Memories Of The Five String Old Time Banjo
©2020 CW Bayer
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Memories of the five string old time banjo run from the simple to the complex. No one knows the past with certainty. And, then, there are my own memories. I’ll try to sort some of this out. For some, much of this may seem a simplified retelling. Others may find this helpful to understanding the basic outlines of this music.
Broadly, American five string banjo is often divided into “bluegrass” and “old time”. Bluegrass arose and was popularized during the 1940s and 50s. Old time banjo goes back much further and is historically more complex–having significant African, Irish, Spanish, English, professional and amateur roots. The term “old time” arose during the 1880s to refer to the techniques of the early minstrel show era–c.1845 to 1870. This is accurate up to a point, though the methods and history extend before and after those dates.
On the one hand, the “bluegrass” five string banjo arose and gained popularity during the 1940s and ’50s, initially marketed in the North to Southerners who moved to the cities for work. Thanks to the successful commercialization of bluegrass, today the public often believes that bluegrass music somehow equates to historical American music going back through the 19th century. On the other hand, as played today, “old time” five string banjo began to gain popularity mostly in the 1970s, in the wake of the popularization of bluegrass. Broadening embrace of the old time five string banjo reflected rediscovery of old minstrel banjo techniques among aged players from the South combined with the counter culture’s broad rejection of the commercialization of music–including commercialized bluegrass music.
During the latter half of the 20th century, variety arose within the two general categories. Bluegrass five string banjo began with a three finger picking style based on patterned rolls done by the right hand. During the 1970s, more melodic picking methods entered the realm of bluegrass. At times, this extended the resonator or bluegrass five string banjo into jazz and classical music. Old time banjo interest also expanded–today including gut strung minstrel banjo, “classical” open back banjo as done in the 1890s, gourd banjo and modern composition of “old time” tunes.
At first, the revival of the old time banjo focused heavily on surviving open back banjos from the 1890s and early 1900s–in particular the designs of the Vega company. Ironically, in their days these banjos were intended not for old time playing but for “classical” or guitar style banjo playing as promoted by the Boston manufacturers after 1880.
After the early 1970s, the instrument saw an ongoing conversation between players and a young crop of open-back banjo makers. This has resulted in modern refinements of sound and playability that reflect an evolving understanding of the methods and music. At the same time, the “traditional” repertoire of old time banjo (and old time fiddle) tunes broadened as forgotten, foreign or composed “old time” tunes entered a growing movement based on jam sessions and dance venues. The general public still often has no memory of old time banjo as, in contrast to bluegrass, old time music has endeavored to remain a diverse and non-commercial form.
In academic and the media, at times, the banjo has been touted as the most “American” of musical instruments though, today, the public remains largely ignorant of its story. Part of the problem with the story now lies in our desire for over-simplification. If we are at all aware of the history of racial conflict in this nation, the idea of the banjo as the most “American” of instruments deserves considerable qualification. The instrument came to North America with slaves from North Africa. Relatives of the instrument continue to be played in North Africa.
When we look at photos and drawings of burnt cork faced white banjo players in 19th century minstrel show posters and when we do not weigh this against the ongoing and living tradition of the instrument, our pain and shock can be overwhelming.
Old time banjo requires a deeper discussion than the nation generally embraces. When, after about 1820, as the five string banjo was taken up by professional and amateur white players what should we call that process? Was it appropriated, adapted or shared by white people. Today, answering that question, many white and black players of the old time American banjo tend to see it as “shared”–as a modern descendant from a long working class history the details of which we will never adequately know, the joys and sorrows of which come alive in the sound of the instrument itself.
The old time banjo retains the fundamental African technique–hitting downward on the strings with the right hand. Yet, the tune repertoire today retains an African influence mostly due to sounds inherent to that method while the repertoire is generally that of the fiddle as brought from the British Isles. Sometimes player and the media seek out an “authentic” old sound.
Often, modern old-time players–who sometimes know as much of the history as can be known–have given up on strict historical authenticity or resolving questions of origin in favor of an aesthetic authenticity that continues to evolve. While the nation agonizes over its racial history–and rightly so perhaps–old time banjo players tend to focus on an elusive sound that lies not in the past but in the future.
The jam sessions and dance venues that today characterize old time banjo and fiddle did not exist when I began playing. My personal memories of the banjo began when I heard old time banjo played both fretted and fretless at the Long Beach Old Time Fiddlers Gathering on Signal Hill during the early 1970s. At this time, few young (boomer generation) people attended. At this gather, the fiddlers were aged 55 and older. Most had come to Los Angeles during the 1950s for work. Most had played in different rural parts of the nation during the 1930s. I began to play both fiddle and banjo. They had skipped a generation and were being revived as part of the general “counter culture” revolution against the “establishment with its monied pop music and media hype.
The old time fiddler and banjo players I met would begin conversation by asking if I was also attending a “bluegrass” get-together at a park across town. They seemed relieved and reassured when I told them that I was not–that my interest was in “old time.” Then they would whip through a tune and say, “that’s the right way to play it.” I soon realized that, in rural parts of the nation prior to WWII, these old men (mostly men) did not attend jam sessions to learn tunes–that they had simply listened to the tune and were then expected to play it “the right way.”
Within a decade or so, my generation would adapt the hootenanny or folk song jam session to old time tunes. This greatly helped spread old time tunes into a modern, technological world where the melodies of old time dance tunes are often more complex than what is played in popular song–leaving the modern ear illiterate. I played fiddle at dances for about 25 years–believing that, while I was not a great fiddler, the dance lilt of old-time fiddle could best be accomplished in a dance setting.
Over the decades, I’ve seen old-time fiddling as a whole become a bit more like bluegrass fiddling–faster, more and more standardized, adding more notes and reducing texture. As I write, some of this shift has also taken place in old time banjo playing. However, the influence of gut strings, low tuning, gourd banjo, minstrel banjo and fretless necks has helped to remind old time banjoists of the textured, simple approach that, in part, defines the aesthetic of American old time tunes.
Probably the best view of an historically “authentic” old time banjo method or sound is that, in times past, as much variety could be found as can be found today. It is commercialization that seems to create a standardized expectation in a style of music. The strength of the “old time” banjo since the early 18th century seems to lie is always thriving beyond or outside the realm of monetary success while still, sometimes, venturing into that realm. This is perhaps the source for the innumerable banjo jokes that circulate in the broad world of American folk music–a perception that fools play the banjo out of passion more than out of reason, gain or even competence.