Читать книгу Banjo For Dummies - Bill Evans - Страница 19

The banjo combines wooden, metal, skin, and/or plastic parts held together by rods, nuts, screws, and brackets to make some of the most incredible and beautiful sounds in the world. You could call the banjo the Frankenstein of musical instruments, but I like to think of it as the Bionic Woman. Practically all banjos share a common characteristic of having a replaceable top playing surface made of plastic or animal skin (called the head) that's stretched tightly across the body of the banjo (called the pot) to form the top of the resonating body of the instrument (see Figure 1-3).

Five-string banjos come in three different basic styles: open-back, resonator, and electric. Musicians select the kind of banjo they play based on their musical style and their personal tastes. Chapter 13 explains the differences between these kinds of banjos, along with tips for making an informed purchase.

In the following sections, you get to know the banjo from head to toe (well, really from the top of the headstock to the bottom of the pot). You also discover how the instrument captures the energy of a plucked string and turns it into that unmistakably great sound that banjo players love. You can refer to Figure 1-4 to see exactly where these parts are located on the banjo.

Photographs courtesy of Elderly Instruments

FIGURE 1-3: Comparing open-back (a and b) and resonator (c and d) five-string banjos

Photograph courtesy of Gruhn Guitars

FIGURE 1-4: The parts of a banjo.