The Banjo: Music, History, and Heritage

You updated your password.

JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser.

Reset Password

Enter the email address you used to create your account. We will email you instructions on how to reset your password.

Forgot Your Email Address? Contact Us

Reset Your Password

SHOW

Rated 5 out of 5 by Susan M from More than just a history of the banjo Giddens is not only a wonderful musician, she is an excellent story teller. The banjo has a complex and broad history, especially here in the Americas. Giddens blends the 'lost' part of the instrument's history with strong playing by herself and a cast of excellent and varied musicians. A delightful (and for me inspiring) course.

Date published: 2024-11-29

Rated 5 out of 5 by KJBritt from Absolutely Beautiful Absolutely beautiful, I had to give this course five stars. I would like to see more Great Courses music content like this. It's a great departure from other music courses where a professor at a desk talks about Mozart or whoever. I will agree with some of the criticisms in the reviews that this feels more like a PBS documentary than a course. I think the format could be improved, but oh, it is so beautiful to listen to.

Date published: 2024-09-06

Rated 5 out of 5 by kacx from Great History of the Banjo Really great history of the banjo and its place in world culture.

Date published: 2024-05-05

Rated 1 out of 5 by icemanKwaj from Total garbage This course is not about the banjo. It is a discussion about white vs. black and slavery. First lesson she says quote "you cannot talk about the banjo without talking about the institution of slavery". Also, first lesson claims blacks invented the banjo and calling square dances. Second lesson claims blacks invented the violin. I gave up after that. I would give this course negative stars if possible. Her whole point is everything you know about the banjo is a false narrative and her point is to rewrite history.

Date published: 2024-03-06

Rated 1 out of 5 by Shamu from Rubbish! This course is very disappointing, it is a run-on sentence of a 'just so' story, few facts, mostly speculation & opinion, Lacking any true scholarship. Sorry, I like the premise but not the execution.

Date published: 2024-02-10

Rated 5 out of 5 by atticradio from cool and smooth Even if you are not musical , this course is a rich history of folk music in America. The instructor is great in presenting facts ,setting and examples without any bias or prejudice. Not a how to play course. Sit back and enjoy.

Date published: 2023-10-28

Rated 5 out of 5 by Metaskeptic from I'm playing Banjo again! Rhiannon Giddens is a wonderful Musician and Scholar, equally important in both areas. Her playing and her lecturing are both superb. She is not afraid to talk about both the good and the bad in the relationship between African-Americans and American music. I'm trying to play a Banjar now (Banjo tuned and strung like a guitar). Seeing and hearing her play made me realize there are a lot of ways the Banjo can sound, and a lot of freedom in how to play it. I'm so grateful this course exists.

Date published: 2023-08-29

Rated 1 out of 5 by Hubert from My First Great Courses Disappointment This "course" is a sharp departure from the previous 89 Great Courses that I have purchased and enjoyed. It includes no documentation at all, and the lectures are not titled and indexed on the DVD as I had expected; the length of the lectures is not provided. Without a guide book, there is, of course, no supplementary reading or suggestions for further study. This offering is much more like a PBS TV special, with casual, repetitive, vernacular verbalizing, and, unfortunately, a strained effort to draw racial and political significance where none is appropriate. There is some educational value here, scattered among the entertainment, but this "course" is not, in my opinion, to be confused with and offered alongside the Great Courses of the past.

Date published: 2023-08-16

Trailer

01: Hearing the Banjo's Journey from Africa

Jump into the history of the banjo! As you will discover right away, there is much to learn about this versatile instrument—starting with its origins in Africa and its link to African American culture. Explore the anatomy of the “gourd banjo” and consider the cross-cultural conversation between African and European music.

24 min

02: The Banjo and the Fiddle Together

Continue your exploration of the gourd banjo as an African instrument and see how music as an entertainment crosses racial lines. You will learn about the connection between the banjo and the fiddle as you dig into the old-time country music of the African American string-band musician Joe Thompson.

23 min

03: Minstrel Banjo

As musical and comedy entertainment, minstrel shows have left a scar across American history due to the legacy of blackface. Although difficult to study today, minstrel shows play an important part in the banjo’s history, as it was through these shows that the banjo became a mainstream instrument in America.

27 min

04: The Spiritual Roots of the Banjo

While we may think of the banjo as an instrument for entertainment, the buried history reveals it has powerful spiritual roots in African and Caribbean culture. Delve into the connection between religious symbols and the early banjo—and reflect on the complex processes of cultural appropriation.

24 min

05: The Banjo in Ragtime and Jazz

The late 1800s and early 1900s saw an explosion in historical, cultural, social, and technological change, and this change paved the way for the great American art form of jazz. From ragtime to New Orleans jazz, examine how the banjo’s capabilities for syncopation earned the instrument a prominent spot in exciting new music.

22 min

06: The Irish Banjo

While African American music was transitioning from minstrel shows to jazz clubs, Irish immigrants were bringing their own cultural experiences to America—and the banjo fit right in with the rhythms of traditional Celtic music. Meet some of the early figures of the Irish banjo, which has strong connections to Afro-Caribbean culture.

24 min

07: The Banjo's Evolution in Ireland

Just as music is always changing, the instruments we play also evolve. You’ll see how the gourd banjos transitioned and eventually led to the development of the tambourine. You’ll also study the evolution of technique, which included the development of American-style “cross-picking” popular in bluegrass today.

22 min

08: Migration, Music, and Commercialization

The banjo today is most strongly associated with bluegrass, and that’s because bluegrass elevated the banjo from a backing instrument to the star of the show. After surveying the rise of bluegrass with luminaries Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs, dive into the cross-cultural exchange made possible by the banjo. Then see how Béla Fleck elevated and redefined the instrument yet again.

21 min

09: The Banjo in String Bands and Bluegrass

If African Americans invented the banjo, why did they stop playing it? Here, learn about the 20th century’s Great Migration, the birth of the recording industry, and the way banjos became associated with older, rural culture. Then, witness the rise of folk music, which tapped into rural working-class stringed instruments.

18 min

10: Banjo Revival and Our Collective Story

The folk revival gave renewed life to an old instrument, but the evolution of the banjo continues in the 21st century. Bands such as Mumford and Sons, Billy Strings, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops continue to reinvent what is possible with the banjo, remixing classic sounds for new audiences. The course ends with a look back—and a look forward.

23 min

11: Performance of "Kitchen Girl" with Enda Scahill

Performance of "Kitchen Girl" with Enda Scahill

3 min

12: Performance of "Old Corn Likker" with Justin Robinson

Performance of "Old Corn Likker" with Justin Robinson

3 min

13: Performance of "Better Git Yer Learnin'"

Performance of "Better Git Yer Learnin'"

3 min

Overview Course No. 30460

The banjo is beloved for its unmistakable sound. Perhaps most strongly associated today with rural mountain music such as bluegrass, folk, or Irish ballads, the banjo has a long and complex history with roots in Afro-Caribbean culture. Delving into this fascinating, largely unknown history offers great insight into the American story and provides for stimulating cross-cultural dialogue.

But above all, the history of the banjo is about music—everything from string-band tunes to jazz club standards to activist folk numbers. Explore the sonic breadth of this great instrument in The Banjo: Music, History, and Heritage. Taught by acclaimed musician and MacArthur grant recipient Rhiannon Giddens, the 10 jam-packed episodes take you across time and cultures to uncover the hidden history of the banjo.

In addition to delighting the ears with a powerful music history, one goal of this course is to expand your understanding of the banjo, an instrument that offers powerful episodes about race, social class, and how art forms evolve with the times. Along the way, you will meet some of the figures who shaped the course of this history, including African American fiddle giant Joe Thompson, bluegrass legends Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs, and the banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck.

Featuring a variety of guest musicians across genres to demonstrate sounds and techniques, The Banjo: Music, History, and Heritage is an exciting addition to the story of musicology—and the story of America itself.

About

Rhiannon Giddens

You have to live your life thinking about what you're going to be passing on. It can't stop with you. It has to continue on.

ALMA MATER

Oberlin Conservatory of Music

Rhiannon Giddens is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who cofounded the Carolina Chocolate Drops. For her work as a soloist and collaborator, she is a two-time Grammy Award winner and an eight-time nominee. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, and she also received a Legacy of Americana Award from Nashville’s National Museum of African American History and the Americana Music Association. Additionally, she is the artistic director of Silkroad and a member of the band Our Native Daughters. She obtained a bachelor of music degree in Vocal Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.