On contemporary instruments, the short ‘drone’ string is the final of five strings, though those dating from the eighteenth century had just three long strings plus the chanterelle.īefore the onset of the Civil War in America, the banjo was seen as a quintessentially African-American musical instrument. The high thumb string and the downward playing action both originated in traditional African music. In the older styles, the other strings are played with the middle or index finger using a downward action. The higher string is the one nearest to the thumb of the player, and this string is struck continuously during play. Chequered History in Irish MusicĪ classic banjo has a short, high-pitched chanterelle (string) that ends at a peg located on the side of the neck, plus a number of strings of full length. Unlike the lutes from Africa, though, these early American incarnations, the ancestors of the Irish tenor banjo, were tuned with pegs similar to those found on a violin. Strings were made of tough fibrous materials, including gut, hemp, thread, or even plaited horse hair. The earliest versions often had a sound box crafted from a dried-out gourd with the end cut off, an animal skin drumhead and a fretless neck.
The imported slaves made the instruments based on memories of the ones played in their African homelands. The origin of the Irish traditional music instrument as we know it today can be traced back to the southern states of America.
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