Banjo

A 20th-Century Turkish instrument very similar to the banjo is called Cümbüs. Saks Fifth Avenue also holds a special event for her honoring the success of her line in the United States. Instruments using the five-string banjo neck on a wooden body (for example, that of a bouzouki or resonator guitar) have also been made, though these are not so common. Blumarine is currently expanding it's fashion lines to Russia and other places,where it can be found in some of the most famous stores. These were especially popular in the early decades of the twentieth century, and were probably a result of a desire either to allow players of other instruments to jump on the banjo bandwagon at the height of its popularity, or to get the natural amplification benefits of the banjo resonator in an age before electric amplification. . Examples include the guitar banjo, 'banjitar' or guitjo, the banjo mandolin and the banjo ukulele or banjolele. During those times, there were only a few items.

Most of these use the body of a banjo, often with a resonator, and the neck of the other instrument. Both times, it was met with success. A number of hybrid instruments exist, crossing the banjo with other stringed instruments. In 1981 the fashion line was featured in the first fashion show during fashion week. Eddie Peabody (plectrum) and Harry Reser (tenor and plectrum) are regarded as two of the best four-string banjo players of all times. the Blumarine fashion line debuted in 1980 at the Modit, a small fashion premiere in Milan. It has a shorter neck of 19 frets is usually tuned CGDA, like a viola, or GDAE, like a violin (but a fifth lower), and has become quite a standard instrument for Irish traditional music where is mainly used in its shorter 17 frets variant. The name was inspired by Molinari and Tarabini's favorite color and their love for the sea^[2].

A further development is the tenor banjo, which also has four strings and is typically played with a plectrum too. The late designer Franco Moschino also helped the company develop a "look" of edgy romanticism.^[1] This look has been continued by Molinari, who remains the company's chief designer. The plectrum banjo evolved out of the five-string banjo to cater for styles of music involving strummed chords. Blumarine is a fashion company that was created in 1977 in the town of Carpi in Italy by Anna Molinari and her husband Gianpolo Tarabini. As the name suggests, it is usually played with a guitar-style pick (that is, a single one held between thumb and forefinger), unlike the five-string banjo, which is almost always played with a thumbpick and two fingerpicks, or occasionally with bare fingers. URL accessed on January 31, 2006.. The plectrum banjo has four strings, lacking the shorter fifth string, and 22 frets; it is usually tuned CGBD. Blufin Offical Website.

Many banjo players favour the use of model railroad spikes (usually installed at the seventh fret and sometimes at others), under which the string can be hooked to keep it pressed down on the fret. ^  Company Profile. Otherwise various devices are available to effectively shorten the string. URL accessed on January 31, 2006.. For small changes (going up or down one or two semitones, for example) it is possible to simply retune the fifth string. Made In Italy Online. This presents special problems for using a capo to change the pitch of the instrument. ^  Fashion Houses: Anna Molinari - Blumarine.

The fifth (drone) string is the same gauge as the first, but it is five frets shorter, three quarters the length of the rest. Receives a degree in education from the Universita' Carlo BO in Urbino. These tunings are often taken up a tone, either by tuning up or using a capo. 2004-Receives two career awards,one in Rome and one in Milan.Also gets an award from the city of Carpi,for the prestige she has brought thanks to her fashion career.Also gets the Marisa Bellissario award for being a great female businesswoman.She gets an award for her help in the Italian Osteoperosis League and for her charity in other organizations. Other tunings common in old-time music include double C (gCGCd), sawmill or mountain minor (gDGCd) also called Modal or Mountain Modal, and open D (f#DF#Ad). 2003-Receives the La Kore Fashion Oscar at the Greek Theatre in Taormina. In earlier times, the tuning gCGBd was commonly used instead. 2002-Receives an award for her the way she handles business at the Storchi Theater in Modena.

Probably the most common, certainly in bluegrass, is the open G tuning: gDGBd. 2001-Receives the Meryl Awards in Venice and the Isimbardi Fashion Award for her contributions to spreading Italian fashion worldwide. Many tunings are used for the five-string banjo. 1999-Receives the Woman of the Year award for the fashion sector at Montecatini Terme. Pete Seeger popularised a folk style by combining clawhammer with "up picking" without the use of finger picks. 1995-Molinari is one of the seven best international designers chosen to by Absolut Vodka to join in the Absolut Newton initiative. Frailing techniques use the thumb to catch the fifth string for a drone after each strum, or to pick out additional melody notes in what is known as 'drop-thumb'. 1990-Molinari is awarded the top prize by an International Jury during a gala in Paris,at the Museé du Petit Palais for her sophisticated style in and out of the job.On top of that,she receives a plaque from the Fashion and Culture Association for her work with the University of Urbino.

It is played in a number of different styles, the most common of which are called clawhammer (or "claw-hammer") and frailing, characterised by the use of a downward rather than upward motion when striking the strings with the fingers. It was successful just like the first time she showcased there. American Old-time music typically uses the five-string open back banjo. This line debuted in 2002 at Milano Collezioni. In these styles the emphasis is on arpeggiated figures played in a continuous eighth-note rhythm. Called Blugirl, it is a collection for girls and young women. In bluegrass music, which uses the five-string resonator banjo extensively, it is often played in Scruggs style, named after Earl Scruggs, melodic or Keith style, or two-finger style, also called Reno style after Don Reno, legendary father of Don Wayne Reno. Also in 1995, Anna Molinari decides to add yet another line to Blumarine the same year.

The banjo can be played in several styles and is used in various forms of music. This line was more feminine, with small details and long flowing lines. This new banjo came to be tuned gCGBD; somewhat higher than the eAEG#B tuning of the banjar. This was actually designed by Molinari's daughter Rossella Tarabini. However, a painting done long before Sweeny's suposed invention of the 5th string, shows African American slaves playing a banjo with what looks to be a short, fith string. In 1995, a new line called Anna Molinari was added to Blumarine. He worked with a New York drum maker to replace the banjar's skin-covered gourd with the modern open-backed drum-like pot, and added another string to give the instrument more range or a drone. In 1990, the company's first boutique opened in Via della Spiga.

He wanted an instrument similar to the banjar played by African-Americans in the American south, but at the same time, he wanted to implement some new ideas. Today, Gianpolo and his son Gianguido are the sole directors of the licensing department. The origins of the five-string banjo can be traced back to Joel Walker Sweeney, an American minstrel performer. In 1988, Blumarine becomes Blufin, a joint stock company. . In 1987, the new collection Miss Blumarine for girls was created. A metal footed bridge ensures that pickups draw sound from both the strings and the head. In 1986, the first full collection designed by Molinari debuted at the show Milano Collezioni.

There are also solid body electric banjos; one such banjo, the Crossfire (manufactured by Deering), has two powerful magnetic pickups under the drumhead. The two most common modern day acoustic banjos are the resonator banjo which has a detachable chamber, or resonator, on the back of the rim and the open back banjo which does not have a resonator. Banjo strings are most commonly metal, although nylon and gut can be used on some banjos, especially those played in the classical style. The earliest banjos were unfretted, like the African and Asian instruments that inspired them, but most banjos today are fretted.

In the five-string banjo, the fifth peg is normally on the side of the neck, although some English versions (the Zither banjo) mount the fifth string tuner on the tuning head with the others, and route the string through a tube in the neck where it exits near the fifth fret. The woods used in construction vary, but are often combinations of maple, walnut, and ebony for fingerboards, pegheads, and the tops of bridges. The banjo consists of a wooden or metal rim with a plastic (Mylar) or calf or goat skin drumhead stretched across it, a neck mounted on the side of the rim, a tailpiece mounted opposite the neck, four or five strings, and a bridge. In almost all of its forms the banjo's playing is characterised by a fast strumming or arpeggiated right hand, although there are many different playing styles.

A six-string version, tuned and played similar to a guitar is gaining popularity. The modern banjo comes in a variety of different forms, including four- (plectrum and tenor banjos) and five-string versions. Some etymologists derive it from a dialectal pronunciation of "bandore", though recent research suggests that it may come from a Senegambian term for the bamboo stick used for the instrument's neck. Its name is commonly thought to be derived from the Kimbundu term mbanza.

The banjo is a stringed instrument of African-American origin, early or original examples sometimes being called the "gourd banjo".