Resonator banjos are louder than their open-back counterparts, making them popular among bluegrass musicians. Additionally, it provides an ideal entryway into learning the banjo.
Resonators help to focus the sound, so string vibrations quickly reach the head of the instrument.
The Lonesome Rambler
The Lonesome Rambler is a revered leader for bluegrass music and one of the best-known and respected touring musicians in bluegrass today. His soulful vocals and exceptional musicianship have delighted countless audiences through their dedication and enthusiasm for bluegrass.
Rare is the bluegrass festival or concert series where Larry Sparks and the Lonesome Ramblers don’t make an appearance, their performances demonstrating how music brings people together.
No matter if you are starting Clawhammer, expanding your Old Time/folk instrument collection, or learning Bluegrass picking; we have the best selection of banjos in one convenient place – Gold Tone, Goodtime and Pisgah banjos are our specialty along with handmade small builders’ pieces as well as accessories to maximize banjo usage – since 1957, we’ve been your source for quality banjos!
The Beverly Hillbillies Theme
If you are unfamiliar with the show, it follows Jed Clampett and his family as they live in an immense mansion and operate a successful corn farm. Don Parmly plays banjo throughout each episode as their theme song plays throughout.
Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs provided instrumental backing for Jerry Scoggins’ vocals, and it became an instantaneous success, reaching No.1 on country music charts. Due to this song’s immense success, verses promoting sponsors such as Winston cigarettes and Kellogg’s cereals were added in as verses of support from Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs’ performance of its theme for this TV show.
“Weird Al” Yankovic later created his signature version for his UHF movie by merging two stanzas from Ballad of Dire Strait’s Money for Nothing instrumental into one mashup song.
Old Time Country Blues
This banjo can achieve professional-level tones, but requires considerable work to properly set it up. Without sufficient patience or time for setup, many may end up disappointed with their purchase.
Banjos with open-back designs are perfect for old-time and clawhammer styles of playing, while their resonator banjo counterparts may prove more suitable in an ensemble setting.
The back flange of a banjo, commonly referred to as the “tone ring,” serves to amplify and intensify its sound. Without one, sound would simply diffuse into one’s skin or clothing without being amplified properly by the banjo head itself. Furthermore, tone rings help prevent unwanted noise caused by loose strings which might otherwise squeak or rattle during playback.
Old Time Country Bluegrass
Many may imagine old time country bluegrass music to consist solely of fiddle and banjo ensembles, yet this is far from true. Guitar and double bass also played key roles in shaping its development as chordal rhythmic accompaniment instruments.
Old time musicians typically favored sparse instrumentation and arrangements; however, a number of artists such as Flatt and Scruggs introduced elements of bluegrass into traditional folk music. These musicians excelled at adding jazz-influenced chord progressions into this rigid and conservative structure of their genre.
As long as it can be played comfortably, those unfamiliar with Bluegrass might be happy with a backless, tone-ring-free 5-string banjo as long as it can be tuned accurately and tuned by special fingering techniques, such as clawhammer picking. Unfortunately, backless banjos may make tuning difficult while it may also be hard to hear when chord changes take place (which is often an issue on older banjos).