# I Need a Banjo **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 12, 2001, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-banjo/72157 "2001-07-12T00:00:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kamandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5daacb/32.png) [@Kamandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamandi)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-banjo/72157/41 "2001-07-13T17:29:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sdimbert \* > **Kamandi** , Steve Martin is a banjo player - a good one. He plays in his act and makes the joke that any song played on the banjo sounds happy. Then he picks out a jumpy melody and sings, “Death and misery, pain and hunger…” or something like that to prove his point. > > Funny bit. 😃 \*\* Oh. Thanks. 🙂 I knew he used to play banjo in his SNL days, but I didn’t know about the happy death song joke. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-banjo/72157/42 "2001-07-14T12:31:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > \*\*Jesus, who plays a damn FOUR-STRING any more? Whaddaya, a rhythm player in a Dixieland band? I’d be embarrassed to offer good ol’ **Euty** a FOUR-STRING. \*\* Mr Scarlett responds: > [@](#): > > "The 4-string banjo has pretty much faded into much deserved obscurity. The “riverboat crap” music they used to play on them, the association with lame barbershop group singing, and the general doofus image of those “musicians” playing them have (deservedly) doomed them to shame. At least in the old riverboat days you could toss the banjo over the side. And find out, by the way, what floats better: a banjo or a banjo player. > > Of course the same was said about the 5-string banjo until Earl Scruggs came along. If you want to hear good 4-string banjo, check out Grammy winner Seamus Egan and his band Solas. They play traditional Irish music. And they play it extremely well." Well. I had thought he would be more of his acerbic self. He also found a great [Steve Martin banjo story](http://listproc.ucdavis.edu//archives/banjo-l/log0011/0521.html). Back to the OP, how goes the banjo hunt, **Euty**? ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-banjo/72157/43 "2001-07-14T12:37:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scarlett67 \* > \*\*Back to the OP, how goes the banjo hunt, **Euty**? \*\* Not well, so far. I suppose I should explain the reason for my current banjo lust. I love bluegrass music and have always wnated to join in rather than just listening. _Everyone_ plays guitar and fiddling seemed too difficult at this time. Besies, one of the great regrets of my life is that I never learned to play a musical instrument when I was younger. A banjo just seemed to fit the bill. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-banjo/72157/44 "2001-07-14T14:45:38Z")
Bluegrass is cool. Very cool. But one question–if you do get a banjo, are you going to get a red-striped shirt, garters, and a straw hat to complete the ensemble? It’s the law, you know. 😃 Oh, and if you’d like, I can score you some CD’s from one of the all time finest dixieland/bluegrass bands ever, Michigan’s Own New Reformation Dixieland Band. They are un-freaking-believable. My grandfather turned me on to them just a couple of years ago. Just let me know. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-banjo/72157/45 "2001-07-14T16:01:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eutychus55 \* > \*\*Everyone plays guitar and fiddling seemed too difficult at this time…A banjo just seemed to fit the bill. \*\* The banjo might just be the most difficult of the instruments in the bluegrass pantheon (okay, maybe the fiddle’s worse). Have you considered an upright bass? Much easier to learn, and you’ll be able to play almost any-damn-kind of music on it from jazz to folk to rockabilly, and you’ll be in hot and heavy demand. Not enough bassists around. On the downside, it’s gonna be a lot more expensive than a banjo. …then there’s the mandolin. It’s much QUIETER than the banjo, so when you join in with some skilled bluegrass pickers it won’t be quite as obvious that you don’t know what you’re doing. {insert smiley here.} ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-banjo/72157/46 "2001-07-14T16:04:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > \*\*the bluegrass pantheon \*\* For the tyros, that would be mandolin fiddle guitar banjo bass and sometimes dobro. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-banjo/72157/47 "2001-07-14T16:22:41Z")
Where does the mandocello fall into that pantheon? I bought one from Kathleen Keane of Gaelic Storm thinking I would learn to play only to discover I am terribly inept at stringed instruments. I would gladly trade it for a decent quality Irish Flute (keyed or even a simple system if it is nice) It plays nice accordiong to the musicians who have tried it but my friend Aidan says it would be perfect for a bass player who wants to play the mandolin/bouzouki type of instrument as the feel is similar. It is made by Bardsong but I can’t get their site to load. It has a black body and a pretty cool laminated neck with Otoh tuners. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-banjo/72157/48 "2001-07-14T17:06:16Z")
> [@](#): > > …one of the all time finest dixieland/bluegrass bands ever… Am I the only one wondering what the heck a dixieland/bluegrass band is? Isn’t that a banjo-style oxymoron? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-banjo/72157/49 "2001-07-14T17:30:11Z")
I was wondering the same thing, **spoke-** …Aside from the inclusion of a banjo in both ensembles (four-string in Dixieland, five-string in bluegrass), I don’t see a connection. “That was ‘Muskrat Ramble,’ folks, and now, we’ll be featuring Mandolin Slim on our next number, ‘Uncle Pen!’” “Dixieland” is generally considered to be a 1940s bastardization of the old New Orleans polyphonic jazz style, also known as “white guys in straw hats and striped vests playing ‘Fidgety Feet,’” featuring cornet (or trumpet) clarinet trombone piano banjo (or guitar) tuba (or string bass) drums …whereas bluegrass is a souped-up version of old-time mountain music, featuring that High Lonesome Sound and musicians on the aforementioned string instruments picking away at lightning speed. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-banjo/72157/50 "2001-07-14T18:07:56Z")
:::Persephone slowly works head out of butt::: That’s what I get for posting before I’ve taking my morning meds. New Reformation is indeed a _dixieland_ band. With brass & everything. They’re one of those funny performance bands, you know? Doing goofy things to crack the audience up, whilst making some incredible music. A joy to watch, a joy to hear. Thanks for not making fun of me. I do appreciate it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-banjo/72157/51 "2001-07-14T19:46:58Z")
Do NOT touch a five-string! Play grand Irish tunes on a four string, honey. This from a girl (and I kid you not) who sleeps with a banjo player and plays the harp (with strings on, NOT easy) ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2001, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-banjo/72157/52 "2001-07-14T20:15:53Z")
What is the difference beteen a skunk walking down the road, and a Banjo Player walking down the road? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The skunk might be on his way to a gig. Message ends. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-a-banjo/72157.md?page=2)