Carson McHaney

April 21, 2022

American Folk Music

The Origins and Evolution of the Banjo

In this final project I will explore the origins and history of the banjo and different banjo-

like instruments. I will provide a brief historical overview of the many different iterations of

“banjos”: from the Ekonting of Senegambia and the other plucked spike lutes of West Africa to

the Minstrel-era fretless banjos. Not only will this paper explore the physical and sonic

differentiations between these many banjos but it will also delve into the individuals and

communities that are crucial to understanding these instruments and how they evolved. I have

been highly intrigued by the diverse sonic qualities and capabilities of banjos. Taking a deeper

look at the origins/histories of the different banjo-like instruments is one way of exploring this

sound world that I have become so fond of. This is also an opportunity to understand the plethora

of playing styles and genres that are so prominent in the American folk music tradition through a

different lens.

When we think of a banjo, most of us will picture a 5-string resonator banjo prominently

used in the “3-finger” Bluegrass style of playing and by famous caucasian players such as Earl

Scruggs, Bela Fleck, Tony Trischka, and so many more. Although the banjo and American folk

music gained popularity predominantly through white musicians and through white culture, like

many staples of “American” art, we owe the banjo's modern presence in America to Africans

who were brought here against their will, and to the appropriation of slave culture that was then

spread into the greater American popular culture through racist minstrel shows and blackface.
 The banjo and related instruments are lutes, string instruments with a distinct neck and

body. On most types of lute, various notes are made both by playing open strings and by

stopping some or all of the strings at different places along the neck. Lutes are divided into two

major categories based on how their strings are sounded: plucked lutes, which are played by

plucking and strumming the strings with the fingers and/or plectrums; or bowed lutes (fiddles),

which are played by drawing a bow across the strings. The banjo and its kin are, therefore,

plucked lutes and more specifically, a sub-set of lute known as a spike lute. The spike lute has its

“handle” (neck) pass through its “resonator” (body) or over the wall of its body. The origins of

the spike lutes (the starting point for the evolution of the banjo) can be traced back 4,000 years to

ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt (Winans 18).

There are two plucked spike lutes from West Africa (specifically the Senegambia region),

the ekonting and the bunchundo, that the researcher Daniel Laemouahuma Jatta of The Gambia

and Ulf Jägfors of Sweden introduced as being closely linked to the modern banjo and American

banjo playing styles. The ekonting of the Jola and the bunchundo of the Manyago are nearly

identical three-string plucked spike lutes made with a drum-like gourd body, a full-spike fretless

neck, a large bipedal floating bridge, and a top short thumb-string, akin to the top short fifth

string on the five-string banjo, which is played open (Winans 19). The playing styles for these

two instruments is one of the main factors for drawing such distinct connections between these

spike lutes and the banjo. There is a downstroke technique that is used when playing these

instruments named "o'teck", meaning "to strike". O'teck is virtually identical to the early banjo

style, "stroke style" which evolved into the style known as clawhammer or frailing.
 Sources

In my paper and presentation I will draw on multiple sources, videos, and images to

explore the morphology and history of the Banjo.

Allen, Greg. “The Banjo’s Roots, Reconsidered.” NPR, 23 Aug. 2011,

www.npr.org/2011/08/23/139880625/the-banjos-roots-reconsidered.

“Banjo.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art,

www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/501214. Accessed 7 Apr. 2022

The earliest sightings of banjo-like instruments in the Western Hemisphere date

from the 1680s and describe enslaved Africans in the Caribbean playing plucked

lutes with gourd bodies. Because of the fragility of gourds and the ephemeral

quality of early pre-manufactured folk banjos, only two early gourd banjo-like

instruments are known to exist. One was collected in Suriname before 1777 and

the other was found in Haiti before 1872.

“Banjo ca. 1845.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art,

www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/628865. Accessed 7 Apr. 2022

The blackface minstrel show, which was first was performed in New York City in

1843, became America’s most popular form of theatrical entertainment. The 5-

string banjo was an intrinsic part of the minstrel performance and soon became an

immensely popular instrument. Baltimore drum maker William Boucher began

producing banjos around 1845 and is credited with being one of the first

professional banjo makers.

“Bill Evans Tells the History of the Banjo in 14 Minutes.” YouTube, uploaded by

Fretboard Journal, 6 May 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhcBA0WRm88.

“Daniel Jatta Plays an Akonting Tune Written by His Father.” YouTube, uploaded by

Chuck Levy, 11 July 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzt0v9roU6g&t=98s.

“Jim Hartel Minstrel Banjo and Rhiannon Giddens, MUSIC Episode.” YouTube,

uploaded by Craft in America, 9 Dec. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?

v=N7SWUCpHme8&feature=emb_logo.

Linford, Scott. “Historical Narratives of the Akonting and Banjo.” Ethnomusicology

Review, UCLA, 27 July 2014, ethnomusicologyreview.ucla.edu/content/akonting-history.

“Noam Pikelny - ‘Redbud’ | Fretboard Journal.” YouTube, uploaded by Fretboard

Journal, 9 Mar. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCRTKV4xeCE.

Winans, Robert, et al. Banjo Roots and Branches. This is my most helpful resource for

anything and everything relating to the history of the banjo, in-depth descriptions of the

many plucked spike lutes of West Africa, history of tuning and playing styles, and much

more., Amsterdam University Press, 2018.

Winans, Robert B., and Elias J. Kaufman. “Minstrel and Classic Banjo: American and

English Connections.” American Music, vol. 12, no. 1, 1994, p. 1. JSTOR,

https://doi.org/10.2307/3052489

Minstrel Era Banjo playing, the importance of Joe Sweeney, the Virginia

Minstrels, influence in England. Improvements in the fingerboard and other

elements of the banjo construction.

Witt, Lawrence. “A Brief History of Minstrel Banjo.” Deering Banjos, 28 July 2017,

blog.deeringbanjos.com/a-brief-history-of-minstrel-banjo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_lute-family_instruments#/media/
File:Egyptian_lute_players_001.jpg

Winans, Robert B., and Elias J. Kaufman. “Minstrel and Classic Banjo: American and

English Connections.” American Music, vol. 12, no. 1, 1994, p. 1. JSTOR,

https://doi.org/10.2307/3052489

Witt, Lawrence. “A Brief History of Minstrel Banjo.” Deering Banjos, 28 July 2017,

blog.deeringbanjos.com/a-brief-history-of-minstrel-banjo.