Photo courtesy of the Mountain Heritage Center, Western Carolina University
The banjo, a 4- or 5-stringed musical instrument with a leather or plastic head stretched over a circular wooden rim, is pictured by many as the symbol of Appalachian music. But its origin goes back to a long pole neck stuck in a gourd with several strings attached that was brought to America in the 18th century by African slaves.
By the 1830s, white musicians were playing the “banjer.” Adopted by minstrel shows, the instrument’s popularity exploded. Eventually, it was combined with the guitar, the mandolin, the fiddle and the upright bass to form the string band. In the 20th century, famous Appalachian musicians like Earl Scruggs and Ralph Stanley turned it into a powerful symbol of the southern mountains.
Digital Heritage Moments are produced at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. To learn more, visit DigitalHeritage.org. You may also hear Digital Heritage Moments each weekday on radio stations WKSF-FM, WWCU-FM, WMXF-AM, WPEK-AM and WWNC-AM.
