frets on its neck to divide fixed intervals more easily so musicians could stay in tune while playing tunefully. All these modifications eventually led to four and five string banjos being developed – as well as plectrum banjos with plectrum and tenor styles!
Minstrels
Civil War (1861-1864) saw banjoists from all walks of life come together during regiment and company minstrel shows to provide entertainment during lulls in fighting and shipboard or camp lulls, such as when Joel Sweeney first made an impactful debut and down-picking was adopted more widely among Black musicians who learned it from plantation slaves. At that point in time, white audiences discovered five string banjos while Black musicians taught by plantation slaves adopted down picking as their preferred style of playing technique – making five string banjos ever more widely adopted than in other places during its popularity amidst growing white audiences who also welcomed black banjoists like Joel Sweeney who introduced white audiences to its five string banjos during its reign of an audience that featured regimental minstrel shows to keep themselves amused during long lulls in fighting. At that point in time it also began becoming popular with white audiences while Black musicians taught by plantation slaves began taking up playing styles such as down picking from plantation slaves themselves who learned it as well.
The banjo was also an essential element of minstrel shows, a form of blackface entertainment. These shows preserved numerous Black folk tunes as well as one style of banjo playing which featured racist depictions of those musicians whose music was being stolen. As middle class Whites began buying manufactured instruments written with classical European notation notation notation sheet music they began buying this style as well.
As vaudeville became more and more popular during the 1900s, northern players such as Fred Van Eps and Vester Ossman began touring through Southern states where their three finger picking style of playing was introduced to local audiences, sparking its spread and shaping what later became known as three finger banjo playing style. These early roots of modern banjo can still be found today.
Earl Scruggs gave the banjo a major boost when he introduced his unique playing style known as Scruggs Style. This method involved using your thumb and first two fingers of your right hand to play “roll” patterns – something now commonly referred to as Scruggs Style. His technique quickly gained widespread acceptance among working class populations in both North and South. Unfortunately, however, due to radio and phonograph technology this style quickly died out.
Early banjos
Early banjos were a combination of African and Western musical influences. Their soundboards consisted of stretched skin over a frame. Tuning pegs could be found at either end of the headstock for easier string tuning; additionally they featured flat fingerboards with string pegs attached for enhanced playback capabilities and were often utilized across genres and styles including folk, bluegrass and country music.
While the banjo had its origins in Africa, its greatest prominence in America came through minstrel shows featuring white male performers dressed as slaves to caricature their singing and dancing styles. Minstrel shows were widely watched around the country – particularly rural regions in the South – helping create an image of banjos as hillbilly instruments played by white people.
As jazz music became more prevalent during the 1920s, musicians required louder instruments in order to be heard above brass and reed instruments. To fulfill this need, banjo players began taking steps such as cutting off one string from their four-string instrument called a banjo ukulele; this enabled it to become an instrument more focused on rhythm rather than ornamentation.
In the 1930s, ragtime music emerged. This style greatly impacted music in both the United States and Caribbean regions and encouraged musicians to convert their five-string plectrum banjos to four-string plectrum plectrum banjos for performance in this new genre. Ragtime stressed the role of banjo as rhythm instrument over its previous association with melody; musicians created new styles including Scruggs style banjo playing, melodic Keith style work based on roll patterns, Reno style banjo playing etc.
Early 20th century banjos
Banjo popularity was quickly spread in the late 19th century with the growth of blackface minstrelsy entertainment. This form was based on parodying American folk and country traditions while also including African rhythms – making it extremely popular with both White and Black audiences alike. Blackface minstrelsy was often followed by songs or comedy skits as part of its performance.
Early banjos were often constructed of gourds with fretless necks. They featured one to three strings attached to a wooden peghead and were known by names such as akonting, banjo, bonjaw or banjar. European outsiders would make remarks suggesting these instruments came from Africa; European paintings depicting an African-American family playing one such instrument dates back as far as 1820 still stand out as testaments to depictions of uncaricatured Black people in America at that time.
As Black Southerners were forced to relocate north during the Great Migration, banjo became a symbol of their homeland and used in various musical genres from blues to jazz; even some of the earliest recordings featuring jazz banjo players featured black singers.
In the 20th century, five string banjos began to decline in popularity and were eventually mostly replaced by four string plectrum banjos due to ragtime music’s emphasis on louder playing than traditional folk and classical fingerpicking styles, and also to cut through brass and reed instruments that were being played at dance halls at that time.
However, five string banjos remained widely utilized as accompaniment instruments for fiddles and as part of bluegrass music. Bill Monroe himself began Bluegrass genre by playing one as part of The Carter Family band he co-founded; their influence can still be felt today with current bands playing this type of instrument as part of their lineups.
Modern banjos
Modern banjos are manufactured primarily in Asia. While styles and prices vary greatly, inexpensive models often feature cheap materials and weak craftsmanship. Many banjos feature a metal tone ring assembly to improve sound projection more clearly and projecting it further away from itself. As opposed to earlier circular bodies of earlier banjo models, modern ones use round drum-shaped “pots” with wooden or metal pots used on older models for resonance purposes – typically making use of wood as the material of choice on pots that also aid resonance purposes. Furthermore, modern banjos utilize four conventional strings along with one higher pitched string to produce its distinct sound signature sound signature sound!
The banjo originated in West Africa, brought over by African slaves. Slave performances spread this music through minstrel shows which featured white actors blackening their faces to portray African slaves as buffoonish caricatures. This style became widely adopted into American popular culture.
Banjos were immensely popular during the late 19th and early 20th century. From jazz rhythms to Appalachia fingerpicking styles, banjos became ubiquitous instruments among players of all races. Blackface minstrelsy faded while Civil Rights movement momentum rose; along with it so did banjo popularity among all races.
Today, the banjo is most often associated with Bluegrass music – an amalgamation of folk and country influences – while other types of banjo-based folk music, such as Irish fiddle tunes and blues also utilize this instrument. Though widespread within Bluegrass circles, fans don’t hear banjo all that often outside this genre; O Brother Where Art Thou? helped revive interest with its soundtrack which featured traditional folk tunes as well as an ensemble playing banjos; this film helped reignite banjo players’ interest further; also, featuring traditional folk tunes alongside an ensemble playing banjo-playing ensemble played banjo players that helped reignite interest for this instrument!