A 6 string banjo offers a versatile sound, fitting in with various musical genres and styles. Its lively tonality adds energy and excitement to country music melodies, and players can use fingerpicks, flatpicks, or thumbpicks to find their ideal tone.
Before purchasing a six-string banjo, ensure it is properly set up. Either pay someone else or learn how to do this yourself.
Folk music
While four-string banjos are more typically associated with bluegrass music, six-string banjos can also be used in folk. Built like guitars and plugging them into an amplifier for playback, six-string banjos feature plectrum banjo necks that allow flatpick or fingerstyle playing styles as well as various tunings such as double D and open A.
Folk songs differ from bluegrass music by being performed collectively and being handed down through generations. Folk songs typically commemorate significant life events like holidays or weddings while they can also convey messages or ideas, such as love or patriotism.
One of the most beloved ways of playing folk music is on a 6-string banjo, yet many who purchase one don’t know how to use it properly. They might try strumming all six strings with a flatpick instead of fingerpicking; this may make their low strings sound muffled. Fingerpicking allows users to avoid this problem. Most banjos feature radiused fingerboards like an acoustic guitar’s, giving guitar players an easier time navigating this instrument.
Bluegrass
Bluegrass music originated as a form of country music in Appalachia during World War II; today it has evolved into an electric string band style known as bluegrass featuring fast, virtuoso playing and tight high harmony singing, first popularized by Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys during WWII and popularized further through Flatt & Scruggs progressive tendencies; nowadays bluegrass is performed using Earl Scruggs’ revolutionary five-string banjo style.
Bluegrass players looking for an ideal banjo may benefit from investing in one featuring a wooden three-ply pot, separate metal tone ring and resonator flange, quality planetary tuners and quality tuning mechanisms – this would represent a step up from inexpensive pop-top banjos with stamped steel brackets holding together their pot and resonator.
Some banjos, like the Deering Boston, feature a one-piece cast resonator flange with sharp points resembling old pop bottle tops. These banjos produce louder and brighter tones than wood-pot models and additionally boast an integral metal tone ring located between their head and pot; often overlooked when purchasing cheaper banjos but certainly makes a difference in sound and playability.
Country
Country music has experienced an enormous resurgence of late. Many contemporary country musicians incorporate banjos into their songs – even some Grammy winners! Taylor Swift used a Deering Boston 6-string banjo in her song “Mean.” Taking part is easy enough – simply practice playing the instrument until you find a sound you prefer!
There is a range of country music that can be performed on a six string banjo, from easy to very difficult pieces. Some require mastering different techniques like hammer ons and pull offs to achieve the desired sound; these will take time to master but will be well worth your efforts!
Some may erroneously think a 6-string banjo isn’t an “authentic” banjo; however, they fail to understand its versatility as an instrument capable of supporting any genre of music imaginable – just listen to Pete Seeger or Cathy Fink play it for example! Additionally, jazz musicians Johnny St Cyr and Jabbo Smith were great banjo players that also performed jazz performances using this instrument.
Blues
Blues music is typically performed on a 6-string banjo. To create brighter or deeper tones, players use either lighter gauge strings for brighter tone or thicker gauge strings with greater thickness – in either case it is essential that strings stay clean and well lubricated for optimal performance.
If you want to play blues on a 6-string banjo, you will need to learn both strum and fingerpick techniques. Many banjos feature radiused fingerboards similar to an acoustic guitar so players coming from another instrument may feel more at home on it.
Some six-string banjos feature pickups like those found on electric guitars to allow players to turn up the volume and rock out on stage. Although not as versatile, these banjos are great for blues music – perfect for an acoustic blues concert or jam session with friends – with six-string models providing sound projection and filling rooms more efficiently than openback models. Resonator models may also help project your sound into any given space.
Jazz
Jazz music encompasses many distinct styles, and a 6-string banjo can help bring them all alive. Played similarly to guitar, these instruments can be fingerpicked or flatpicked depending on your musical preference – however it should be remembered that 6-string banjos have less sustain than guitars so patterns that rely on notes ringing out over half a beat may sound weak or be missed entirely.
Many musicians who perform jazz have begun on other instruments, like guitar. Others began on four-string banjo before transitioning to guitar when more familiar with it; others, like Eddie Condon and Joe Venuti, even used guitar-tuned banjos as their first instruments of choice.
A six-string banjo can provide jazz musicians with an iconic sound. With six strings at their disposal, jazz musicians can achieve more freedom in chording and scale playing as well as facilitate improvisational jazz music performances. Furthermore, an extra string will make using barre chords (which are prevalent in jazz music) much simpler.