Describe a banjo Describe its appearance its construction its sound and how it is used musically?
A banjo is a plucked stringed instrument, with strings that run
along a neck. Its body is round, with a frame, and its belly is
made of leather or a leather-like substance, stretched across the
frame much the same way the head of a drum is stretched on its
frame. The strings are attached to the frame, run across a bridge,
which is not attached to the belly, and along the finger board to a
peg box. It may or may not have frets on its neck. It may or may
not have a separate back or resonator on its body. It might have
four, five, six, or eight strings. Banjos with five strings usually
have four running to the peg box, and one running to a separate
tuning peg on the side of the neck. Those with four or eight
strings are often tuned like mandolins, but there are many ways of
tuning banjos.
Banjos have sound that is described as "plunky." The attack is
percussive, and the decay is quick.
Banjos are usually used in Country, Folk, Bluegrass, and
Dixieland Jazz. They are used elsewhere as novelty instruments.