The banjo is used in many different music styles, each requiring different technique, and often different instruments: Bluegrass and countryThe five-string banjo is the king here, although tenor banjos, plectrum banjos and guitar-banjos have been used very effectively.Folk musicThe banjo was introduced to folk music during the 1960s folk boom, mainly by Pete Seeger who played a five-string banjo with an extra long neck. Most any banjo seems to work well though.Irish/Celtic musicVirtually all Celtic style solo banjoists play tenor banjos - often short scaled ones. Other banjo types should work, although not as well as the tenor.For accompaniment the five-string banjo is the most common one today, but again, any banjo will do. Most early British banjo minstrels played zither-banjos. More info about Irish style banjo. JazzToday's traditional jazz banjoists play tenor or plectrum banjos. guitar-banjos used to be quite common but are rarely used these days. five-string banjos do occasionally occur as emergency solutions.For more modern jazz styles anything goes really. Old style banjo musicOpen backed five-string banjo, often fretless.Classical banjoClassical banjo players use gut/nyln-strung five-string banjos in different sizes. Old openback instruments seem to be the most sought after.KlezmerWhen a banjo is used in (American) klezmer music it's nearly always a tenor banjo.BluesThere isn't really a single strong banjo tradition in blues music, so it's very much up to you. Many blues guitarists have played guitar-banjos as a secondary instrument, some five-string banjo players have played blues to great effect, and of course, since there is a huge overlap between blues and jazz, the tenor and plectrum banjos are occasionally used too. |
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