The plural form of banjo is banjos, as this stringed musical instrument has a round body with neck. Players play it by plucking or strumming its strings.
The banjo has long been associated with bluegrass and country music, though it can also be found in jazz and rock bands. It can be played using multiple techniques – including Scruggs style, melodic style and Reno style – making this instrument versatile enough to suit different musical genres and styles.
Definition
The banjo (plural: banjoes) is a stringed musical instrument with four, five or six strings that can be played either by strumming it like a guitar or picking individual strings individually. Most commonly associated with bluegrass music, banjos have also made appearances in jazz and rock genres. A specific type of banjo known as resonator banjo features a sound box designed to project its sound more effectively and increase volume.
Banjos were initially developed by African Americans who adapted African instruments for use on American plantations culture. Popularity soared during the 19th-century minstrel show fad, leading to many people learning how to play this instrument across both America and Britain. Later, quality banjos with improved tuning allowed musicians to develop new musical styles using this instrument.
Banjo innovation continued throughout the 20th century, including designs with raised metal frets and tone rings to enhance their sound quality. By early 21st century these instruments had become more ubiquitous among folk, country music as well as some contemporary rock and jazz bands.
Bluegrass music has long favored the resonator banjo for its rich and distinctive sound, and players of this five-string instrument often employ three styles to play it: Earl Scruggs style (after Earl), Bill Keith style with single string work (Keith style) or three finger style with arpeggiated figures called drone notes.
Historically, tenor banjos, often called plectrum banjos, were popular rhythm instruments in jazz bands until archtop guitars and electric banjos came along as replacements. While its use has significantly diminished since this point, some jazz orchestras and jazz musicians who desire its distinctive twang continue using it today.
Six-string banjos, comprised of a standard guitar neck attached to a resonator banjo body, are often chosen by musicians looking for bluegrass or plectrum banjo without needing to learn fingerpicking techniques. Six-string banjos have also become the go-to instrument of some jazz musicians including Johnny St. Cyr and Django Reinhardt as well as singer-songwriters such as Bob Dylan.
Origin
The plural form of banjo is “banjos” and should be pronounced with a hard G. As with many nouns, its pluralization depends on the last letter or letters in its base word; furthermore, banjo is considered an “unproper noun.”
A musical stringed instrument, the banjo has a percussive sound that’s often associated with bluegrass music. It’s often played using two styles – Scruggs style after Earl Scruggs that involves fast arpeggiated plucking or melodic Keith style after Bill Keith that employs single string work and rolls – as it offers two distinctive approaches.
Other styles of banjo playing include the tenor banjo, which uses two strings shorter than its peers; five-string resonator banjo is another modern development which features a flat back with a resonator box to produce louder tones; while six-string banjo can also be tuned and played similarly to guitars.
The banjo is a key instrument in musical theater and has been showcased in such shows as Hello Dolly!, Mame and Oklahoma! Additionally, Sesame Street utilizes it.
Though most often associated with American folk music, banjo can also be found in Dixieland jazz and Caribbean genres like biguine and calypso. Bluegrass musicians frequently use banjo alongside fiddle.
The banjo was first brought to America by African slaves around three hundred years ago, and its name likely derives from either Kimbundu word mbanza or Senegambian words for sticks used to hold its neck. Some researchers speculate that its roots lie with other African instruments such as gourd-bodied three string instruments called akontings or spike folk lutes like Senegambia’s Jola tribe’s ubaw-akwala or Cote d’Ivoire’s xalam.
Synonyms
Although it has long been part of American culture since its introduction at minstrel shows in 19th-century America, its origins can be found in West Africa. A banjo is a stringed instrument with a circular membrane stretched over its frame to form its resonator; today this membrane may be plastic but earlier forms often utilized animal skin for resonance purposes. Today there are various variations on this basic design such as some instruments having moveable bridges while others do not; some instruments called banjos might use five string tuning used when bluegrass music was invented by banjos alone!
These variations stem from different regions having their own musical traditions and languages, leading to numerous variants on the banjo such as ukulele-banjo (using a guitar neck), tenor banjo which descends from mandolin, plectrum banjo used in Irish traditional music to play single-note melodies, etc.
Modern banjos typically consist of four-string instruments which combine elements from both African and European cultures, including its drum-like body constructed from gourd, with strings of differing lengths; as well as having flat fingerboards with tuning pegs similar to that found on guitars.
Banjo playing had become associated with white racism during the 19th-century minstrel show fad, leading many popular musicians to adopt the persona of a blackface performer ridiculing black people. Unfortunately, banjo had already become an integral part of rural American folk music and African-American traditions prior to this trend.
Today, the banjo has become an essential element in numerous American music styles such as country and bluegrass music, Dixieland jazz music and Caribbean genres such as calypso and mento. Furthermore, this instrument has come to represent African-American identity and culture; though originally associated with slavery and segregation issues it now represents freedom of expression for a segment of the population still struggling against similar issues.
Examples
A banjo is a stringed musical instrument with a long neck, circular body and drum-style head (similar to drumming). It typically has four strings and often an extra short fifth string that can be plucked with one’s thumb; and can be played either by hand or plectrum; bluegrass and jazz are among its many styles of playing; legendary banjo players include Earl Scruggs for popularizing five-string resonator banjo; Bill Keith who developed melodic styles of playing; Frank Lawes who was known for four string plectrum banjo player known for unique fingerstyle techniques on four string plectrum banjo players; among many more notable banjo players there were famous players such as Earl Scruggs who helped popularized five-string resonator banjo playing style; Bill Keith who developed melodic styles of playing; Frank Lawes who was four string plectrum player noted for unique fingerstyle technique on four string plectrum banjo player Frank Lawes who was known four string plectrum banjo player known for unique fingerstyle technique on four string plectrum banjo playing techniques on four string plectrum playing techniques with four strings plectrum banjo player Frank Lawes who was known four string plectrum plectrum four string plectrum plectrum banjo players such as four string plectrum plectrum banjo player Bill Keith who developed melodic style playing technique on four string plectrum playing technique by four string plectrum instrument that became famous under their four string plectrum playing style fingerstyle technique on four strings plectrum playing five string plectrum plectrum playing four string plectrum playing technique on fourstring resonator banja with four string plectrum plectrum played four string plectrum which would later on four string plectrum four string plectrum played four string plectrum four string plectrum with four string plectrum four string fingerstyle technique before Frank Lawes played four string plectrum banjo playing melodic style development melodic (reco five by playing melodic who would later developed melodic style played melodic). Earl Scrggs played. Bill Keith who popularized five resonator banjo for six resonator four string plectum later than Frank Lawes on four guitar; while Frank Lawes played four string plectum instrument before.) playing before then going forward as four.
Resonator banjos are most often found in bluegrass music, although they can also be found in old-time, Irish traditional, or other genres such as jazz music. Their “tone ring” assembly helps clarify and project their sound while modern models often feature an additional plate serving as a soundboard that further improves its sound quality.
There are various tunings for the banjo that can be utilized, including double-D and open-A tunings that are often seen accompanying fiddle tunes. Other less prevalent tunings can sometimes be heard in genres of music like ragtime. Some musicians use these less frequent settings as an effective way of competing against brass and reed instruments found at dance halls.
Banjo is a noun, so its plural form is bananas. Most commonly written as banjos but some spell it banjos instead; nouns can take various forms depending on their function; some examples include proper names, place or thing identifiers, emotive or factual words as well as uncountable nouns.
Typically, when creating the plural of a noun, adding an “s” at the end is sufficient to signify its pluralization; for instance, books is plural of book; note also that this rule also applies when creating words containing prefixed terms like un-, dis- or re-.