Though many people think that the banjo is the all-American instrument, born and developed in the good ol' U. S. of A., they're only telling you a partial truth and a very small part of the whole story. What they are thinking of is the 5-string banjo donned by such greats as Earl Scruggs and Bela Fleck. It's the most prevalent type of banjo in many popular styles of American music such as Bluegrass, Dixieland, and Country, so naturally, being exposed to no other types of banjos, one would assume that the 5-string IS the banjo.

In reality the banjo originated hundreds of years ago somewhere on the African continent. These instruments were quite simple and rough - an animal skin tacked on to a hollowed half of a gourd with three or four strings stretched over a planed stick (keep in mind, too, that there were no such things as frets back then). The strings were often made from waxed horsehair or gut. One name for this instrument was the banjar. (Isn't it interesting that the pronunciation of this native-African word from ages ago is still being used by the back-woodsy American folk of today?) Anyway…

The banjo didn't actually make it to America until the African slaves were forced to come here in the 17th Century. Because the materials used to make a crude version of this instrument were readily available, it spread among the plantation workers in the South quite easily. Eventually, in the early 1800's, a few whites learned to play, such as the notable Joel Walker Sweeney, who learned the instrument from the people working on his father's farm. Because the instrument was a novelty to many Americans, Sweeney was able to tour the East Coast in the 1830's with some success. He played in a style that is similar to what is known today as "clawhammer" or "frailing." This technique was the standard for the Africans of the day. Clawhammer (my personal favorite - you should all try it some time!) is a very rhythmic way of playing. It is achieved by striking down on the strings with the nail of one of the fingers and plucking back up with the thumb. It is not understood for sure who developed the short fifth string, but by this time it was definitely in use.

As the Civil War rolled around, some musicians (probably influenced by the guitar) turned away from the old style of playing and started finger-picking the banjo. Players such as Frank Converse started publishing instructional books in this new style and thus it gained great popularity rather quickly. Interestingly, the people isolated in the Appalachian Mountains were not privy to this new technique and, as a result, we still today have the old African style of playing represented in clawhammer.

Simultaneously, major changes to the banjo were happening elsewhere. Having had much success in America, the minstrel performers of the 1830's, 40's and 50's traveled over to Europe and the British Isles. As the popularity of the banjo spread there, novel approaches to the instrument were developed. By the early 20th Century, these changes had taken hold both in Europe and in America. The most important invention was the use of metal strings and a pick (also called a plectrum). With the use of a pick, the need for the short fifth string was no more, so new banjos were made with the same neck length, but with only four strings. This came to be known as the Plectrum Banjo. Tuning for this instrument was similar to the 5-string (but I'll map that out down below). The Plectrum Banjo gained great popularity among American Jazz players and Vaudeville entertainers in the early 20th Century, but nearly died out until it experienced a revival in the 1960's and 70's.