Knowra Banjo Banjo The banjo is a plucked string instrument with strings stretched over a circular frame and a taut membrane. Its bright, resonant sound comes from the vibrating membrane beneath the strings.
Banjo head : The taut membrane stretched across a banjo’s circular rim, vibrating when the strings are plucked. This membrane replaces a wooden soundboard and gives the banjo much of its characteristic attack.
Membranophone : An instrument that produces sound chiefly through the vibration of a stretched membrane. The banjo’s head vibrates under string energy, placing it among membrane-based instruments.
Akonting : A West African plucked lute with a gourd body and a skin soundboard, associated with Jola musicians. Its construction and playing traditions illuminate African antecedents of the banjo.
Bluegrass music : An American roots genre characterized by acoustic instruments, close harmony, and virtuosic improvisation. The resonator five-string banjo is a defining instrument in bluegrass ensembles.
Guitar : A fretted string instrument, usually with a hollow wooden body and six strings. Unlike a typical guitar, the banjo transfers string vibration to a taut membrane.
Banjo bridge : A small support that transfers string vibration to an instrument’s body or membrane. The bridge carries the strings’ vibrations directly into the banjo head.
String vibration : The oscillation of a stretched string that produces a musical tone. Plucking a banjo string sets the sound-producing motion in motion.
Gourd banjo : An early banjo form made with a gourd body, skin head, and attached neck. Gourd instruments document the banjo’s development before manufactured rims became common.
Clawhammer banjo : A banjo technique in which the hand strikes strings downward with a fingernail and thumb. Its rhythmic brush-and-thumb pattern is central to old-time banjo playing.
Mandolin : A small fretted string instrument, commonly tuned in pairs of strings and played with a plectrum. Its paired strings and wooden body offer a useful contrast to banjo construction and tone.
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