Fretmentor Banjo History 101

Details: Written by David Jakubiak; Created: 07 July 2008; Last Updated: 30 May 2014

Banjo Icon Banjo Pioneers

By www.Fretmentor.com

The banjo has evolved since the early nineteenth century, from a popular four string instrument to the five-string bluegrass style instrument that is commonly played today. This is not to say that four string banjo banjos aren't popular today, but it is quite clear that in the 1800s and early 1900s, it was the four-string banjo that was the most popular of the banjo instruments. From the plantations, to the minstrel shows, to the jazz orchestras and barbershop quartets, to the bluegrass bands, the banjo has evolved throughout the centuries.

So who are some of the earliest Pioneers to produce, play or perform these instruments? The group is diverse.

The North African Slave Trade

To understand the origin of the banjo, one needs to look as far as the North African Slave Trade to recognize the great contribution that the African slave made in introducing to the white man, what has been called "America's instrument". As noted in Fretmentor's "Origin of the Banjo", the banjo was recognized and documented by Sir Hans Sloan observation of the enslaved African of the Caribbean.

Further connection to enslaved Africans has been found through countless documented interviews of former slaves who lived and worked on the southern plantations of the New World. The inhumane living conditions forced upon the enslaved Africans on these plantations, would leave even the strongest person demoralized. Yet, the slaves perservered through song and dance of their native customs and traditions. The earliest banjo, made of a gourd and consisting of three strings, was the focal point of these spiritual performances.

The following excerpt from "My Southern Home: or, The South and its People"¹ documents the native customs of African tribes and the observance of the banjo player and one of the earliest forms of the instrument:

"THROUGHOUT the Southern States, there are still to be found remnants of the old time Africans, who were stolen from their native land and sold in the Savannah, Mobile, and New Orleans markets, in defiance of all law. The last-named city, however, and its vicinity, had a larger portion of these people than any other section. New Orleans was their centre, and where their meetings were not uninteresting.

Congo Square takes its name, as is well known, from the Congo negroes who used to perform their dance on its sward every Sunday. They were a curious people, and brought over with them this remnant of their African jungles. In Louisiana there were six different tribes of negroes, named after the section of the country from which they came, and their representatives could be seen on the square, their teeth filed, and their cheeks still bearing tattoo marks. The majority of our city negroes came from the Kraels, a numerous tribe who dwell in stockades. We had here the Minahs, a proud, dignified, warlike race; the Congos, a treacherous, shrewd, relentless people; the Mandringas, a branch of the Congos; the Gangas, named after the river of that name, from which they had been taken; the Hiboas, called by the missionaries the "Owls," a sullen, intractable tribe, and the Foulas, the highest type of the African, with but few representatives here.

These were the people that one would meet on the square many years ago. It was a gala occasion, these Sundays in those years, and not less than two or three thousand people would congregate there to see the dusky dancers. A low fence enclosed the square, and on each street there was a little gate and turnstile. There were no trees then, and the ground was worn bare by the feet of the people. About three o'clock the negroes began to gather, each nation taking their places in different parts of the square. The Minahs would not dance near the Congos, nor the Mandringas near the Gangas. Presently the music would strike up, and the parties would prepare for the sport. Each set had its own orchestra. The instruments were a peculiar kind of banjo, made of a Louisiana gourd, several drums made of a gum stump dug out, with a sheepskin head, and beaten with the fingers, and two jaw-bones of a horse, which when shaken would rattle the loose teeth, keeping time with the drums. About eight negroes, four male and four female, would make a set, and generally they were but scantily clad."

This excerpt is valuable in identifying not only that the banjo came from Africa but also identifies the tribes in which the music was played. If it wasn't for the cultural traditions brought to the American colonies by the African American slave, the banjo would never have reached the white performers of the minstrel shows playing in the cities, or the settlers living in the mountain of Appalachia. To only recognize the pioneers of the 1800s through the modern era of banjo performers who perform today, would be a disservice to those who came before them. Thus, the African American slave, is recognized here as the first Pioneer of the American banjo.

Joel Sweeny

Was a star banjo player in the 1800s and one of the best banjo players of his time. He played in what was termed "Banjo Style" which consisted of the thumb and the first finger. Joel Sweeny is widely regarded as one of the major contributors in the development of the five string banjo.

In 1841, at the Bowery Theatre, Joel Sweeny was advertised as the "Virginia Melodist" who would introduce those never-to-be forgotten Jigs, Reels, and breakdowns".² Joel Sweeny was a star of the popular minstel shows of the 1800s, where the banjo was instrumental to the sound of the minstrel ensemble.

It has been argued that Joel Sweeny may have been the first person to contribute the fifth string to was was formerly the four string banjo.

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References -

¹"My Southern Home: or, The South and its People", William Wells Brown, MD, Boston, AG Brown Publishers 1880, p. 122-123.

¹ Wittke, Tambo and Bones, 58; broadsheet for a performance at the Bowery, Thursday evening, March 18, 1841 9collections of the American Anti-quarian Society, Worchester, Mass.)

²America's Instrument, The Banjo in the Nineteenth Century, Phillip F. Gura & James F. Bollman, The University of North Carolina Press, Chappel Hill and London.

^2b New York Clipper, 13, April, 1878. On Sweeny see Authu Woodward, "Joel Sweeny and the First Banjo", Los Angeles County Museum Quarterly 7, No. 3 (1849), p7-11. and also a letter from the banjo maker Fred Mather in Gatcombs's Banjo and Guitar Gazette (2, no 2 [Novemeber-December 1888]) in which he recalls a meeting with Sweeny in 1850. Mather notes that because Sweeny "only played in what is now technically called 'banjo style' (i.e. which thumb and the first finger) .. he passed out of the profession as the banjo improved in compass"

Photos:

Political Cartoon "South" (represented as young African American boy carrying a banjo and a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation) 1862-63. Harvard Art Museum, Used With Permission.

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