Tunings?

[Explorer]

The Akonting is widely thought to be the closest African ancestor of what new-world and European peoples have associated with the banjo through the years. It has the short drone string.

Also pretty widely accepted in the banjo community is that if Sweeny added a string to the banjo, it most likely was the normal length low string, not the short drone high string.

I figured it was better to go with evidence predating Sweeney's claim, to avoid any arguments that the drone string had been introduced to such instruments after Sweeney's claimed invention.

Here's a video of the akonting, one current relative of the banjo.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Explorer's article link - "....with three to four strings, four strings being the most common configuration.". Is it possible that although the 5th string 'might' have been i use prior to the banjo arriving in the US,that it wasn't commonly used ?.

If you search the 'net,there are many different versions as to how the banjo evolved,
Ivan

[stevedenver]

As a banjo noob, i thank you all for the cool links.

I have to say, as a jazz, rock, blues, and americana guitarist, my bias against banjo (jokes, brashness of some players, opry images of buck teeth, overalls, barefoot, and .....intimate relationships with barnyard friends and family, lol, etc) kept me from delving into this remarkable instrument.

Once i began clawhammer on guitar, well......i bit the bullet hard,and bought 2.

I havent had such joy and delight in musical exploration since my first electric guitar.
My resonator is heavier than a les paul. I feel 2" shorter after standing with it for a couple of hours. The open back, like a pair of flip flops!

While a banjo pretty much sounds like a banjo, i have found that it can be nuanced and as expressive as david gilmore is on his strat!

[dhergert]

... my bias against banjo (jokes, brashness of some players, opry images of buck teeth, overalls, barefoot, and .....intimate relationships with barnyard friends and family, lol, etc) ...

Glad you got over that bias... As you probably know now, most banjo players at least privately bristle at some of those stereotypes, and some songs are painfully avoided because of the stereotypes that they have promoted.

Banjo, mandolin, guitar, bass, Dobro, drum, accordion, bagpipe and [name your instrument] jokes tend to all have the same punch lines and are usually equally funny or not funny to any instrument player because they know the same jokes can be said about their instruments.

Probably the bigger problem for banjo players are those that do not learn to control their banjo volume and who as a result overplay everyone else around them. As most of us who play mandolin will attest, that is a much more real problem than the stereotypes or the jokes. As a ~50-year banjo player who now also plays mandolin, bass and Dobro, I'm extremely sympathetic.