Banjo Types & Anatomy of the Banjo

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Banjo Types
Banjos come in different shapes and sizes, and are used for different types of music. Five-string banjos are popular with bluegrass and old-time players, tenor banjos were the stringed backup instrument of choice in the early recording days and remain popular in Dixieland groups, plectrum (= long necked 4 string) banjos were also backup instruments, tuned mostly C-G-B-D; there are fretless banjos, and banjo-mandolins, and lovely little eight-string tenors called banjoloons (I own the only one!)

The banjo of choice for most musicians wishing to use the instrument for playing Irish traditional music is the tenor banjo. Tenor banjos come in many shapes and sizes; the most common neck sizes are either 17- or 19-fret. A tenor banjo can be open-backed or equipped with a resonator (details below).

The tenor banjo in Irish traditional music is normally played strictly as a melody instrument; chording is very rare but can be effective if not overdone. The Irish tenor banjo is most often tuned to G-D-A-E (bass to treble), one octave below the corresponding notes on the fiddle or mandolin. You may encounter other tunings, but the G-D-A-E arrangement is most popular because it enables the banjo player to play any tunes that a fiddler or accordion player would be able to play. I'll refer to the G-D-A-E tuning henceforth as "Irish tuning".

Note that for solo purposes, the original tenor tuning of C-G-D-A (= up a 4th from G-D-A-E) may be used; Mick Moloney and Gerry O'Connor both use this tuning from time to time. The higher pitches of the strings result in a distinctly brighter sound, but the disadvantage in session playing is the limitation on the notes in the low end. (I'll refer to C-G-D-A as the "standard" tuning.)

If you have the opportunity to try both tunings, you should take it and determine which is most suitable to your tastes and style of playing. Keep in mind, however, that using standard tuning may require you to make some changes in the way you play certain tunes ("Martin Wynne's #1" or "#2" reels, for example, or "The Bush on the Hill" jig) that call for notes not playable on your instrument. It's no big deal because flute and whistle players do it all the time, but you may not like the jumpy and unnatural effect of moving between octaves.

I personally prefer the Irish tuning because I like the power of the heavier strings, but it remains a matter of taste. It should be pointed out, however, that the fingerings for the two tunings are totally different - that is, you can't put your finger on the same string or fret in one tuning and expect to produce the same note as you would in the other tuning. That's important to keep in mind: since switching between tunings will quite likely become harder as your proficiency in a particular tuning increases, you should decide fairly early in your musical career which tuning you'll be spending the most time on.

Banjo Anatomy
Here's a list (in no particular order) of the essential bits and pieces that are found on almost every banjo. I apologize in advance for jumping around a bit, but trust me - it all makes sense eventually!

= NECK = The long piece that supports the strings and the fingerboard; attached at its lower end to the pot. The peghead that holds the tuning pegs is at the top, separated from the neck by a piece of bone or plastic called a nut. The nut is slotted to keep the strings in place as they cross over it.

Banjo necks are usually slightly tapered (= they're narrower at the nut than at the last fret). I'm not sure what if any practical value this tapering is supposed to have, although in bringing the strings closer together it may seem to make fingering a little easier on the "busier" frets between 1 and 7.

The strip of lighter-colored material than runs up the side of the neck alongside the fingerboard is called binding. Its purpose is decorative only, although some binding also has positioning dots that can help you locate a fret. Not all banjos are fitted with binding.

= POT or RIM = The round piece attached to the bottom of the neck. It supports the head. Can be made of solid wood or laminate, and can be flat-top or arch-top depending on whether the banjo is equipped with a tone-ring (of which more later).

Pots are frequently "out of round" on older banjos, which won't mean anything until you try to replace a head (gory details to follow later). Pot diameters vary widely (ditto); the "standard" diameter is eleven inches. Consider yourself fortunate if your banjo is that size!

If you hold a (good) banjo up sideways, you'll note that the pot and the neck are slightly angled with regards to one another. This neck angle helps maintain the proper string height and allows the pulling force of the strings to be counteracted.

= FRETS = The thin metal strips, usually slightly rounded, that cross the fingerboard in various locations. Irregularly spaced to accommodate the even-tempered scale (we won't go there). The purpose of the fret is to "stop" the vibrating action of the string, and thus produce a pitch or musical sound. Most frets perform this feat admirably, but older banjos may suffer from frets that are either worn or loose. Neither of these is usually a terminal condition but your sound will definitely suffer unless corrected. Fret repairs should be handled by a pro.

= TAILPIECE = The metal piece at the bottom of the banjo that holds the strings in place. Can be plain or fancy (some are adjustable). Usually seated on the tension hoop. Secured to the rim by various ingenious means that depend on the make of the banjo. Adjustable tailpieces permit the player to make significant changes in the string height (above the fingerboard - this distance is also referred to as "the action"), and can be well worth the few additional bucks they cost.

= HEAD or SKIN = The "membrane" that's stretched across the rim and is responsible for the banjo's sound production. Can be made of plastic (Mylar) or calfskin; the decision as to which material you should use depends on the sound you want to reproduce. I think most of today's players (except as always for a few die-hards, none of them Irish as far as I know) prefer the plastic heads for their weather-resistant qualities, their availability, and their general good behavior.

= TENSION HOOP = The metal ring that sits on top of the rim and keeps the head in place. May be notched or grooved; no appreciable difference in what the banjo sounds like either way. A grooved tension hoop will fit any banjo, while the notches in a notched hoop will have to match the number of bracket hooks that your banjo requires - see next entry.

= BRACKET HOOKS = The round metal hooks that exert the downward pressure on the tension hoop to ensure that the head stays tight. The number of hooks varies from banjo to banjo; generally the cheaper the banjo, the fewer the hooks. The most I've ever seen on one banjo is 28. The hooks, which are threaded at the bottom, are normally held in place by means of bracket shoes (the L-shaped pieces that are bolted to the rim - that's the purpose of those bolts that you see around the inside of the rim). Once the hook is in place, a nut is tightened to pull the hook downward. The hook in turn pulls down the tension hoop, which in turn acts upon the head...the short version of all this: to tighten the head, you tighten the nuts. Particulars of this routine procedure are provided later (click here if you're in a hurry).

You should note that there are some types of banjo that have a different arrangement for maintaining the pressure on the head involving what is referred to as "top tension". In this setup, the bracket hooks pass through the rim, and are threaded into, not through, the bracket shoes below. The hooks tighten from the hoop down - unfortunately you need a special tool to manage this properly, since the square tops of the hooks are not easy to maneuver with any kind of normal wrench (and if your banjo has a hoop that includes a built-in armrest, it's even harder to get at the tops of the hooks because they're almost countersunk into that part of the hoop). I was given a tightening tool by a kindly repair person a number of years ago, but I have no idea where you'd locate one these days. (And a recent query to the banjo user group on the Internet didn't help either.)

= DOWEL STICK, COORDINATOR RODS = These are two systems for keeping the pot attached securely to the neck. They are readily visible when you turn your banjo face down. The dowel stick is a solid piece of wood that is either glued to or bolted to the neck and bolted to the inside of the rim, while the coordinator rods are thin metal rods that perform the same function (and have the added virtue of being adjustable so that the neck angle can be changed). Most dowel sticks have a brace arrangement at the end closest to the neck that allows for a degree of flexibility in adjusting the neck angle.

Perhaps this is the place to mention that serious adjustments to a banjo's neck angle should be left to a professional. This is particularly true if the string action suddenly changes on its own - it could be a symptom of a bigger problem that you shouldn't be dealing with.

= The BRIDGE = The piece of wood - usually maple, occasionally with a layer of ebony on top - that holds the strings away from the surface of the head as they cross between the tailpiece and the fingerboard. The bridge is responsible for transferring the string vibrations to the head, so bridge configuration (and there are several) has a profound effect on a banjo's sound. Like the nut at the top of the fingerboard, the bridge is slotted to keep the strings evenly spaced as they cross. The height of the bridge has a direct relationship to the action: normally the higher the bridge, the higher the action. A bridge height can be reduced for a more comfortable feel (see the section on maintenance below), and also because excessive distance between the string and the fingerboard can lead to intonation problems (= the note you expect to hear just doesn't sound right, you can't play scales that sound any good, etc.). Click here for more information about bridge height.

The placement of the bridge on the head (i.e., its position along the diameter running between the end of the neck and the tailpiece) is very important to the proper intonation of the strings. Click here for more information about bridge placement.

= RESONATOR = Is the piece of (usually) wood that is attached to the back of the rim on some banjos to enhance the sound. Resonators come in all shapes and sizes - some are rounded, some are flat, some are "fitted" into the rim while others are held in place by screws, etc. etc. Five-string banjos, and some vintage tenor banjos, were never equipped with resonators, but with the use of a stock resonator from a catalog and the appropriate hardware, almost any banjo can be provided with one.

Resonators are removable and can be used at the player's discretion. I like them for session playing, but if your banjo is equipped with one and you or (more likely) your fellow musicians find the sound overwhelming, stick a sock or a washcloth into the resonator area and the sound will be deadened. The other option, of course, is to remove it entirely, a procedure which usually consists of no more than removing a screw or two (make sure you don't lose the screws).

= FLANGE = The metal rim that runs between the side of the pot and the inner edge of the resonator is called a flange. It may be a solid piece (if the resonator is original equipment), or it may be composed of individual pieces that attach to the bracket hooks. The flange serves two purposes - first, functional: it supports the hardware that actually attaches the resonator to the pot, and second, cosmetic: it covers the space between the pot and the edge of the resonator that would otherwise be visible. (On some banjos - some models of Vega, for example - where the resonator attaches from the back by means of a screw and bracket arrangement to the dowel stick, the flange serves only the cosmetic purpose.)

= TUNING PEGS a/k/a TUNERS = These are the four machines mounted on the peghead that keep the tension on the strings and enable you to tune them properly. As you will note, they are inserted through the peghead and are normally anchored in place by means of a threaded sleeve. The post is the piece that the strings wrap around and through. The string tension is adjusted by turning the part of the tuner projecting below the peghead. This motion is then transferred to the post and the string attached to it.

There are two main types of tuners: the older direct-action friction tuners and the more popular geared planetary tuners. Planetaries - or any type of geared tuner - enable more precise tuning and eliminate the slippage factor that occurs with most friction tuners. If you're very lucky in your choice of banjo, the original friction tuners may work for a while, but in my experience even the best of them will eventually have problems dealing with the heavier gauge strings required by Irish tuning. (The problems will probably take longer to manifest themselves if you stay with standard tuning, but arrive they will.) My recommendation is to remove the friction pegs and replace them with a good set of planetary tuners as soon as possible after you're sure that it's going to be long-term relationship between you and your banjo.

Since the tuners are one of the elements of a banjo that can actually cause pain and suffering to a player, there are more details on this subject a little later on.

= TONE RINGS = These are various configurations of metal rim that are fitted between the top of the rim and the head, and their purpose - as the name implies - is to enhance the tone. Not all banjos have tone rings. The engineers who designed these gizmos really let their imaginations run wild - some of them have holes, some were fitted with ball bearings, some are rolled brass, et cetera et cetera. The tone ring normally sits happily in place doing its job without much fanfare; the only time you are likely to have any contact with it is during the head changing process (see below). It's important to know if your banjo is equipped with a tone ring, and if so what type, before you order any heads, since these come in different heights depending on whether or not they will have to be fitted over a tone ring. The parts catalogs that you'll be likely to order from have diagrams that help you through this little confusion (and if the diagrams don't help, a friendly customer service rep will).

= ARMREST = A metal piece that extends out slightly over the head from the 7 to 9 o'clock position. There are several designs, usually involving the armrest being secured to a couple of bracket hooks. As the name implies, it's for resting your picking arm on - certainly not essential, but an extra that many players like. If your yoke doesn't have an armrest, you can order one from a catalog if you're so inclined.

Though technically not a banjo part, I'll mention the INLAY in passing - that's the decoration on the fingerboard and on the peghead. It's usually done in mother-of-pearl or abalone on older banjos. Some banjos are quite ornate, some are very plain. Inlay doesn't affect a banjo's sound but it may affect its price. If you're lucky enough to have inlay work on your banjo, check it occasionally as you wipe down the fingerboard. That way you can catch broken or loose pieces that can be repaired or replaced.