[Dixielandjazz] Banjo or Guitar?

[Roy (Bud) Taylor]

The original purpose of the banjo was to establish counterpoint to the bass
(usually) tuba.  This was done by either playing the off-beat or 4-beats to
the measure.  To be heard by everyone, the banjo would be outfitted with a
resonator that that projected the head vibration forward.  In a totally
acoustic setting, this was sufficient.  The guitar evolved more to a chord
progression and improvisation device and pretty much had to work with string
bass only in an acoustic setting.  That has evolved with amplification to a
much more forward position to include solos and lead in many cases.  Banjo,
too, has evolved in this case since it was a solo instrument in early
recordings and players became more proficient.  Since it's tuning was the
same as the violin, it was a natural for classical players to pick up the
tenor banjo with dance orchestras and they came equipped with finger
dexterity honed on their instruments and ready to go.   The banjo chords
sound more strident than guitar due to the wider separation in tuning of the
strings relative to each other.  Banjo solos tend to be single or double
string motifs and guitar solos tend to be chord motifs using all strings.

What kinds of music are appropriate to each instrument?  I would say that
you should use banjo on any tune that is dixieland flavored and use guitar
on any tune that you want a richer sounding accompaniment.  This would be
especially true if you did not have a piano in the band.   Vocals tend to
fall in the second category, since you want the audience to concentrate on
the vocalist.  Banjos can be too much of a distraction in this case.


-- 
Roy (Bud) Taylor
Smugtown Stompers Jazz Band
Rochester, New York
Traditional Jazz since 1958
"we ain't just whistling dixie!"