Plucky Strings and Peppy Percussion Strings and Percussion    

Lesson 20: Banjo - Buffalo Rag

by Tom Turpin

Performer: Vess L. Ossman

Directions

Study the musical selection for one week.

Over the week:

• Listen to the music daily.
• Recite the composer and composition names.
• Read the synopsis.
• Review the vocabulary terms.
• Read about the instrument category.
• Complete the enrichment activities.
• Study the review questions.

Synopsis

This lesson introduces the banjo, a stringed instrument. Banjos typically have a membrane stretched over a circular frame, a long neck, and between four to six strings that musicians strum or pluck with their fingers or a plectrum. The musical composition for this lesson, 'Buffalo Rag,' by Tom Turpin, features the music of a banjo. The painting included in the lesson, 'Cowboy Singing,' by Thomas Eakins, shows a cowboy playing a banjo.

Vocabulary

Banjo: A stringed musical instrument with a long neck and a round open-backed body consisting of parchment stretched over a metal hoop like a tambourine, played by plucking or with a plectrum. It is used especially in American folk music.
Fret: Each of a sequence of bars or ridges on the fingerboard of some stringed musical instruments (such as the guitar), used for fixing the positions of the fingers to produce the desired notes.
Fret Marker: Symbols on guitars or other stringed instruments that mark where to press fingers to play particular notes or chords.
Note: A single tone of definite pitch made by a musical instrument or the human voice.
Chord: A group of typically three or more notes sounded together, as a basis of harmony.

Category

Music lessons over the next two years group musical instruments into five major categories: strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.

String instruments produce sound through the vibration of strings. Strings may be plucked or strummed with fingers, hit with hammers, or rubbed with a bow.

See a picture of strings below. Note that some strings are thicker and some are thinner.

The sound produced by a string depends in part on its thickness, its length, its tightness, and its material.

Instruments have multiple strings of varying thickness. Musicians playing instruments turn pegs to tighten or loosen the strings and change their sounds. Musicians also press their fingers against the strings to control the length of strings that vibrate and produce sound. Strings are made from materials such as nylon or steel.

String instruments include violins, violas, cellos, double basses, guitars, ukuleles, sitars, mandolins, banjos, and depending on who you ask, pianos.

Study the images of strings.

1. Viola Strings

2. Cello Strings

3. Guitar Strings

Enrichment

Activity 1: Study the Parts of a Banjo

• Study the parts on the labeled picture of the banjo. Note the addition of new parts, the rim, the head, the arm rest, and the carrying strap.

Activity 2: Can You Find It?

Study the lesson image, 'Cowboy Singing,' by Thomas Eakins, and find the following:

• Cowboy
• Cowboy Hat
• Handkerchief
• Fringe
• Cowboy Boots
• Strumming Hand
• Hand Shortening and Lengthening the Strings
• Banjo
• Banjo Tuning Pegs
• Banjo Neck
• Banjo Head
• Banjo Rim

Review

Question 1

What are the five major groups of instruments listed in the lesson?

1 / 5

Answer 1

The five major groups of instruments are strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.

1 / 5

Question 2

Which string instrument does this lesson feature?

2 / 5

Answer 2

This lesson features the banjo.

2 / 5

Question 3

How many strings do banjos typically have?

3 / 5

Answer 3

Banjos typically have between four to six strings.

3 / 5

Question 4

What are the major parts of the banjo?

4 / 5

Answer 4

Major parts of the banjo include the tuning pegs, neck, body, strings, bridge, head, tailpiece, arm rest, frets, and fret markers.

4 / 5

Question 5

How do musicians make sounds with a banjo?

5 / 5

Answer 5

Musicians use one hand to strum the strings and the other to shorten and lengthen the strings to change the sound.

5 / 5

❮ ❯

1. What are the five major groups of instruments listed in the lesson? The five major groups of instruments are strings, keyboards, percussion, brass, and woodwinds.
2. Which string instrument does this lesson feature? This lesson features the banjo.
3. How many strings do banjos typically have? Banjos typically have between four to six strings.
4. What are the major parts of the banjo? Major parts of the banjo include the tuning pegs, neck, body, strings, bridge, head, tailpiece, arm rest, frets, and fret markers.
5. How do musicians make sounds with a banjo? Musicians use one hand to strum the strings and the other to shorten and lengthen the strings to change the sound.

References

'String instrument.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Banjo.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Labeled Banjo Image (CC BY-SA 3.0).' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.