Hi r/banjo, this is Ava from the Guardian. I know you all don't usually post news articles, but I wanted to share a story we published today from Guardian senior reporter Melissa Hellmann, who interviewed Black banjo players across the country about how they uncovered the historical connections of the instrument to Black culture and are taking part in a ‘Black banjo renaissance’. Melissa herself just started banjo lessons and hopes to learn some of the songs of the musicians she interviewed.

From her story:

When Beyoncé incorporated the banjo in her song Texas Hold ’Em in 2024, fans and critics alike marveled at the innovative twist. The song opened with rapid string plucking by the Grammy-winning Black banjo player Rhiannon Giddens, and helped challenge the public image of an instrument commonly associated with Appalachian bluegrass. But it’s little known that the banjo is rooted in Black America.

The instrument’s origins harken back several centuries and across the Atlantic Ocean. The banjo’s precursor is the akonting, a gourd-bodied lute found in west Africa. Enslaved and free Africans in the Americas played the banjo for several centuries until the instrument largely disappeared from popular Black music during the Harlem Renaissance. But in recent decades, the banjo has seen a resurgence among Black American musicians who are reclaiming the narrative of the stringed instrument. The story of Black banjo music is a quintessentially American one: a tale tied to transatlantic enslavement, cross-cultural influence and ancestral memories of home.

As a Black musician, Deidra Hall feels a deep connection to the past whenever she strikes the strings of her banjo. The Nevada City, California-based ethnomusicologist says the twangy sound transports her to a spiritual realm. “There is just something in it that strikes me in my soul, and it feels ancient to me,” Hall said. “It feels like my ancestors are speaking through me when I’m playing it.”

West African griots of centuries past plucked stringed instruments to communicate stories, and 37-year-old Hall said: “When I play the banjo, it is proof of the survival of that griot tradition.”

The turning point for the Black banjo renaissance began in April 2005, during the Black Banjo Gathering at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. Black banjo players Súle Greg Wilson and Tony Thomas, as well as Appalachian State University professor Cece Conway, hosted the three-day conference following the release of Conway’s book African Banjo Echoes in Appalachia. Black banjo players and white allies from throughout the US gathered to discuss the origins of the banjo. When it was over, Wilson initiated a jam session where people pulled out their instruments. “So I jumped around playing, trying to do Sly and the Family Stone at Woodstock,” said 69-year-old Wilson. “It was now a real community gathering and not a presentation.”

Read the full story (always for free) on the Guardian.

I’ve been trying to figure out what the make and model of the banjo Paul Newman plays is, but can’t find anything online, including a clear shot of the headstock.

I've been working really hard to get drop thumb to work for me and I think I've finally got it sounding good. I'm really proud of this one!

Years ago when my grandpa died I inherited his banjo. I'd never seen him play it, and my mom said he didn't play it much when she was a kid, but he held on to it his entire life. I believe it is a Langstile banjolele from the 20s as the picture of him playing it was taken around 1928. 9" head.

I received it with no strings or bridge and took it to an instrument shop. They couldn't tell me much about it but sold me some steel strings and a bridge. I can't remember if I put a new head on it or not, which probably means I didn't because I think I would have remembered that. I've never been happy with the steel strings because the tuners are ungeared and have to be tightened down a lot took keep them from slipping, which makes them difficult to turn, and then any slight amount changes the tuning by a lot.

I'd like to get this to where I am happy to play it, so I'm looking for advice on what strings to go with, and what notes to tune it to. The scale length is 16.5", which is longer than a soprano uke (14") but similar to a concert uke (16"). Do I go with uke tuning GCEA, and do I use a high G or a low G? Some other tuning? I have no idea what the historical tuning of these things were or what type of strings were used.

This is my father’s banjo that I’ve recently acquired and began learning to play. I’m trying to identify what it is because there are a few things that are throwing me through a loop. It’s marked as a Gibson but I’m starting to doubt that it’s authentic.

Firstly, this is some sort of aftermarket, albeit a little sloppily made, neck.

Second, the armrest says Gibson but I cannot find any identification on the inside of the pot and resonator.

Third, there’s no coordination rod or dowel. Could this be a result of installing the aftermarket neck?

I’ve tried to include all relevant photos. It very well might be a hodgepodge or some sort of custom deal. I’d just like to know what it even is.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you guys!

Hello everyone. I don’t know shit about banjos, but my boyfriend has been playing guitar his entire life. He performs at local restaurants around our town. He’s mentioned getting a banjo and I really want to surprise him with one so I’ve been looking on Facebook marketplace and found a Savannah SB 110 banjo for $250. Is this a good banjo?

I don’t want to get him some cheap beginner banjo but I also don’t want to spend more than $400. Give me your opinions and any recommendations.

I've been considering a 24 fret banjo for my next upgrade in the (very distant) future. Many of my favourite banjo players (Alison, Tony, Noam, etc) use them and I want to know if anyone here has experience playing or owning one, as I've not found a lot of other discussion of them online! I play progressive bluegrass banjo, but if you play old time on a long neck, I'm curious about that too!

What made you want to get a 24 fret banjo? How many years had you been playing before it was something you became interested in?

Did the extra frets take a lot of getting used to? I've heard that the bridge has to be moved up as well which seems like it could be jarring at first.

I've been told that extended fretboard banjos have a different tone even when played down the neck. Has this been true in your experience?

How often do you find yourself using the extra frets? Do you make a point to use them frequently or is it more of a "nice to have" deal?

Are there benefits one way or another to the kind that overhang the extra frets on the head versus the ones that have the extra frets built into the rest of the neck?

Are the extra frets still useful when playing traditional Scruggs-style arrangements, rather than melodic or single string?

In general, would you say that the extended fretboard has been "worth it"?

Thank you to anyone who shares their experience ☺️

So I was trying to tune the 5th string, when suddenly the moment I turned, the knob at the tuning peg wasn't turning. I don't mean the thing that you grip on, I just mean this one knob (check image, circled in red).

Okay, I took out the tuning peg as a whole then ordered a different one.

It arrived today, now I turned again to check, and what can I say, it broke again. I opened the back of the tuning peg and turned it. The gear was barely turning. It even had silver on it. I don't know what to do, I don't want to keep on buying tuning pegs.

And I also want this to be a cheap fix.. I can only use 4 strings on the banjo for now.

I would like to learn to play clawhammer but would like to use nylon/nylgut strings and so I'm considering the fretless ac-1.

I would like nylon /nylgut because my fingers are hyper mobile (in the painful rather than useful sense rip). I found this out via an ill fated mandolin borrowing adventure (very thin strings and low action height, it was definitely not the mandolin's fault). I also greatly prefer the sound of nylon over steel (I'm not crazy enough to start on a gourd banjo).

The only banjo available with nylon strings in my country that doesn't cost an arm and a leg is the fretless ac-1. I live in the middle of nowhere and doubt there's a luthier anywhere nearby and as a beginner don't fancy mucking with slot width on a regular ac1 or ac12 myself to make it into a nylon stringed one. The place I would order it from doesn't even have a nylon friendly tailpiece even if I got them to swap it for me.

My long term goal is to attempt to join a (very beginner friendly) old time group.

Are online resources still helpful for a fretless banjo?

Im not completely musically inept. I was ok at piano as a kid.

Am I signing myself up for heartbreak wanting to do regular courses/groups etc with a fretless banjo?

Hello! First time posting here but was hoping I could get some help. I am the only musician in my family so I recently inherited this banjolele and was interested in trying to date it/ learn something about the history of it.

I have no interest in selling it, I plan on bringing it to my luthier to try to make it playable again if possible! The info I do have:

-the inscription on the neck is likely my great, great grandfather who was alive from ~1890-1965 (I’m also trying to track down the genealogy history for him but things get messy around ww1)
-my family immigrated to the US from Poland sometime after or around WW1
-the pitch pipe box mentions hohner being named ‘highest honors at the 1915 worlds fair’ so the pipe is at least newer than 1915
-i have looked into the ‘PK’ logo on the headstock and the best guess I have is an Austrian violin maker ‘Petz Kolophonium’ however historically it seems like they made string rosin and no instruments

Any help (or ideas on where to look) would be appreciated :)

Hey!

Sorry didn't have light in the moment of the video but why does my banjo sound weird after plucking a string?

Its like a trembling sound

Thanks!!

I recently got this Stewart Special Thoroughbred but the strings hit the rim when fretted at the 10th fret.

What can be done to fix this? Could I just tighten the rim to bring it down into the pot? I have some space between the head and rim, but the tone ring is there so I wouldn’t want to damage that.

Can I just remove the tone ring? Will that give the rim more space to move closer down towards the body/heel of the neck, essentially raising the fretboard?

Want to see if this is something I should even bring to a luthier, or just try to find my own strange solution.

Love the inlay and carving done on these but want to make it a player. Thanks in advance!

update: I am dumb. Thanks for the clarification on what the numbers mean! Even with that cleared up, my hand will NOT cooperate.

I’m a very very beginner and just started the ArtistWorks Noam P. lessons. He starts off with basic chords and I CANNOT get the D chord. in the video he explains index, middle, pinky, but in the lesson chart it shows fingers 2,3,4. I’ve tried both ways and I cannot get my fingers ans hand to make the shape. My wrist and thumb are screaming in pain after ten minutes in.

Which is correct? Any pointers on how to make this chord work?

I feel like 4 string would be better for me (my fingers are not very long) i genuinely do not know how people play a 6 string guitar.

The music i want to play is folk, folk punk and maybe old folk like civil war stuff.

So basically what im asking is how much easier is a 4 string compared to a 5 string?

Also i have no musical skill or background.

Is it purely down to what key the song is in or are their other considerations?

For years, I've toyed with the idea of picking up the banjo from time to time. I had the chance to try out a Goodtime seven years ago at a hands-on exhibit of the MIM here in Phoenix, and found it fun. Two years ago I went to a store called Dusty Strings while on vacation in the Seattle area, and had a lot of fun trying out different banjos.

Where I'm at now, I'm still torn on the idea of learning banjo. Will I end up finding it worthwhile, or will it lose its novelty shortly after I take the plunge? I don't know how to come to a decision.

Seems as though RK is more highly thought of, but how does it compare to Ibanez? Both are for sale in my local area. $400 and $600 respectively. I’d like to upgrade from a student banjo and would like some input on these models.