My Argument for a Classical Banjo Education

Let me start this blog with a pipedream goal statement:

“Establish a legitimate, University-level program for the four-string banjo.”

Now that you know what I would do if I were king of the world, I can make my argument for a “classic” banjo education.

I believe the banjo fits most easily into the Folk Music category; it is an “oral tradition” instrument if I ever saw one! Oral tradition means (among other things) “passed from one generation to the next without the aid of written music”—the very definition of “folk.” As such, the four-string banjo should be a mainstay in the growing folk music education industry; the only problem is, the music the four-string is famous for is not considered to be folk music! The citified four-string banjo and its music is just as “American” as the countrified fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and five-string banjo; it deserves much more attention and respect than it gets.

This is why I’ve railed so much on learning and presenting—and educating the public on—the original four-string styles of the 1910s and 20s. Before the banjo can be easily identified by today’s listeners, it must be “standardized.” There is strength in numbers; it takes more than one person playing a historic style (i.e., Reser) to gain the attention of the general public. There will be time to play more “modern” music on it and take it in truly new directions once it’s original sound has been reestablished in modern ears. Just how does one play or judge something “new” if one doesn’t know the “original?” I’m afraid that the four-string banjo has fallen so far from favor and the public’s view that its natural evolution has been stalled (for decades now!). It’s not the banjo itself that needs to be resurrected; it is its evolutionary path.

Back to the University-level idea (which I have heard many banjoists express an interest in). Having completed a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education myself, as well as a career as an Army Bandsman (both using the clarinet since the banjo isn’t a “legitimate” instrument), I can guarantee you one thing: Scales and music reading skills are everything! I’m not talking about banjo band “lead sheets” (melody with chord symbols or worse yet, chord diagrams); I mean actual notes, not adorned with “shortcuts” (trumpet players don’t get shortcuts, why should we?), and leaving no room for variation. Now you know the major hurdle for “establishing a University-level program”; how many banjoists today know how to read music? Actually, I would include one shortcut; Tablature is a legitimate musical notation system that works extremely well for the banjo.

If a banjoist wants a college degree in music, he/she better be ready to play a different instrument and receive a “classical” education, written music and all! Even jazzers have to suffer through music history and learn to analyze four-part Bach chorales. And yes, it all applies; music is music! What better way to learn it than by studying the most complex music in the Western world? J.S. Bach literally “wrote the rules” of the music that we still play (and study) today; isn’t he deserving of a little more respect? And isn’t the banjo worthy of education at this level?

An important point: Music schools use the Classics for a reason; there is no better education or way to move music forward than to study the past masters. It’s not like we’re inventing an instrument or type of music; the banjo exists and it only has a little over 100 years of history and only of handful of masters worthy of study. Imagine studying the violin or piano, with hundreds of years and thousands of artists to study!

This is where my argument for the Classic banjo comes in: I used to lament the lack of legitimate written music for the banjo (not that I would have known how to read it myself back then!)—music that would make the banjo “legitimate” in the eyes of the “ivory-tower” music world, and thus be acceptable for university study. Well, I have been introduced to a treasure trove of great written music—written especially for the banjo—from the 1910s-30s. I’ve been publishing the sheet music (http://cliffordessex.net/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=71) and posting videos of it (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfPWZu-PMrMtApqaz__qlCA?view_as=subscriber) for 7 years now, in case you hadn’t noticed.

The high-browed, “classic” banjo movement of the late 1800s-early 1900s centered on the finger-style, five-string banjo, which used a combination of bare-fingered strumming and picking. In the 10s and 20s, many of the composers started converting sheet music for the new kids in town; the tenor and plectrum banjos. The term “plectrum” of course comes from the use of a single pick (then known as a plectrum) to play the banjo instead of bare fingers. The popular use of one pick far precedes the use of three picks (as in Bluegrass); how’s that for historical precedence?

Anyway, these guys—all highly trained musicians—wrote or arranged hundreds of pieces of music for the four-string banjo! Almost nobody today has heard of the composers or their music, simply because you must read music to learn them (and there are few period recordings and fewer still current players to listen to and copy). Plus, most of the music doesn’t exactly lend itself to the typical loud, fake-smile, dance-in-your-chair, throw-the-banjo-in-the-air entertainment routine that the banjo is most infamously-known for today (a dead-end for anything but novelty). This was real music, with real sheet music to learn it by!

Of course, the Jazz Age and Vaudeville banjo styles quickly surpassed the classic banjo in popularity. Its new mass appeal brought about all sorts of simplifications (simplicity sells!), eventually resulting in the play-in-a-day Chord Melody style that still reigns supreme today. The banjo ceased being a “serious” instrument—worthy of serious study (ahem, “university level”)—in the 1920s! And we’ve been left with the fading echoes of a once-great instrument ever since. Can’t read music? Don’t care for music theory? Want to do your “own thing?” Well, then forget about legitimate musical progress for the banjo, or for being taken seriously.

The real kicker here is that the classic style encompasses and teaches all of the knowledge/technique you need and more for playing all styles of music! How do you think Harry Reser and Perry Bechtel learned their astounding craft? They didn’t just snatch it out of thin air; they learned from those who came before them—the classic banjoists! It’s the same four strings and 22 frets (sorry tenors; 17, 19, or 20 for you)! Don’t you think an “educated musician” might know a thing or two about how to play and teach the banjo? And don’t you think that with university-level training, a serious student might be able to take the banjo into new musical territory—and teach others to do the same?

One important caveat to all of this: I believe a “banjo playing degree” is pretty impractical—what you might call a “basket-weaving” degree. What I am proposing is to introduce the banjo as a “secondary” instrument, secondary to the jazz guitar (which already has many dedicated music programs available). I would present it as an important “doubling” instrument for the working guitarist. But it could also be secondary to a music education degree. Not all Music Ed students go on to teach school; many use their degree to build a private studio.

It could be taught via distance learning, aka Skype lessons. This points out another necessity; where to find a qualified teacher—qualified meaning degreed? There are only a few of us who have Music Ed degrees, which would be a minimum requirement for university employment (they might even ask for a Masters degree). I hope this fact strengthens my argument for a classic education in the first place; you can’t have one until you have the other, but how do you get the one or the other when there is no mechanism to get either? We are literally starting from scratch with a 100+-year-old instrument!

I think you can tell that I’m very passionate about this! Frankly, I feel like I’ve been trying to drag a boulder through a mudhole in trying to get folks (general public and banjo players) to take the banjo more seriously. Want legitimacy for the banjo? Establish a university-level program. Want it to continue to fade away? Keep doing what you’re doing. That is all.