The 5-String Banjo

The 5-String banjo is a variation on the original banjo design.  The fifth string is usually the same gauge as the first, but starts from the fifth fret, three quarters the length of the other strings.  The short fifth string means that, unlike many string instruments, string pitches on a five-string banjo do not go in order from lowest to highest across the neck.  Instead, from low to high, they go fourth, third, second, first, and fifth.

American old-time music typically uses the five-string open back banjo.  It is played in a number of different styles, the most common being claw-hammer or frailing, characterized by the use of a downward rather than upward motion when striking the strings with a fingernail.  Frailing techniques use the thumb to catch the fifth string for a drone after each strum or twice in each action, or to pick out additional melody notes in what is known as drop-thumb.  Pete Seeger popularised a folk style by combining clawhammer with up-picking, usually without the use of fingerpicks.  Another common style of old-time banjo playing is fingerpicking banjo or classic banjo.  This style is based upon parlour-style guitar.

Bluegrass music, which uses the five-string resonator banjo almost exclusively, is played in several common styles.  These include Scruggs style, named after Earl Scruggs; melodic, or Keith style, named after Bill Keith; and the three-finger style with single string work, also called Reno style after Don Reno.  In these styles, the emphasis is on a continuous eighth-note rhythm, known as rolls.  All of these styles are typically played with fingerpicks.

The 5-String banjo has been used in classical music since before the turn of the 20^th century.  Contemporary and modern works have been written or arranged for the instrument by many different artists.