In my head, I’m hearing George Carlin’s smooth, ironical voice uttering this ultimate oxymoron (alongside Jumbo/Shrimp, College/Education, and Military/Intelligence). Quick test; say the word “banjo” and try to keep a straight face! Ha, I knew you couldn’t do it!
My life has been a series of “things-taken-too-seriously” (but not followed through). Each pursuit has held me enthralled for a time; most went by the wayside because I just wasn’t getting the satisfaction I needed from them, but music—that’s a different story. Forget for a moment the musical joke that is the banjo; music is where it’s at for me! There is the crux of the issue: In my heart I am a real, serious musician who longs to be taken seriously, but in reality, I’m just a banjo player.
Oh sure, I also enjoy playing the ukulele, guitar, clarinet, and sax, and love to sing—but the banjo is where my real gift and interest is, so why shouldn’t I be serious about it? Do you think I play it for comic relief from all those other instruments? It is a real musical instrument, isn’t it?
By this time (assuming you’ve stopped laughing at me long enough to catch your breath), I’m sure you have thought of at least ten absolutely stellar “banjokes” to lighten my serious mood. . .um, do you think maybe I’ve heard them already? Before you get all excited to tell your clever joke, take a moment to realize that the banjo-as-joke is what I’m railing against! I will not be amused (except maybe at you)!
Yes, I even tell a few jokes myself when I play for folks; I hate to admit it, but that’s because I know that jokes are expected from a banjo player, and who am I to disappoint a paying/tipping audience? “Oh look Honey, a banjo player! This should be fun!” (like Marlin in Finding Nemo: “Come on, you’re a clown fish, you’re supposed to be funny!”).
Of course I have a sense of humor—and I am quite adept at laughing at myself—but I’ll admit it took me a while to find it! The Far Side had a huge role in my finding my funny bone, so much so that since getting hooked on it over 25 years ago, I have a tough time not seeing humor in just about everything I see (especially silly human foibles). As a plus, I love that Gary Larson wrote a few of the very best banjo cartoons ever. If you’re waiting for the banjo punchline though, you’re not going to get it in this essay!
Believe it or not, I even have fun playing the banjo! Of course, my fun is derived from playing it well, and not from making a joke out of it. I enjoy jamming with players who “play with a sense of humor” (very different from making a joke out of it), and wish that I had a bit more of that particular gift myself. I have never considered myself to be a very good entertainer though; I would rather be remembered as a “musician’s musician.” I do not dance around on my stool or throw my banjo in the air, and I’ve never been very good at smiling while playing; to those who tell me “you should smile more,” I say “you should listen more.” I’m much more interested in playing/hearing good music then in providing/ watching entertainment. . .and yet I still want to make a living at it. . .now there’s the true oxymoron!
In the 40+ years that I have played the four-string banjo, I have watched with sadness the dwindling number of players (and audience members). I remember as a kid being on stage with well over a hundred players in a jam session (I bet you laughed at that vision!)—many of whom were quite good; nowadays, you’re lucky if you can find 20, most of whom can only play chords to the most basic songs (sorry, but it’s the truth).
I am convinced that the four-string banjo—as serious musical instrument, taken seriously—is dying, and the major reason is that it’s simply not taken seriously! What wannabe serious musician would take up the banjo, for gosh sake? And without serious musicians (you know, those with the ability and desire to push the musical envelope), how can any instrument survive and prosper? As the butt of the joke? I think not! That concept has been beaten to death, and it is failing miserably!
There was a time and place where the banjo was taken seriously, almost to the point of “hout couture”; turn-of-the-century American and British middle-class parlours at tea time. The music of Emile Grimshaw, Alfred Cammeyer, Burt Bassett, Vess Ossman, and several other talented composers; their “art music” was written/arranged specifically for the banjo, first finger-style five-string, then tenor and plectrum banjos. I am working with the Clifford Essex Music Company to bring this music back to life; a growing collection of updated sheet music can be found on the CE website, plus I have made YouTube videos of several pieces, with more on the way (sorry, I don’t smile in those either).
Here is my challenge to you serious musicians: Take a couple of banjo lessons from me (the first one is free!), and then judge for yourself if it’s purely a laughing matter; don’t buy into the banjo-as-joke mentality just because that’s the popular image!
I don’t plan to “lighten up” when it comes to the banjo; I’ve given up too many serious pursuits in my life, usually because I was tired of being laughed at for taking it too seriously! At any rate, it’s a wide-open field; it seems as though I don’t have a whole lot of competition.
Having said this, if you are like-minded, I would appreciate your thoughts on the subject, or at the very least, a visible show of solidarity among those of us who see the banjo as more than just a tired-old joke. And yes, I’ll even field the inevitable banjoke responses; they’ll only prove my point, and your lack of understanding.
Hi Ron,
Your comment in part: “you’re lucky if you can find 20, most of whom can only play chords to the most basic songs (sorry, but it’s the truth).” is a true statement. I have seen it from my own perspective. As Founder/Director of the New England Banjo Orchestra, I have been able to use only my own students as members because the average ability to read music is practically non-existent in the 4-string banjo world these days. I think I can count on my fingers the amount of banjoists I have personally met who can actually read music fairly well, never mind at a professional level. That in itself is very frustrating to me when trying to play arrangements made for a banjo orchestra. I have had to have my arrangers write the harmony parts for a beginners level of reading ability. So my question is how can we as banjo teachers and performers get other players to work on this skill? Yes, it takes time and effort to gain reading skills, why are so many unwilling to really learn how to play their instrument? Horn players do it, even mandolinists do it. Why not banjo players?
“. . .how can we as banjo teachers and performers get other players to work on this skill?”
I fully realize it will take finding younger students to create this environment in the banjo world. I’m not saying older “hobbyists” are beyond reach, but it is probably asking too much for someone who “just wants to have fun” to learn to read music and understand even the most basic of music theory. And with the plethora of “play-in-a-day” “method books” out there today (and the nature of our fun, striped shirt/straw hat/toe-tapping music), the banjo-as-serious-instrument is a hard sell at best.
So, let’s find young students, and pretend that the banjo has been taken seriously all these years! They are the next generation and our best hope for continuing the banjo tradition, after all.
I have played guitar for thirty years, played in quite a few bands, and was given a five string banjo this year as a gift, never had as much fun in my life, its great to play, I love the freedom it gives to arrange music as you wish with no constraints, its an amazing instrument which can be used for any form of music, I absolutely love it, of course it helps having a thorough grounding in music to begin with, but the feel and sound is something else.
I dont think it helps the instruments appeal, the idea that picks must be worn, which has been propogated by blue grass people and is completely untrue, anyway my thoughts, make of them what you will, much maligned instrument in my opinion and should be used more widely in all forms of music.