This handsome illustrated history traces the transformation of the banjo from primitive folk instrument to sophisticated musical machine and, in the process, offers a unique view of the music business in nineteenth-century America. Philip Gura and Jame

Long a symbol of American culture, the banjo actually originated in Africa before European-Americans adopted it. Karen Linn shows how the banjo--despite design innovations and several modernizing agendas--has failed to escape its image as a "half-barbaric" instrument symbolic of antimodernism and sentimentalism. Caught in the morass of American racial attitudes and often used to express ambivalence toward modern industrial society, the banjo stood in opposition to the "official" values of rationalism, modernism, and belief in the beneficence of material progress. Linn uses popular literature, visual arts, advertisements, film, performance practices, instrument construction and decoration, and song lyrics to illustrate how notions about the banjo have changed. Linn also traces the instrument from its African origins through the 1980s, alternating between themes of urban modernization and rural nostalgia. She examines the banjo fad of bourgeois Northerners during the late nineteenth century; the African-American banjo tradition and the commercially popular cultural image of the southern black banjo player; the banjo's use in ragtime and early jazz; and the image of the white Southerner and mountaineer as banjo player.

A massive collection of transcriptions representing the history of three-finger style five-string banjo playing up to the style's culmination with Earl Scruggs coming on the scene. This is a one-of-a-kind resource containing 49 transcriptions beginning with some of the style's earliest forms up through those that approach the fully developed Scruggs style. These solos, written in easy-to-read tablature, are also a great source of beginner to intermediate level arrangements that players will want to learn. Players will gain a deeper understanding of the structure as well as the significance of the Scruggs Style of banjo playing.These note-for-note transcriptions serve as a companion to the CD recording of the same title featuring such players as Snuffy Jenkins, Larry Richardson, Joe Stuart, Smiley Hobbs, Junie Scruggs, Mike Seeger, Eric Weissburg, Pete Kuykendall, Veronica (Roni) Stoneman Cox, and more. These field recordings were made on location in the hills and hollers of the Appalachian region in the late 1950's by Mike Seeter. Songs, forty-nine in all, includes favorites like "Cripple Creek", "Home, Sweet Home", "John Henry", "Liza Jane", "Lonesome Road Blues", "Sally Goodin", "Turkey in the Straw," "Wildwood Flower", and many more.•

(Banjo). The best-selling banjo method in the world! Earl Scruggs's legendary method has helped thousands of banjo players get their start. The "Revised and Enhanced Edition" features more songs, updated lessons, and many other improvements. It includes everything you need to know to start playing banjo, including: a history of the 5-string banjo, getting acquainted with the banjo, Scruggs tuners, how to read music, chords, how to read tablature, right-hand rolls and left-hand techniques, banjo tunings, exercises in picking, over 40 songs, how to build a banjo, autobiographical notes, and much more! Includes audio of Earl Scruggs playing and explaining over 60 examples!