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Information: "The Hillbilly Stigma"Though a remarkable instrument, "the banjo - behind perhaps only the bagpipe and accordion - has an image problem" ("Bela Fleck"). The image problem that plagues the banjo has many people believing banjo pickers are unintelligent and largely from the hills, thus a general misconception of the banjo player is that he is a hillbilly. The hillbilly stigma has lead many to believe the banjo is a simple instrument, one that requires minimal skill and thought to play, when in fact the five-string banjo is one of the most difficult instruments to learn. What makes the five-string so challenging is that Scruggs style requires three picks; one for the index finger, one for the middle, and one for the thumb. These fingers and the thumb pick the banjo’s strings in succession; a succession referred to as rolls, but people’s prejudices prevent them from seeing the true difficulty in playing the banjo as well as the talent this instrument demands. Even today the mere mention of the banjo "conjures up visions of the toothless banjo-playing hillbilly" not of actual pickers like Tony Trischka and Bela Fleck, both well educated and from big cities ("Bela Fleck"). Despite the complexity of the five-string banjo, the instrument has become symbolic of the hillbilly and ignorance, thus, not given the respect this instrument merits.
From the beginning the banjo has been viewed with little esteem by the majority. The early banjo arrived in the United States via African slaves and traces of predecessors to the banjo have been found not only in parts of Africa but both the Far and Middle East (Reese). Because of the banjo’s identification with slaves and the low social status slaves were given, non-Africans generally looked down upon the instrument. It was not until after the 1830s when the banjo became popular beyond the slaves with a new form of entertainment - minstrel shows. The slave association the banjo had actually helped raise its popularity since the minstrel show’s entire appeal was its exaggeration of slaves "[poking] fun [at] the ragged, black plantation slave" (Faingin). Banjo players of the minstrel show generally played in a style referred to as the downstroke or frailing. In frailing only the thumb and index finger are used and no picks, just the ball of the thumb and the nail of the index finger (Reese). The banjo frailers of the minstrel show performed with their faces painted black and "sang songs in a Southern Negro dialect." Thomas Daddy Rice was the first to do so after "[observing] a black stable groom" who sang and danced as he worked (Faigin). The minstrel banjoists were comedians and to them the banjo was largely a comedic device. They were making fun of a culture and in doing so making fun of the banjo. Dr. Nat Winston describes pre-Scruggs style banjo players as "traditionally a rowdy lot, were comedians of a sort, and most often didn’t take their banjo playing seriously" (qtd. in Scruggs 7). The banjo was only for fun and not true musicianship. Regardless of the banjo’s lack of respectability as an instrument, "minstrel shows turned banjo playing into a passion" (Reese). Because of the minstrels, banjos spread throughout the United States, earning such an extreme popularity it has yet to regain.
The popularity of the banjo continued to rise following the Civil War and the introduction of the banjo as a parlor instrument. For entertainment between battles, soldiers of the Civil War formed minstrel groups and bands. Nearly every regiment had at least one banjo player and if it did not "commanders did all in their power to see to it that their regiments got the best" (Reese). Because banjos were such a staple to soldier entertainment, offering an escape from war, it is understandable that the banjo became more loved by Americans. Following the end of the Civil War "soldiers carried the knowledge and appreciation of the instrument home" which may be how the banjo reached the Appalachian Mountains and rural America. Despite the popularity of the banjo "the more well-to-do classes" continued to look down on the instrument. Once the banjo began being played as a parlor instrument, around 1866, it gained a degree of respect from the upper classes. As a parlor instrument, the banjo "was picked with the fingers in imitation of the popular guitar players of the day." The banjo had become so loved that "over 10,000 instruments [were] in use in Boston alone" (Reese). After the mid 1800s the banjo was actually viewed as a serious instrument and not as much the prop of the minstrel. During this time many innovations were being made on the structure of the banjo, innovations that revolutionized the instrument and established the banjo as uniquely American.
During the nineteenth century Americans made many technological improvements on the banjo which altered the instrument’s sound and appearance and led to the banjo being considered "‘America’s instrument’" (qtd. in "Authors produce definitive book"). One of the most significant developments was the addition of a fifth string shorter than the rest of the banjo’s strings since the five-string banjo would become the force behind bluegrass music in the 1940s.
Many of the alterations on the banjo were intended to make the instrument "more refined and above all louder" (Reese). The addition of a back on the head of the banjo, called a resonator, made the banjo’s sound much stronger as the resonator "amplifies the sound and directs it forward" (Scruggs 19). Henry C. Dobson, who it is believed made the first resonator, also is credited with first attempting to use a tone ring and patented one in 1881. The advent of the tone ring improved, as the name suggests, the tone of the banjo. Frets were added as well which helped with finger placement when making chords and individual notes (Reese). In the nineteenth century the banjo was a young instrument as compared to the long established guitar, which allowed for much experimentation with banjo structure. American instrument makers saw something like a blank canvas in the banjo so much so that at the instrument’s "height, there were 100 patents filed for banjo improvements and developments." The banjo represented American ingenuity and was a symbol of pride for people of the United States (qtd. in "Authors"). Due to the Great Depression, America’s love for the banjo eventually faded almost to a point where the banjo would become extinct, but people in the rural areas of America continued to play, which encouraged the current hillbilly stereotype the banjo suffers from.
As the banjo’s popularity weakened to close to nonexistent in urban cities, a few people in the mountains and on farms still played the banjo and developed playing techniques. Earl Scruggs is one of the few who continued to play the banjo and is largely responsible for saving the banjo with his development of Scruggs style picking. Until Scruggs style, there was hardly a set way to play the banjo; picking and strumming, even frailing, were very individual. Scruggs created a system combining all he learned from the banjo players he met while growing up. Scruggs began reminding people of the banjo as he performed a new style of music, bluegrass, on the radio with its originator Bill Monroe (Scruggs 151). It was not until the 1960s that Scruggs was seen on national television with his new partner Lester Flatt, which followed with many additional appearances (Scruggs 154). Partly because of Scruggs performance of the theme to "The Beverly Hillbillies" and his appearances on the show, the banjo became synonymous with the word hillbilly. Though entertaining, "The Beverly Hillbillies" instilled misconceptions about people from rural America. The show presented the "hillbillies" as so ignorant they thought the pool was a "cement pond." Bluegrass and the banjo itself became associated with such ignorance, yet the banjo became popular due to its massive exposure. Earl Scruggs never played the ignorant hillbilly, but other banjoists exploited the stigma and made it their main audience draw. Grandpa Jones and Dave "Stringbean" Akeman both dressed comically, Stringbean in a very long shirt tucked into extremely short pants and Grandpa Jones in overalls and plaid. Grandpa Jones was famous for his "rustic humor" (Scruggs 15). Though these men helped reinforce the hillbilly stereotype they actually helped save the instrument from extinction by bringing the five-string back to the masses through television, radio, and stage.
Although banjo players helped strengthen the hillbilly stereotype, the banjo’s history, television, and one movie specifically are more responsible. By the 1960s the hillbilly replaced the minstrel slave. As mentioned prior, "The Beverly Hillbillies" greatly instilled the stereotype suffered by the banjo. Even more important to the strength of the stereotype is the 1972 film Deliverance. Because of Deliverance, just mentioning the word banjo "conjures up visions of the toothless banjo-playing hillbilly in [the film]" ("Bela Fleck"). One of the most famous scenes from the film is of the performance of "Dueling Banjos" by the banjo armed hillbilly boy, often described as an idiot savant, and guitar clad man from the city. Granted some hillbillies actually play the banjo, but they also play guitars and guitars do not suffer from the prejudices that plague the banjo. Most people will not even listen to the banjo because of its association with hillbilly ignorance. Another reason the banjo suffers from prejudgments is likely due to its historical attachment to "the Southern plantation" and the minstrel shows ("Authors"). Most white Americans are embarrassed by slavery and by how minstrel shows mocked a race of people. The banjo has a deeply rooted relationship with both slavery and minstrels as discussed prior, which may explain why many white and black people are repelled by the banjo’s image. Though there is a degree of truth in the banjo’s stereotypes, hillbillies do play the banjo and it was a large part of Southern culture, the stereotypes have prevented many people from seeing the virtuosity of modern banjoists and the sophistication capable of the banjo.
Due to people’s prejudices, many do not even realize the high degree of musicianship bluegrass banjo requires. Many people fail to realize just how difficult picking the banjo is. Not only does Scruggs style necessitate three picks but the third and little finger have specific placements on the head of the banjo, just above the bridge and "where the head meets the neck," intended to anchor the hand down as the player picks rapidly (Scruggs 30). The beginning banjo player must develop the strength to not only keep those fingers anchored, but get the middle and index to move completely independently of one another. Rolls are played fast to give "a steady stream of short-lived notes in constant, subtle rhythmic flux" (Hanway 11). The difficulty in rolling is the abundance of notes a picker must play to obtain the "rhythmic flux" banjo instructor Tom Hanway refers to. The picker has three fingers that he must achieve four beats per measure with so he must deal with emphasizing the melody note and at the same time figure out how to incorporate the embellishing notes. Also, unlike the guitar, Scruggs style is never played in strums. Strumming is more of a natural movement and much easier to do rhythmically than picking a rhythm with three fingers. The banjo player must figure out how to roll the fingers to generate the proper emphasis on the key notes whereas with the guitar, the player generally only has one note at a time to consider so there is no question which note to emphasize. Scruggs style also requires the left hand to do slides, pull offs, push offs, and hammer ons as well as play chords (Scruggs 49). All the left-hand techniques must be played in time with the right hand. Considering the mere basics of Scruggs style, the style of playing most associated with unintelligent hillibillies, it is hard to understand why banjo players are thought of as stupid; the banjo requires much thought and effort to play.
Bela Fleck is a current banjoist who defies the hillbilly stereotype with his unique and innovative approach to the instrument. Fleck’s first contradiction to the banjo’s stereotype is that he is not a hillbilly, but from New York City and a graduate of "the prestigious High School of Music and Art" (Trischka and Wernick 363). Fleck has mastered the traditional bluegrass banjo and rather than stopping there he has "worked to fit the banjo into contexts like progressive rock, jazz, jazz-rock fusion and classical music". Not only has Fleck broadened the possibilities of the banjo, he along with his band, the New Grass Revival, was "vastly influential with its progressive bluegrass sound," incorporating "reggae rhythms and R&B [vocals]" into bluegrass. Another way Fleck attempts to demonstrate the intelligence of the banjo is through performing classical pieces by Bach, Scarlatti, Paganini, and Tchaikovsky ("Bela Fleck"). Fleck’s work on the banjo is incredible, far more advanced than the hillbilly stereotype leads many to believe possible.
Another banjo player contradictory to the banjo’s image is Tony Trischka. Trischka is the "son of a university physics professor" and, like Fleck, he was born in New York (Trischka and Wernick 341). His style of playing is very different from traditional picking. His playing has a "freedom and wildness, [which has] made it difficult to swallow for staunch traditionalists, while more open-minded listeners simply consider him a genius". Not only do "staunch traditionalists" fail to see Trischka’s talent, but also so do the people who believe the banjo’s stereotypes. Trischka’s approach brings out the sophistication of the banjo but people who are prejudice towards this instrument overlook its elegance. Despite Trischka’s frequent utilization of "odd meters, with complex harmonic devices, [and] jazzy modes," many people continue to disregard the banjo (qtd. in Trischka 5). He is not afraid to break from traditional bluegrass and experiment with the banjo. His work with this instrument displays the sophistication and intelligence the five-string banjo truly contains.
Yet another urban banjo player to dispel the hillbilly stigma is Bill Keith. A native of Boston and born into "an educated family," Keith chose the banjo largely for its "technical potential." His approach to playing the five-string banjo is very different than Scruggs style and is referred to as Keith style. In Keith style the picker plays the melody note for note where as in Scruggs style the picker does not play all the notes in the melody. Keith’s technique allows banjoists to "play scales [and] the long, flowing melody lines that grow out of [scales]" (Trischka 5). For this contribution to banjo playing, Keith has been called the "‘Father of Modern Bluegrass Banjo’" (Trischka and Wernick 175). Keith and melodic picking allows banjo players the tools to venture beyond Scruggs style. Like Trischka, Keith values experimentation with the instrument, believing that "you can’t be bound to preconceived ideas" (Trischka and Wernick 178). Banjo players must be willing to try new things with the instrument so that not only will the instrument grow but also maybe people will see the banjo for more than its stereotypes.
Urban banjo players like Fleck, Trischka, and Keith have made great contributions to displaying the sophistication of the banjo. They have demonstrated some of the capabilities of the five-string banjo beyond bluegrass and beyond the hillbilly stereotype. Even Scruggs style, the closest associated with the stereotype, is more complex than most people assume. Unnatural finger movements make rolling in Scruggs style difficult. The abundance of notes adds to the challenge of performing with proper timing and rhythm. Most people do not realize the banjo requires extensive skill. Though the banjo has immensely evolved from its American beginnings on plantations to modern jazz, most people continue to believe the banjo is the hillbilly’s instrument, thus their prejudices prevent them from understanding the banjo’s complexity. Sadly, these people are depriving themselves of incredible music and musicians only because of incorrect stereotypes.
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