Did you know?

The banjo went through several evolutions throughout its history in America. In 1831, the 5th string was added to the instrument.

Prior to the 1840s, the body was made from a gourd.

But at this point, Joel Sweeney, who pioneered the instrument, and was also a blackface minstrel performer, persuaded a drum maker in Baltimore to manufacture banjos with a drum-like wooden rim as the body.

I'll post on the use of the banjo in racist minstrel acts later.

Eventually, the banjo made its way west and was played by people belonging to various ethnic groups. In the 1860s, soldiers on both sides of the Civil War played the instrument and contributed to its popularity.

After the war, soldiers brought the instrument back home.

Various methods of playing the banjo emerged. Clawhammer, also known as "frailing" become popular with old-time music. Two-finger and rudimentary three-finger styles began being used.

People passed down different playing styles as time went on.

According to Earl Scruggs, "In a nation of rugged individualists, the banjo was an appropriately individualistic instrument."

Frets were added to the banjo's neck in the 1870s, soon to be followed by resonators and other parts.

While the 5-string banjo enjoyed widespread popularity throughout the 19th century, it became less well-known during the turn of the century when jazz was invented.

Jazz musicians changed the banjo, tailoring it to their stylings.

They removed the 5th string, shortened the neck, and enlarged the head. This became the tenor banjo, which is played with a pick.

At this point, the picking and clawhammer styles were left behind. Only a few groups in remote areas of the south continued playing the 5-string.

By the 1930s, the tenor banjo's popularity was on the decline as it was being replaced by the guitar.

"By the early 1940s even country music bands, or 'hillbilly' bands as they were called at that time, were dropping the five-string banjo," according to Scruggs.