What Is the Origin of the 5-String Banjo?
- The five-string banjo has a round body, a neck and five strings, with the fifth string shorter than the others for use as a "drone" string.
- The direct ancestor of the modern banjo is a gourd instrument with neck and strings attached, which moved to the United States and West Indies from Africa with the slave trade.
- References to the banjo's gourd ancestor start in the early 1600s, when explorer Richard Jobson saw it during his travels to Africa. In the 17th and 18th century, the instrument was played in the West Indies, and Thomas Jefferson wrote about the use of the "Banjar" by slaves in 1781.
- As it developed, the musical genres that incorporate the banjo include Appalachian, minstrel, classical, jazz, Celtic and bluegrass.
- After the banjo began spreading beyond the plantation, it was first popular in the context of minstrel shows, traveling beyond the U.S. by the miid-18th century; then enjoyed popularity as a parlor instrument, where players adopted a style of playing inspired by classical guitar; and finally, after a fading popularity, enjoyed revival as a bluegrass instrument in the mid-20th century.
