The Banjo Orchestra 

Sunday, September 25, 2005 - 08:15 PM, (9812 Reads)

The influence of the banjo in early American music, played solo and in groups.

by Bruce Burnside

In 1850 Stephen Foster sang, with a banjo on his knee, for his sweetheart Susannah. Today, over a hundred and fifty years later, America’s only origin instrument, the banjo, is associated with the strumming rhythm of Dixieland or the fast, finger picking of bluegrass music. The strummed, four-string banjo style came about and developed between 1910 and 1930 in America’s early jazz and dance music. Earl Scruggs perfected his way of finger picking the five string banjo by the late 1940s and established the banjo’s place in bluegrass music. But what happened to the banjo between 1850 and 1910?

First, the banjo wasn’t invented until 1831, which made it a relatively new instrument in 1850. This fretless, gut strung, five string instrument was seen on the minstrel stage by 1843, being played with a strumming technique called the stroke style. New York City was the origin of minstrelsy and that’s where this new, exciting stage presentation thrived until well after the Civil War. Without radio, television or computers, people went out in the evening to be entertained and the banjo was part of that entertainment.

Only a few people were manufacturing banjos up until 1870 and each builder had a different idea of what a banjo’s dimensions should be. The banjo emerged as a new, portable instrument with a distinct, captivating sound. Songs and melodies were written to be played on the banjo and it became the instrument of choice for those on the cutting edge of being up to date. In fact, most young women of society took banjo lessons, kept their banjo in the parlor and were ready to impress any young male caller with their banjo playing abilities, punctuated with the latest melodies.

The banjo playing techniques were evolving as well. Along with the strumming, right hand stroke style, the banjo was being played with the guitar style or right hand fingers picking individual strings. This finger picking worked well for vocal accompaniment.

Only a few people were manufacturing banjos up until 1870 and each builder had a different idea of what a banjo’s dimensions should be. Also, the actual construction of the banjo was changing during that time with the addition of frets on the fingerboard and more brackets to tighten the head. By the 1880s, due to the experimentation of Samuel Swain Stewart, banjos were made with a universal rim size and depth. It was Stewart who invented the banjeaurine in 1885, a shorter necked and, therefore, higher pitched member of the banjo family. This instrument, together with the small, octave higher piccolo banjo, allowed the music of banjoists to cover a wider spectrum of sound. With the addition of the guitar, the banjo orchestra was born. Each instrument was a section of the orchestra with several members in each section. Those sections were banjeaurine, 1st banjo, 2nd banjo, and guitar. There was usually only one piccolo banjo player and, when Stewart began manufacturing the cello banjo in 1889, there was usually one cello banjo player as well. The cello played the bass line. The guitars and 2nd banjos played the chords and the banjeaurines and 1st banjos played the melody. The piccolo had an obbligato part or doubled the melody.

Banjo Clubs sprang up on college campuses and were the all the rage from 1885 into the middle 1890s. Most college banjo groups went on tour, performing at opera houses and traveling a wide area by train. Often banjo music composers were hired to write original pieces for these college groups, giving them a signature performance piece.

Solo concert banjoists and professional banjo groups also toured across America and around the world. Among the professional ranks were family bands like the Shepard Family Concert Company, which featured the mother and children on banjos. S.S.Stewart manufactured banjos of all sizes to accommodate women and children.

The banjo music of these groups was played almost entirely in the finger style and featured waltzes, galops, mazurkas, hornpipes, marches, schottisches, and characteristics. The sheet music for these compositions could be purchased at local music stores or through the mail from the performer, composer or publishing companies. Every major music publisher offered banjo music for all the popular compositions of the day, usually arranged for 1st and 2nd banjo.

It was the rise in popularity of the mandolin that ended America’s infatuation with the gut strung, five string banjo. By 1900, the instruments of the mandolin family began to emerge on colleges and universities campuses where mandolin orchestras were being formed. After a period of hibernation the banjo reemerged with a new shape and sound. It became the shorter necked, four string tenor banjo with steel strings. This became the loud rhythm instrument for early jazz bands. As popular tastes changed, the music and instruments of the banjo orchestras were forgotten.

Bruce Burnside is a professional musician / composer, avid student of the Civil War era, 19th century American music & instruments as well as being a certified teacher of English. He performs with the Lost Nation String band and Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua. Find out more about the history of the banjo at ForgottenWisdom.com.