Classic Banjo from Smithsonian Folkways (liner notes) — Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Claims

1. early-history
   The banjo has West African heritage and developed in the 17th-century Caribbean, where enslaved Africans created a plucked string instrument based on African traditions with some European features. The best-documented early form had a neck running through a gourd body covered with animal hide and four strings, three long and one short thumb string. The banjo is documented in North America as early as 1736 in New York City, and its popularization in blackface minstrelsy is largely attributed to Joel Walker Sweeney, who performed with it publicly from as early as 1836.

   "Banjo history stretches across a complex international terrain. It spans the instrument's West African heritage and development in the 17th-century Caribbean basin ... They created a unique plucked stringed instrument based on one or more African traditions while incorporating some attributes of European instruments, such as flat fingerboards and tuning pegs. ... The most clearly documented form of the early banjo consisted of a neck crafted with a flat fingerboard that ran through the full length of a gourd (or sometimes calabash) body. The opened side of the gourd was covered with an animal hide sound table held in place with tacks. It had four strings—three long strings and a short thumb string ... As the banjo appeared in North America—documented as early as 1736 in New York City ... The banjo's popularization in blackface minstrelsy is largely attributed to Joel Walker Sweeney (1810–60), who began publicly performing with the banjo as early as 1836"

   Locator: page: 9-12 · Quote language: en
2. jenkins-predecessor
   Earl Scruggs popularized the three-finger picking style among bluegrass fans and young folk enthusiasts, but the style did not originate with him. Snuffy Jenkins of North Carolina, who learned from his neighbors Smith Hammett and Rex Brooks, played it before Scruggs and influenced him; Ralph Stanley and Don Reno also cited Jenkins as their source. Mike Seeger's 1956 Folkways album American Banjo Tunes and Songs in Scruggs Style was the first bluegrass LP.

   "In 1956, Mike Seeger recorded and produced the first bluegrass LP, American Banjo Tunes and Songs in Scruggs Style. ... Scruggs popularized the three-finger picking style that caught on with bluegrass fans and young folk song enthusiasts, and while many thought the style originated with him, it did not. One of the most important players to pre-date (and influence) Scruggs in that three-finger style was Dewitt “Snuffy” Jenkins (1908–90). In addition to Scruggs, and as a testament to Jenkins's importance, both Ralph Stanley (Rosenberg 1985) and Don Reno (liner notes to Rounder 0005) cite Snuffy as the source of their learning three-finger playing. Coming from North Carolina, Jenkins learned his style of playing from neighbors Smith Hammett and Rex Brooks"

   Locator: page: 29-30 · Quote language: en
3. keith-style
   Bill Keith, a Boston-area banjo player from the urban folk revival who joined Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in the early 1960s, developed a "Keith style" that kept many of the elements Scruggs had introduced but was more melodic, following contours typical of the fiddle and giving a more improvisatory feeling.

   "Keith, a Boston-area native, came out of the urban folk song revival and local bluegrass bands. ... during Rinzler's tenure as Monroe's manager in the early 1960s, a number of northeastern musicians became Blue Grass Boys—Keith being the first ... In this context, Keith demonstrates his uniqueness—a “Keith style”—to the group, which maintained many of the elements innovated by Scruggs but was more melodic, following some of the contours typically heard on the fiddle and lending a more improvisatory feeling to the sound."

   Locator: page: 37-38 · Quote language: en
4. melodic-clawhammer
   In the 1970s and 1980s Ken Perlman adapted clawhammer technique to play melodic material note for note, as opposed to using the banjo as accompaniment for a fiddler, an approach known as melodic clawhammer. Clawhammer players often use tunings such as gCGCD (double C); Rufus Crisp, for example, played "Walk Light Ladies" in that tuning.

   "In the 1970s and '80s, Perlman adapted his technique to fashion arrangements for playing melodic material note-for-note, as opposed to using the banjo as accompaniment for a fiddler. In addition to developing “melodic clawhammer” technique ... With his banjo tuned to gCGCD (and the capo on the second fret to play in D major) ... Mayo's liner notes describe “Walk Light Ladies” as being played in a double-C tuning (gCGCD)."

   Locator: page: 24, 26-27 · Quote language: en
5. seeger-manual
   Pete Seeger's self-published book How to Play the 5-String Banjo became a highly influential primer for later generations of urban banjo players.

   "His self-published book, How to Play the 5-String Banjo, became a highly influential primer for future generations of urban banjo players."

   Locator: page: 14 · Quote language: en
6. technique-families
   Old-time downstroke techniques such as clawhammer, rapping or frailing share the same fundamentals as the 19th-century downstroke techniques known as banjo style, stroke style or thimble style. Bluegrass musicians generally use a three-finger technique in which the thumb, index and middle fingers are fitted with picks and pluck the strings upward, related to various 19th- and 20th-century two-, three- and four-finger picking techniques. Some musicians combine downstroke and finger-picking techniques.

   "For instance, new learners can discover how old-time downstroke techniques such as clawhammer, rapping, or frailing share the same fundamentals with 19th-century downstroke techniques known as banjo style, stroke style, or thimble style playing. They might learn how bluegrass musicians generally use a three-finger picking technique where the thumb, index, and middle finger are fitted with picks and pluck the strings in an upward motion, in kinship with multiple 19th- and 20th-century finger picking techniques that use two, three, or four fingers. ... They can also discover how some musicians use a mixed-methods approach, combining both downstroke and finger picking techniques in their performances."

   Locator: page: 13 · Quote language: en