The banjo was popularized by the likes of Earl Scruggs, Charlie Poole, Snuffy Jenkins, and other banjo revolutionaries from North Carolina’s western Piedmont and mountain region.

The banjo was originally brought to Appalachia by enslaved Africans who made the instrument from gourd bodies or pots covered in animal hide.

As one of the oldest instruments used in traditional Appalachian music, Western North Carolina has had the most significant impact on the development of the banjo in America since it became popular with musicians pre-Civil War.

We’ve come a long ways from the gourd bodies that our Appalachian ancestors used, now having many choices of style, brand, and material to choose from when buying a banjo.

Most banjo bodies today have a circular wood rim that surrounds the body and a tensioned Remo banjo head that resembles a drumhead.

The first thing to look for in a banjo is the head. If the head doesn’t have the iconic Remo logo stamped on it, the banjo should likely be avoided. There are exceptions to this, with higher-end banjos often opting for their own banjo head.

Modern heads aren’t affected by temperature or humidity, unlike their older counterparts made from animal skins or membranes.

Before choosing your banjo, you should first decide what style of playing you are most interested in.

Clawhammer

Clawhammer techniques position the hand in the shape of a “claw” and players make down-picking movements on the strings with one finger and a “pop” to the drone string with the thumb.

Clawhammer techniques are ideal for solo playing, as they focus on harmony and melody in addition to the rhythm.

Doc Watson, Ricky Skaggs, Neil Young, and others popularized this style of playing.

Bluegrass

The Bluegrass/Scruggs/three-finger technique was introduced by Earl Scruggs in 1945 when he appeared on the Grand Ole Opry with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys.

This style, which was revolutionary for its time, is associated with the hard-driving, fast-tempo Bluegrass music that most people think of when presented with a banjo.

The technique utilizes fingerpicks on the index and middle fingers and a thumb pick.

Irish Folk

This style is still popular in Ireland, as well as parts of the Appalachian Mountains. Gerry O’Connor is often regarded as the style’s most popular artist.

Irish folk is played on a 4-string banjo to the same tuning as a fiddle or mandolin.

Dixieland Jazz

This style was most popular from the 1890s to the 1930s and was originally performed by bands in New Orleans, such as Louis Armstrong and the Hot Five.

Players strum the banjo in a manner akin to strumming a guitar.

Today you’ll find 4-, 5- and 6-string banjos as well as less common forms like the 12-string and fretless banjos.

Most new banjo players will pick up a 5-string, due to its availability on the market and access to teachers and resources to learn how to play the 5-string.

5-string banjos typically use metal strings with the fourth string wrapped in alloy. Some players opt for nylon strings, which produce a more mellow sound.

There are two main categories of 5-string banjo, the bluegrass banjo, and the old-time banjo.

Bluegrass banjo

The bluegrass banjo is equipped with a resonator, a plate that’s fastened to the back of the body, or the “pot” as it is sometimes called. The purpose of this plate is to project the banjo’s sound forward, allowing the banjo more volume and “punch” while used in an ensemble.

Many bluegrass musicians opt for resonator-equipped banjos, especially those who play three-finger/Scruggs style banjo.

Old-time banjo

The old-time banjo is open-back and produces a much softer, more mellow sound. This makes the instrument the preferred choice for more quiet or solo settings.

The instrument weighs less than a resonator-equipped banjo, making it ideal for traveling. The simple construction makes it a more economical choice, usually costing much less than a resonator-equipped banjo.

The open-back banjo is popular for musicians who play variations of the clawhammer banjo technique.

Some banjoists will opt for a 4-string banjo. There are two types of 4-string banjos: the tenor and the plectrum.

Tenor banjo

Tenor banjos have a shorter neck that come with 17 or 19 frets. The tenor banjo is played with a flat-pick and is popular with traditional Jazz or Irish musicians.

One benefit of a tenor banjo is it shares a tuning with fiddles and mandolins as well as violas and cellos, as they are traditionally tuned in the musical interval of fifths.

The standard tuning is C, G, D, and A like a viola and the Irish tuning is G, D, A, and E like a mandolin and fiddle.

Plectrum banjo

The plectrum banjo shares similarities with a 5-string banjo. It has the same scale length, head size, and fret count as a 5-string banjo and shares the same strings, minus the drone string.

The plectrum banjo is strummed like a guitar with a flat-pick and is often tuned like a guitar in a “Chicago tuning.”

This instrument is commonly associated with Ragtime and Jazz and is often regarded as more versatile than other banjos.

Other banjos

Some banjoists may venture to less conventional styles of banjo, including 6-string and hybrid banjos.

The 6-string banjo was developed and popularized in the mid-19th century and is usually tuned like a guitar, making it an ideal crossover instrument for guitarists while maintaining the sound of a banjo.

Some banjoists may find themselves playing a hybrid electric banjo that resembles an electric guitar in profile, made from a solid piece of wood that contains a cutout area for the head and utilizes electronic pickups to sense the head’s vibrations.

The banjolele offers the portability and easy learning curve of a ukulele while maintaining much of the sound of a standard banjo. This makes it ideal for traveling, easy learning, and quieter acoustic settings.

The banjo is an instrument that offers a great amount of versatility and room to get creative, making it an ideal instrument for most genres regardless of what type or style is chosen.