History of the Banjo & Bluegrass Music
Part of the Video Series How To Play The Banjo
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Video Transcript
History of the Banjo & Bluegrass Music
Hi I’m Fred Wilharm on behalf of ExpertVillage.com and I’d like to welcome you to banjo for beginners. In this segment we’re going to talk about the history of the instrument and how bluegrass music began. The predecessor of the modern banjo was first spotted in use by natives in Africa along the Ghana River around 1620. Naturally it turned up later in use by slave in the United States who bought the instrument over with them prior to the civil war. By the early part of the 19th century, the banjo was in regular use in minstral shows. Most banjo music of the time was folk and popular music, but there were also banjo virtuosos who were part of symphony orchestras and could literally play anything that violist could play. In 1925, the first Gibson Mastertone was introduced and eighty years later it remains one of the finest banjos in production. Along came the Great Depression of 1929 and suddenly there was almost no demand for bright and happy music, as we all know, it’s almost nearly impossible to play a sad song on the banjo. So for years after, it was almost impossible to buy a five string banjo or even replacement strings, but in the early 1940s a five string picker named Earl Scruggs, developed a three finger style based on the old classical method. He combined it with a folk style originating in the Appalachian Mountains and started bluegrass music as we know it today. This long scale five string bluegrass banjo is the most popular style today and is the direct result of the influence of Earl Scruggs and his band.
Hi I’m Fred Wilharm on behalf of ExpertVillage.com and I’d like to welcome you to banjo for beginners. In this segment we’re going to talk about the history of the instrument and how bluegrass music began. The predecessor of the modern banjo was first spotted in use by natives in Africa along the Ghana River around 1620. Naturally it turned up later in use by slave in the United States who bought the instrument over with them prior to the civil war. By the early part of the 19th century, the banjo was in regular use in minstral shows. Most banjo music of the time was folk and popular music, but there were also banjo virtuosos who were part of symphony orchestras and could literally play anything that violist could play. In 1925, the first Gibson Mastertone was introduced and eighty years later it remains one of the finest banjos in production. Along came the Great Depression of 1929 and suddenly there was almost no demand for bright and happy music, as we all know, it’s almost nearly impossible to play a sad song on the banjo. So for years after, it was almost impossible to buy a five string banjo or even replacement strings, but in the early 1940s a five string picker named Earl Scruggs, developed a three finger style based on the old classical method. He combined it with a folk style originating in the Appalachian Mountains and started bluegrass music as we know it today. This long scale five string bluegrass banjo is the most popular style today and is the direct result of the influence of Earl Scruggs and his band.
About the Expert
Expert: Fred Wilharm has taught and played bluegrass banjo for over 25 years. Read More
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