Banjo
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The Five-String Banjo has a circular body and a long fingerboard. It has a stretched plastic, tambourine-shaped belly, and a wooden soundchamber attached at the back. You play the banjo by plucking the strings with your fingers or with a plectrum. Banjos often feature in ragtime, bluegrass, and traditional jazz music.
| Family |
| Strings |
| Pitch range |
| Two-and-a-half octaves. |
| Material |
| Wooden body, parchment or plastic skin, and gut or metal strings. |
| Size |
| 11 in (28 cm) in diameter. |
| Origins |
| The modern banjo may have evolved from an instrument used by West African slaves in the "New World" (the American continent) in the 17th century. |
| Classification |
| Chordophone: an instrument that produces its sound by the vibration of strings. |
| And also... |
| There is a theory that the banjo was invented by slaves on plantations in America. It was created by putting a stick through a drum and then adding strings. |
