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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana  |
I've been listening to Clancy Brothers this week (not necessarily related to St. Patrick's Day) and noted that many of their recordings feature banjo. On some of them, Pete Seeger was the one playing. I started reading a bit about the history of the banjo and how a instrument that apparently developed from African-Americans' instruments (possibly blended with a Portuguese instrument) in the 1800s ended up in Irish folk music. I remember Steve Martin saying "it's such a happy sound... you just can't play a sad song on a banjo." I actually had one once. I picked it up at a garage sale, never really touched it, and sold it at a garage sale (at the behest of my then girlfriend). It was cheap. It was one of the first things to sell at the garage sale. Last night I was looking at banjos on craigslist and from a local acoustic music store. I've never played any guitar-like instruments. But I've got an itch. Anyone here play, played, been in the same room as a banjo? Can anyone explain the relative merits of open-back and closed-back banjos?
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| Foregoing Practicing to Post Minor Deity  |
A very important instrument in early jazz bands.
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
My Dad played a 4 string banjo, and I was just asking around as to whatever happened to it. I have his guitar but the banjo seems to have disappeared. Dad was a better guitar player than a banjo player, and, with apologies to Steve Martin, the banjo music he played sounded sad indeed. 
The place to look is Reverb.com. They have hundreds of listings for stringed instruments, electric and acoustic.
If you're thinking of trying one out, the instrument to start with is a uke, and if you plan to transition to guitar, a baritone uke. It's how I started as a little kid. The tuning is the same as for a guitar, and the chords are the same as guitar chords with two fewer strings.
I've played along with banjo players in bluegrass jams. The sound really cuts through all of the guitar players and such. A good picker can make or break a bluegrass band. There are a couple of different styles of playing, and "claw hammer" seems to be the most popular style for bluegrass.
Not me...
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
Weird coincidence. Just yesterday, I watched a video of Steve Martin playing Dueling Banjos with Kermit the Frog. And another one of Glen Campbell playing Dueling Banjos with his daughter. | |||
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Minor Deity |
I've lived with a banjo, but never played it. It was my ex-husband's. Actually, I just remembered that I bought the thing for him, so I have purchased a banjo. When we had our acoustic trio, the other member occasionally played his own banjo. He also played banjo with the Dixieland band I used to sing with. I enjoy banjo music, both in traditional music and in the newgrass/jazz/classical/whatever-you-call-it style of artists like Bela Fleck. There's a banjo museum in Oklahoma City, if anybody wants to make a pilgrimage when the pandemic eases up.
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| (self-titled) semi-posting lurker Minor Deity  |
You could try the "Japanese dueling banjo" (shamisen). You need a big plectrum though...
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| Minor Deity |
If you're planning to learn banjo, pj, most people play with metal finger picks. I've tried them on and they feel really awkward, so I don't know what it would be like to learn your first plucked-sting instrument wearing them. Our friend used the fingerpicks, but my ex didn't, because he wasn't a banjo player. He was a guitar player who played banjo, so he basically Travis picked with his fingers on the four banjo strings. He sounded great, but the style was way different from a traditional banjo player's style. When we saw Fleetwood Mac and Lindsey Buckingham pulled out a banjo, he could tell right away that Buckingham played like he did.
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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana |
Good ideas and things to chew on. The Wikipedia article did discuss the various styles of picking and strumming but they only make sense if you know what the terms mean (of course, there are more links to follow). I guess the other really basic question is: four or five strings? I understand there is a banjolele, that is, the love child of a banjo and a uke. Might be a good place to start. Oh, I should say that I do own a balalaika, but I never really learned to play it. I've also wanted a dulcimer, but never made the leap. Does anyone know if there are still banjos with nylon or gut strings? The thing that kept me off the balalaika was the steel strings. They were murder on my dainty, delicate digits.
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| Unrepentant Dork Gadfly  |
My dad used to play banjo in a bluegrass band. He was pretty good! I grew up listening to him play it and never realized it wasn’t a terribly common instrument to play because it was just always around. He still has at least one at his house, though he plays more guitar now.
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| Unrepentant Dork Gadfly |
My dad used steel picks, but even so he had a hard time playing it when his dermatitis was bad - I’m assuming because of the steel strings. I’d also assume he would have bought alternate strings if available (instead he moved to mostly guitar).
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
4 string banjos have become a very small niche of jazz players. Loudness is what they do best. They have resonators like Bluegrass banjos to boost the loudness, Most banjos are five strings. Folk and old time music is played on open back banjos. You can stuff socks (clean ones) into the back to mute the banjo and make if possible to stay in the same room with it. The Deering website is large with a lot of support, including lessons. Deering makes Goodtime banjos, which are excellent low cost banjos, as well as some that cost more than many Mercedes. I recommend them. Ken Perlman has produced excellent method books. Banjo Hangout is an good internet source of information. Brainjo is a method of a neurologist who has a very popular online banjo site. You will know you are a banjo player when you find you must crack a joke between tunes. Finger picks are for Bluegrassers and others after more volume from an instrument that doesn't need it.
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
Banjo Studio is a good source of new banjos. No doubt there are sources of banjos and info in Seattle.
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| Minor Deity |
Chas will know this for sure, but I believe that almost all banjos have steel strings, but some of the openback old-time style banjos may have gut strings. The sound would be very different, much mellower, probably somewhat like a banjolele, but I've never seen or heard a banjolele, so I can't be sure. When I bought the banjo all those years ago, the salesperson said that "heavy is good" is a rule of thumb. The weight comes from a better resonator. Again, Chas will know this kind of thing better than me.
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
Oh yea, my favorite of banjo is a Flora from OME. It is an openback with a tone ring. It is not very heavy, but it has sufficient sustain.
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