Strummin’ Along!Let’s Learn About the

Banjo!

What to expectWhat Is a Banjo?

Notable Banjoists

Parts of the Banjo

Where did Banjos Come From?

How to play the Banjo Banjo Innovator - Earl Scruggs

Banjo Today!

Bluegrass

Your turn to “Roll”Performing Arts and

Visual Art

WHAT IS A BANJO?

Banjo is a stringed musical instrument with a long neck and a round body that is played by plucking. It is used especially in American folk music.

WHERE DID BANJOS COME FROM?The banjo is originally from Africa, and was brought to America with enslaved Africans in the 1700s.

Those banjos were made of a dried gourd with an animal skin head, and had 3 or 4 strings.

WHERE DID BANJOS COME FROM?The African banjo evolved from two instruments: the Akonting and N'goni.

Akonting is used by the Jola people, in Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau in West Africa.

It has a skin-headed gourd body, two long strings, and one short string.

WHERE DID BANJOS COME FROM?The N'goni is a traditional guitar of Mali. Its body is made of wood with dried animal skin head stretched over it.

WHERE DID BANJOS COME FROM?In the 1800s, white Americans starting using the instrument. The popular "Boucher banjo" was developed and sold by a drum maker. This hints to the shape of the banjo today.

BANJO TODAY!A modern banjo is made of wood and metal, which makes it heavy!

It also has four or five strings

made of metal, and the body that has a plastic head instead of animal skin.

It's built like a drum with strings

across it!

BANJO TODAY!These changes over time

have made the banjo much louder.

It's a very loud instrument,

much louder than a guitar, it makes it really easy for audiences could hear it!

PARTS OF THE BANJOHeadpiece

Tuning Pegs

Neck

Body

Bridge

Tailpiece

PARTS OF THE BANJO

The body is shaped like a drum. The front is covered with a plastic head. The back is usually made of wood. Some banjos don’t have a back at all!

PARTS OF THE BANJO4 strings are held in places with tuning pegs in the headpiece at the top. The 5th string is attached to the neck. The strings are held at the tailpiece at the bottom.

Above the tailpiece is the bridge, a small piece of wood and metal that raises the strings off the neck.

BridgeTailpiece

HOW TO PLAY BANJOBanjo players often play using 3 picks: one on the thumb and two fingers. Having 3 picks allows players to play very fast!

When learning to play banjo, you use the 3 picks to learn different patterns. These patterns are called rolls. Each roll pattern has its own specific sound to it.

BANJO INNOVATOR - EARL SCRUGGSThe inventor of this style of banjo playing is Earl Scruggs.

He performed his new banjo style when he was a teenager in the 1940s, and played professionally for almost 70 years!

Scruggs (right) with his longtime musical partner Lester Flatt

Scruggs in 2005

BANJO INNOVATOR - EARL SCRUGGS

Many people consider him the greatest banjo player of all time. His style is so important that many banjoists refer to is “Scruggs style”.

Watch and hear Earl perform:

BLUEGRASSEarl Scruggs played Bluegrass. This type of music is often connected with the banjo. Bluegrass started in the Appalachian region and is a kind of country music that is played on acoustic stringed instruments: upright bass, mandolin, guitar, fiddle and, of course, banjo.

Bill Monroe (on mandolin) was the Father of Bluegrass. Hear him and his Bluegrass Boys perform the song Uncle Pen.

NOTABLE BANJOISTS

Banjo player Bill Keith invented something called “melodic style” banjo playing, that copied the melodies that fiddles would play, instead of using roll patterns.

Hear Bill Keith perform Dizzy Gillespie’s jazz tune “A Night in Tunisia” using his melodic style.

NOTABLE BANJOISTS

Roni Stoneman is a banjo player and comedian who became well-known for performing on the TV show Hee Haw. Now in her 80s, Roni is still performing banjo!

Hear Roni sing and play “The House of the Rising Sun”

NOTABLE BANJOISTS

The Carolina Chocolate Drops is a Grammy Award-winning, old-time string band from North Carolina. All of the musicians sing and trade instruments including banjo, fiddle, guitar, harmonica, snare drum, bones, jug, and kazoo.

NOTABLE BANJOISTS

Bela Fleck is a modern banjo player who plays everything from bluegrass to jazz to classical and everything in between. He even plays electric banjo!

Fleck is a master banjo player who has had a major influence on many other players.

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones

NOTABLE BANJOISTS

Kristin Scott-Benson is a 5-time International Bluegrass Music Association's Banjo Player of the Year. She is part of the Bluegrass band, The Grascals, and is considered one of the nation's top bluegrass banjo players!

NOTABLE BANJOISTSOur Native Daughters is a quartet of Black women musicians who sing and play banjo (and many other instruments).

Their aim is to reclaim banjo music that was taken from enslaved people by white Americans. They celebrate the often unheard and untold history of their ancestors.

PERFORMING ARTS AND VISUAL ARTThe rich musical history of the banjo has inspired many visual artists.

The Old Plantation, is an anonymous folk painting from South Carolina. It was painted in the 1700s!

PERFORMING ARTS AND VISUAL ARTThe Banjo Player is a painting by William Sidney Mount from 1856. Mount painted many African Americans over his career.

The musician featured playing banjo is George Freeman.

YOUR TURN TO “ROLL”In the video, Keith showed examples of how you can practice roll patterns on your own.

You can tap on your desk, a table, or your leg using three fingers:

Middle

Index

Thumb

YOUR TURN TO “ROLL”We will use the abbreviations: T for thumb, I for index and

M for middle. Repeat these patterns a few times, that’s how banjo players do it!

The first pattern is The Square.

T - I - T - M

The second pattern is The Forward Reverse Roll.

T - I - M - T - M - I - T - M

YOUR TURN TO “ROLL”Try these patterns with your body, tooI

For example, you can make your left hand the thumb, use your right hand instead of your index finger, and tap your foot for your middle finger.

You can even make roll patterns of your own using the letters T I M!

Listen to the world around you for banjo in movies, TV, and more. You might be surprised by what you find.

Maybe you’ll decide to learn how to play, too!

You can learn more about banjo by listening to The Picky Fingers Banjo Podcast. It’s available wherever you listen to podcasts or at banjopodcast.com

Slides written and organized by Will Bibyin collaboration with Keith Billik.