Lets get started....
The primary reason for this blog is to promote the playing and appreciation of what we now tend to call the Irish Tenor Banjo. In fact, no such creature exists. It's just a tenor banjo. A banjo with four strings rather than the five you tend to see played by American bluegrass bands and the like. An in depth history of the instrument is not the subject of blogging and is told by far more learned than I! Needless to say is not American but African in origin and owe it's place in our music today to the slave trade (every cloud has a silver lining)! The Irish bit is thanks to the Minstrel Shows popular at the time. Nowadays (quite rightly), a big 'no no' but in the 19th and early 20th century were all the rage. Quite a number came over the water from America and many of them were Irish or of Irish origin. On seeing and hearing the instrument it was only a matter of time before it was included in the ceilidh band line up. It was originally tuned CGDA and still can be (nowt to stop you), to fit in with the jazz bands it was mainly used with. It is now common to tune down to GDAE (with thicker strings, more detail in later bloggs) to fit in with fiddle's, mandolin,s and the like and traditional music in general.
Well, you will be pleased to know that is your history lesson for today and it will soon be play time! Best wishes from me (Phil) here at Talkin Folk towers, till next time, ttfn.......
Just to add a quick note. I do not wish to sound condescending in any way but in this blogg I assume little or no knowledge of the banjo or it's music, so please skip what you don't need. Byeee..........
The primary reason for this blog is to promote the playing and appreciation of what we now tend to call the Irish Tenor Banjo. In fact, no such creature exists. It's just a tenor banjo. A banjo with four strings rather than the five you tend to see played by American bluegrass bands and the like. An in depth history of the instrument is not the subject of blogging and is told by far more learned than I! Needless to say is not American but African in origin and owe it's place in our music today to the slave trade (every cloud has a silver lining)! The Irish bit is thanks to the Minstrel Shows popular at the time. Nowadays (quite rightly), a big 'no no' but in the 19th and early 20th century were all the rage. Quite a number came over the water from America and many of them were Irish or of Irish origin. On seeing and hearing the instrument it was only a matter of time before it was included in the ceilidh band line up. It was originally tuned CGDA and still can be (nowt to stop you), to fit in with the jazz bands it was mainly used with. It is now common to tune down to GDAE (with thicker strings, more detail in later bloggs) to fit in with fiddle's, mandolin,s and the like and traditional music in general.
Well, you will be pleased to know that is your history lesson for today and it will soon be play time! Best wishes from me (Phil) here at Talkin Folk towers, till next time, ttfn.......
Just to add a quick note. I do not wish to sound condescending in any way but in this blogg I assume little or no knowledge of the banjo or it's music, so please skip what you don't need. Byeee..........
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