Take Your Pick

An interesting “back story” on the four-string banjo is the use of a flat pick. We take it for granted today, but when did the pick come into common use? This is directly related to the question of when did the four-string banjo itself come into being? This is not an area of expertise for me! I would never claim to be an “authority” on banjo history, but I believe I have learned enough over the years that I at least “deserve my opinion.”

Up until around 1910, the banjo was a quiet, gut-stringed instrument played with bare fingers. Around that time, the idea for the tenor and plectrum banjos came into being (they were apparently not developed from one single brainstorm, though).

One popular story has it that banjo manufacturers wanted to tap into the vast popularity of the mandolin, and so the tenor banjo was developed. Since the mandolin was played with a flat pick, it made sense to use it for the banjo as well. The banjo does not have a lot of “sustain,” so the “tremolo” was used to make up for it—something that the flat pick (and the mandolin) excels at.

The history of the plectrum banjo is a bit murkier. Some believe that since American manufacturers didn’t start producing plectrums until the early 1920s, that marks the time of its “invention.” There is written proof, however, that the plectrum was in use as early as 1913. I have a piece of sheet music from that year that states at the top “finger or plectrum style.”

“Plectrum style” refers to using a flat pick for the music. This does not mean that the four-string plectrum banjo was invented then either! Five-string players simply used their instrument by removing or disabling the drone string and playing with a flat pick. Some of the method books from the era actually show how to do that. Another theory I have heard regarding the tenor is that the five-string banjeaurine was modified in the same way. At some point, they also replaced their gut strings with the new steel strings for more volume and power.

This was done so the banjo could be used as a rhythm instrument in the Fox-trot orchestras popular at that time (on both sides of the pond). In addition, there were numerous American and British banjo soloists/composers who wrote solo sheet music that worked with either instrument variant/technique. At any rate, no one really knows when the first actual plectrum banjo was built.

The point of this blog is the use of a flat pick to play the banjo, regardless of how many strings it had or when/why it was invented. Since the mandolin was already played with a pick, and “plectrum” literally means pick (and is still called that today in England), I think it is safe to surmise that the pick was used from the beginning, whenever that actually was.

It is fascinating to realize that the use of a flat pick with the guitar doesn’t seem to have come about until the mid-1920s with the rise of Nick Lucas, Eddie Lang, and Karl Kress. The style was known at the time as the “plectrum guitar” (not related to the four-string tenor and plectrum guitars of the period, but referring to the new use of a pick). This coincided with the invention of the electric microphone. Without a pick, steel strings, and a microphone, the guitar was difficult to record or to be heard above the horns in an early jazz band. With those innovations, the guitar quickly eclipsed the banjo in popularity—plus, they cost a lot less than a banjo, and had a warmer, more pleasant sound. And as they say, “the rest is history.”

I take it as a fascinating point of pride that the banjo used a flat pick before the guitar! It’s easy for me to think that the banjo directly influenced the guitar in this matter. I have always thought of the Roaring 20s banjo as the rightful ancestor of the jazz guitar; this knowledge helps to seal the deal for me. It is part of the reason I am so snobbish about the use of a pick with the plectrum banjo. I know that finger picks have gained in popularity, but the kind of music I consider to be characteristic of the 1920s banjo uses a flat pick (in the few recordings and movie shorts available from that period at least). Therefore—in the desire to be “authentic” to the banjo’s most-popular era—using a pick is the “correct” method of playing.

Now that I’ve revealed my inner snob (and unintentionally pissed off a few folks!), let me say this to show that I’m not such a bad guy: It could be successfully argued that the four-string banjo has failed to “evolve” with music. Maybe the use of finger picks instead of a flat pick is one of the missing links? And of course, the guitar has since evolved in countless ways and has grown in popularity and use, while the jazz banjo remains a misunderstood historical curiosity at best. So, maybe my type of period snobbishness has kept the banjo from keeping pace with the guitar?

I don’t say these things to cause argument (I’m not “picking a fight…”); only to deepen my own understanding and encourage healthy discussion. I just find it very interesting. I am curious to hear other viewpoints and historical anecdotes regarding the banjo and flat picks.