Banjo – The sound and how to play it

1. The history of the banjo

   Contents

   • 1 The history of the banjo
   • 2 The sound of Banjo
   • 3 Play the Banjo
     • 3.1 Here we will present to you some typical features of them:
   • 4 Where to buy the best banjo and reasonable price?

The Banjo was a particular instrument where black people tried to express all their rhythm. On the other hand, this one considered as the instrument of traditional music in the North American countries.

In 1890, they just performed music with the genus of Dixieland. Afterward, the banjo is becoming popular in the next years later.

However, some evidence shows that the Banjo first arrived on our earth by the 18th century, but some historians say it was much earlier. It is originally from African and European, although there is a variety of debate between both continents.

The original texture of Banjo owns only four strings even though the Banjos that Americans usually use are five strings and also others can reach to six.

The founder of the five-string Banjo was Joe Sweeney, who lived between the 1810s and 1860s.

By the 20th century, the Banjo with only four strings introduced in the “Banjo Tenor”, which is widely used by musical artists of the Jazz genre.

2. The sound of Banjo

The Banjo is a sort of instrument designed by four long strings and one that is much shorter, placing on the fretboard.

The leather membrane that located on the top makes it very different from other instruments of the guitar family of the harmonic box. It possesses a body which is similar to drums.

In reality, the sound emitted increased as a result of the tense membrane since the bigger surface of the resonant is in contact with the air.

Next, the strings of this instrument produced from metal.

The Banjo sound emitted based on the technique of your fingers. The resonance of the frequency it emits may vary as you press the string against the frets. As usual, the fifth string pressed by the thumb. Last but not least, the perfect techniques when playing with Banjo depends on virtuosity.     

3. Play the Banjo

EL Banjo is the type of instrument that characterized by being composed of several materials. Moreover, it owns more unique sounds than others. It is still difficult for you to practice so that we will give you a series of guidelines.

The thing you need to know is the number of strings. Banjo has the first three strings such as four, five and six. Each of them is very different from the other, so you can only select one if you want to play particular music and not forget the level of mastery you want to get in this instrument.

Here we will present to you some typical features of them:

• With the four strings, you can play music in genre Dixieland, jazz or Celtic. It is the most fabulous choice if you are a beginner with Banjo.
• The five strings allow you to perform the most traditional songs and even all the music styles that in existence such as bluegrass and folk.
• With the six strings, you may face some difficulties when using it. Although it is very popular with music stars or musicians, the touching of this one is not easy.

Another thing that you should focus on is good posture. We recommended that you have the proper posture before playing the Banjo. Because the sound you emit is not meeting what you expected or you might get some pains during your play.

Your shoulders should keep straight and back as well as hold the Banjo at 45 degrees and not hold it too tightly. The hands placed in the right place. If you are right-handed, your hand must be on the ropes, and they are very close to the bridge. Your left hand must be holding the neck. Next, the little finger and ring finger of your right hand located on the head of the Banjo in case you do not achieve that goal or you can help yourself with adhesive tape.

Aside from that, the kind of tool that you can use with the banjo is the pick. It is much more preferable to play the strings with a pick. Since this tool allows you to emit notes with a much louder sound, thus, every time you use a pick, try not to press the strings too hard.

Finally, we would like to introduce to you some advanced movements below that help you acquire more skills when playing the Banjo. They included:

• slides
• hammers
• chokes
• pull-offs
• pull push-offs

4. Where to buy the best banjo and reasonable price?

Some banjos for beginners on https://banjosfood.com/. The combination of quality and reasonable price is its advantages. There are the main of our five products which you should browse and choose the best one for you.  Let’s enjoy now!