The plectrum banjo is named after the plectrum, also known as a pick, that is used to play it. Unlike the standard banjo, which has four long strings and one short string, it only has four strings. The fifth, shorter string is absent from the plectrum banjo.
Plectrum banjos have a drum, fretted neck, tuning pegs, and strings, just like other banjos. “C, G, B, D” is the standard tuning for plectrum banjos. When playing traditional folk music, it can also be tuned like a mandolin or fiddle, a style known as “Chicago tuning.” This style also corresponds to the top four guitar strings: D, G, B, and E.
Plectrum banjos were designed for a specific genre of music, usually jazz and more specifically Dixieland jazz. Instead of using fingertips or finger picks, they are usually strummed with a pick between the thumb and forefinger, as is the case with the 5-string banjo. The plectrum banjo’s sound was bright and cheerful as usual.
The banjo is a gourd-based instrument that originated in Africa. Necks were usually attached to large gourds, and strings were attached to the necks. When Africans were transported as slaves to other countries, they recreated these instruments, which became known as banjos. Banjo-playing white musicians in blackface have been around since the American Revolution, but their popularity peaked during the Civil War.
The plectrum banjo was eventually replaced the tenor banjo. The tenor banjo’s neck is shorter than the plectrum banjo’s, with only 17 or 19 frets compared to the standard five-string banjo’s 22 frets. These four-string banjos, as well as the less well-known cello banjo, were typically played strumming chords or plucking melodies one string at a time.
The plectrum and tenor banjos’ loud, bright sound is a trademark of early twentieth-century dance halls, vaudeville, and jazz clubs, particularly before and after World War I. Plectrum banjo players were frequently heard playing ragtime music.
During the 1900s, the four-string banjo, of which the plectrum banjo is the most famous, was the most popular. The five-string banjo regained popularity in the mid-20th century with a renewed interest in Appalachian folk music, thanks in part to the song “Dueling Banjos” from the film “Deliverance.” The five-string banjo was used in the rise of bluegrass music, but traditional Irish folk music, made famous the group “The Dubliners,” introduced the four-string banjo to a wider audience.