When was banjo invented

Jack Jackson Pollock. Tin Pan Fretless Banjo. Hammig Five-String Fretless Banjo. Mayse Five-String Fretless Banjo. Gibson Tenor Banjo, used by Vivian Hayes. Boucher Five-String Fretless Banjo. Ashborn Five-String Fretless Banjo.

Mather Five-String Fretless Banjo. A Symphony, Nineteenth Century. The Banjo Lesson. Banjo made in the style of William Esperance Boucher, Jr.

If any of this is news to you, welcome to the club. In the last five years, pop music has become a proverbial breeding ground for a not-quite-folk "revival" of sorts, with traditional string instruments being wielded in a way that is — intentionally or not — devoid of much historical context. Thankfully, the Carolina Chocolate Drops are here to help us out.

Experiencing a performance by the Carolina Chocolate Drops is like taking a crash course in the parts of American history you had no idea you'd missed.

As one of the few all-black traditional string bands performing today, the group has become a champion for the history of old-time string music, which they make clear by weaving historical and contextual information into their live performances.

Rowan Corbett. Rhiannon Giddens. Malcolm Parson. Hubby Jenkins. This past October, I had the chance to sit down with the Carolina Chocolate Drops on the stage before the second show of a two-night stand at the Clifton Center in Louisville, Ky. With their instruments surrounding us but not too close at hand, we talked at length about the stories and historical tidbits that normally fill the time between songs in their live performances.

I wanted to learn about the banjo itself — not just its history, but its cultural and racial significance. And I have the Drops to thank for that. In its first or so years, the banjo has spanned continents, crafted musical genres and crossed borders of many varieties.

Without missing a beat, Rhiannon Giddens sums up the "bullet points" of banjo history and playing styles. Why does the banjo have so many origin stories? The most similar of all of these instruments, the akonting not only looks like a banjo, but it have a movable bridge, and has the long neck that extends through the body as early banjos did.

To put the nail in the coffin, the akonting is played with the ball of the thumb and the nail of the index finger, a picking pattern style that any banjo player will recognize.

In the s, the instrument was popularised by Joel Walker Sweeney, a minstrel musician who took the banjo to both sides of the Atlantic. By the s, pupils of Sweeney created training programs and books on how to play the instrument.

During the late years of the 19th century, the Dobson brothers are given credit for the addition of both frets and resonators. Soldiers were exposed to the happy, uplifting sound of the Banjo during the worst of times and brought it home with them. Over the years, different styles and techniques of banjo playing have evolved and so has the banjo itself. A number of distinct types of the instrument are available today, each suited to a particular style of music read more about the varied types in our article on the topic HERE.

It was initially a black folk instrument. Africans have played this type of instruments for ages, basically a drum attached to a neck with strings. This family of instruments is very old and their roots can be traced thoughout the Far East, Middle East or Africa. Banjo-like instruments have existed since the ancient Egypt.