Introduction to Stroke Style Banjo

This book has essentially been written over 150 years ago. What has been presented so well by our banjo forefathers is difficult to improve upon. We have the advantage of looking back in time and putting it all together, creating a more complete picture of the Early Banjo style of playing.  What you will find here is a fresh organization of the same material. I have included original text to clearly give you the source, and then tried to organize it in a meaningful way. When needed, I will summarize or restate the information to simplify and give everything a congruous approach.

            The material chosen as repertoire comes from all the sources and follows no particular order other than my attempt to present songs in some graduated level of difficulty. One may skip around, but the greatest benefit will occur as one   progresses from beginning to end. At that time, it will be hoped that you can move on to any material of your choice in the banjo repertoire. Most of the needed techniques and movements will have been encountered already.    This music has a rich heritage, and is most certainly part of our “roots”. The term “Early Banjo” will be used, because it refers to all the banjo music of the early and mid 19^th century, and not just that of the Minstrel stage. The commercial venues in which the banjo was heard most certainly had an effect on the popularity and widespread enthusiasm for this new style. We could compare it to the popular explosion of the guitar in the 20^th Century. With the acceptance of this music on a mass level, came the commercial aspect of cashing in on a craze. We can be thankful that this resulted in the printed banjo books, or “Tutors”.

            The banjo and its music from the 19^th Century is very different than what we experience today. The instrument itself was constructed differently, and the entire style of  playing has been lost  in time. If you were given an instrument of period construction, and you executed the music correctly, one could “time travel” and hear what the music like around the time of the Civil War. This is true “music archeology”. The results are amazingly fresh and beautiful.

            The banjo from that time is not what we would think of as a banjo today. At a glance,  they look similar, but closer examination will show the following differences:

• The Early Banjo has no frets
• It has gut strings, instead of wire, or steel
• Friction pegs were used instead of geared machines
• The banjo head was animal skin, not a synthetic material
• The Early Banjo was tuned lower than the modern banjo (as much as a perfect  fifth lower)

            These differences, when combined with the playing technique of the time, create something much different than modern ears are used to hearing. This book will address the correct way to play the banjo in this style.

            Get ready for time travel. As you play the music in the style it was intended  on a reasonable period  correct banjo, you open a portal to the past. This music was left with quite a bit of structure, and at the same time offers a lot of freedom in interpretation, Tempos, rhythms, added instuments, and sometimes harmony will be felt a little different by everybody. Welcome to a world where these forgotten sounds come alive with freshness and beauty. You will recognize many of the melodies, and those you don't know can be felt with a rippling effect that lapped upon the shore of the 20th century. It's almost like a message in abottle.