Ask three different banjo players what instrument they play and you may get three genuinely different answers, because "banjo" actually covers several related instruments with different string counts, different bodies, and different musical homes. A 5-string open-back banjo used for old-time music sounds and feels quite different from a resonator-equipped bluegrass banjo, and both are different again from a 4-string tenor or plectrum banjo heard in early jazz and traditional pop. The banjo's history is also inseparable from a difficult chapter of American history, and understanding that history honestly is part of understanding the instrument itself. This guide covers the instrument's main types, how its construction shapes its sound, and the complicated, important story of where it came from.
Key Ideas
- The three most common banjo types are the open-back 5-string (old-time), the resonator 5-string (bluegrass), and the 4-string tenor or plectrum banjo.
- A resonator is a hard back panel that reflects sound outward, making a bluegrass banjo louder and brighter than an open-back instrument.
- The banjo's deepest roots lie in West and Central African instrument-building traditions, brought to the Americas by enslaved people and adapted over generations.
- The banjo's 19th-century history also includes its use in minstrel shows, a painful period that involved racist caricature and the appropriation of Black musical culture; many historians and musicians today work to tell this history honestly rather than skip past it.
- Different right-hand techniques, including clawhammer and bluegrass-style three-finger picking, produce distinctly different rhythmic textures on the same basic 5-string instrument.
Three Main Types of Banjo
The most common banjo in American folk and old-time music is the 5-string banjo, which is distinguished by a short fifth string that starts partway up the neck rather than running its full length. Within the 5-string family, there is an important split between open-back banjos, which lack a resonator and tend to produce a warmer, somewhat quieter sound favored in old-time music, and resonator banjos, which add a hard, bowl-like back panel that projects sound forward and gives the instrument the louder, brighter, more cutting tone associated with bluegrass. Separately from the 5-string instruments, 4-string tenor and plectrum banjos were widely used in early 20th-century jazz, dance bands, and traditional pop music; they are tuned differently, typically played with a pick in a chordal, rhythmic style rather than the finger-picking patterns common on 5-string banjos, and they generally do not have the short extra string that defines the 5-string instrument.
| Type | String Count | Typical Technique | Associated Tradition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open-back 5-string | 5 (one short) | Clawhammer or frailing | Old-time and Appalachian string band music |
| Resonator 5-string | 5 (one short) | Three-finger (Scruggs-style) picking | Bluegrass |
| Tenor banjo | 4 | Pick-based chordal strumming | Early jazz and traditional dance bands |
| Plectrum banjo | 4 | Pick-based chordal strumming | Early 20th-century popular and dance music |
How the Resonator Changes the Sound
The presence or absence of a resonator is one of the clearest ways to tell banjo types apart by ear as well as by sight. An open-back banjo allows sound to radiate from both the front and back of the drum-like body, which tends to soften and warm the tone and reduce overall volume. A resonator banjo closes off the back with a rigid, often slightly concave panel that reflects the sound forward through the head, increasing both volume and brightness. This difference is not purely cosmetic: bluegrass developed as a genre that required banjo, mandolin, guitar, and fiddle to all be audible together in an acoustic string band, often without amplification, and the louder, more piercing resonator banjo tone suited that setting, while old-time music, often played for dancing or in more intimate group settings, had less need for that extra projection.
A Complicated and Important History
The banjo's story begins well before its American fame. Most historians and instrument scholars trace its deepest roots to West and Central African instrument-building traditions, where gourd-bodied, skin-headed, plucked lute-like instruments were already well established. Enslaved African people brought this instrument-making knowledge to the Americas, and early banjo-like instruments were built and played within enslaved communities, carrying significant cultural and musical meaning. Over the following generations, the instrument was adapted, modified, and eventually commercialized, with changes in materials and construction that moved it toward the fretted, often metal-bodied instrument recognizable today.
This history took a troubling turn in the 19th century, when white performers in blackface minstrel shows adopted the banjo and used it as part of racist caricatures of Black Americans, while the music and instrument itself, drawn largely from Black musical traditions, were popularized to white audiences largely without acknowledgment or benefit to the Black musicians and communities who had developed it. This period is a documented and significant part of American music history, and responsible discussion of the banjo today generally treats it honestly rather than glossing over it. In the 20th century, the banjo also became closely associated with Appalachian old-time music and later bluegrass, traditions shaped by generations of exchange between Black and white musicians in the American South, and in recent decades there has been renewed attention, including by contemporary Black banjo players and scholars, to recovering and honoring the instrument's African and African-American roots.
Playing Styles: Clawhammer and Three-Finger Picking
Beyond body type, the banjo's sound is heavily shaped by right-hand technique. Clawhammer, also called frailing, is strongly associated with old-time music and involves striking the strings in a downward motion with the back of a fingernail, followed by a thumb stroke on the short fifth string, creating a driving, percussive rhythm well suited to dance tunes. Bluegrass banjo, by contrast, is most often played with a three-finger picking technique, widely associated with the influential approach generally credited to musician Earl Scruggs, which produces fast, rolling arpeggiated patterns that became a defining sound of the genre. These are genuinely different skill sets, and most teachers recommend choosing one style to focus on initially rather than trying to learn both at once.
Key Terms
- Resonator
- A hard back panel added to some banjos that reflects sound forward, increasing volume and brightness.
- Open-back banjo
- A banjo without a resonator, generally producing a warmer, quieter tone favored in old-time music.
- Clawhammer (frailing)
- A down-picking right-hand technique using the back of a fingernail, associated with old-time music.
- Three-finger picking
- A right-hand technique using the thumb and two fingers to produce fast, rolling patterns, central to bluegrass banjo.
- Fifth string
- The short string on a 5-string banjo that begins partway up the neck and is typically played with the thumb as a drone or accent note.
- Tenor banjo
- A 4-string banjo, typically pick-played, historically associated with early jazz and dance bands.
Common Misconceptions
"The banjo is a purely American invention." While it was developed and transformed in the Americas, its deepest roots trace to African instrument-building traditions brought by enslaved people, making it more accurate to describe it as an African-American instrument with African origins rather than a wholly new American one.
"All banjos are played the same way." Clawhammer and three-finger bluegrass picking are quite different techniques that produce different rhythmic feels, and 4-string tenor and plectrum banjos are typically played with a pick in yet another style entirely.
"Banjo history is just a fun, quirky footnote." The instrument's history includes serious, well-documented harm through its use in blackface minstrelsy, alongside its deep and ongoing importance in African-American musical culture, and it deserves to be discussed with that context rather than reduced to a novelty.
What to Listen For
Listen for the difference in brightness and volume between an open-back banjo's warmer, rounder tone and a resonator banjo's sharper, more projecting sound, which is often the quickest way to tell the two apart by ear. In old-time clawhammer playing, listen for a steady, percussive down-up rhythm and the periodic punctuation of the short fifth string. In bluegrass, listen for fast, rolling three-finger patterns that often weave in and out of a tune's melody rather than simply strumming chords. If you hear a banjo in an early jazz recording, check whether it is being strummed chordally with a pick rather than finger-picked, since that is a strong clue you are hearing a tenor or plectrum banjo rather than a 5-string instrument.
Getting Started
Because clawhammer and three-finger bluegrass picking are such different techniques, many teachers recommend deciding early which tradition interests you most, since this choice affects everything from right-hand technique to the kind of banjo and setup you will want. An open-back banjo is often a sensible, slightly less expensive starting point for someone interested in old-time or clawhammer styles, while a resonator banjo generally suits someone drawn to bluegrass. In either case, a well-chosen used instrument from a reputable shop is often a better value than a very cheap new one. If you enjoy the rhythmic, folk-ensemble role the banjo plays, you may also want to look at the autoharp, another instrument closely tied to American folk traditions, or explore how the banjo interacts with other instruments like mandolin and violin (often called the fiddle in this context) by reading how string instruments work in folk ensembles. For a wider view of where the banjo fits among plucked, bowed, and struck instrument families, see a guide to the main string instrument families.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between an open-back and a resonator banjo?
An open-back banjo has no hard back panel and produces a warmer, quieter tone, while a resonator banjo adds a reflective back panel that increases volume and brightness, which is why it is favored in bluegrass.
Where did the banjo originally come from?
Most historians trace its deepest roots to West and Central African instrument-building traditions, brought to the Americas by enslaved people and developed further within African-American communities before spreading more widely.
Why is minstrelsy mentioned in banjo history?
In the 19th century, white performers in blackface minstrel shows popularized the banjo through racist caricatures of Black Americans, a well-documented and harmful part of the instrument's history that responsible accounts address directly.
What is the difference between clawhammer and bluegrass banjo playing?
Clawhammer is a down-picking technique associated with old-time music, while bluegrass banjo typically uses a three-finger picking style that produces fast, rolling patterns; they require different skills and are usually learned separately.
Is a tenor banjo the same as a 5-string banjo?
No. A tenor banjo has four strings, is usually played with a pick in a chordal style, and is historically associated with early jazz and dance bands rather than old-time or bluegrass traditions.
- Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History
- Grove Music Online
- The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Department of Musical Instruments