Banjo

A 20th-Century Turkish instrument very similar to the banjo is called Cümbüs. Joe is the younger brother of Steve. 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. Steve is now in his own indie band. 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. Both Nickelodeon and Steve have stated that these rumors were false. Examples include the guitar banjo, 'banjitar' or guitjo, the banjo mandolin and the banjo ukulele or banjolele. A widely popular internet rumor stated that he had died of a heroin overdose.

Most of these use the body of a banjo, often with a resonator, and the neck of the other instrument. Steve's motive for leaving was to attend college. A number of hybrid instruments exist, crossing the banjo with other stringed instruments. Up until 2002, was the host of show. Eddie Peabody (plectrum) and Harry Reser (tenor and plectrum) are regarded as two of the best four-string banjo players of all times. Valentine. 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. Nickelodeon was widely criticized for attempting to evade the Christian connotations concerning the Catholic St.

A further development is the tenor banjo, which also has four strings and is typically played with a plectrum too. Valentine's Day special, yet was referring to the holiday as "Love Day". The plectrum banjo evolved out of the five-string banjo to cater for styles of music involving strummed chords. On 11 February 2003, Nickelodeon aired an episode of Blue's Clues that was an obvious St. 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. Humongous Entertainment released several PC/Mac games featuring Blue's Clues chatacters. The plectrum banjo has four strings, lacking the shorter fifth string, and 22 frets; it is usually tuned CGBD. Blues Clues was created at Nickelodeon by a creative team led by Angela Santomero, who is currently creating similarly advanced children's programming with her partner, Samantha Freeman (also of Nickelodeon), at their new production company Out of the Blue Enterprises LLC.

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. The original show, dubbed in German, appears on German TV under the title "Blau und Schlau", literally "blue and smartly". Otherwise various devices are available to effectively shorten the string. A UK version of Blue's Clues also exists, with Kevin Duala as the host. For small changes (going up or down one or two semitones, for example) it is possible to simply retune the fifth string. According to Gladwell, Blue's Clues has been carefully designed so that its educational messages will 'stick' in a child's mind. This presents special problems for using a capo to change the pitch of the instrument. Blue's Clues was extensively analyzed by Malcolm Gladwell in his bestselling book, The Tipping Point.

The fifth (drone) string is the same gauge as the first, but it is five frets shorter, three quarters the length of the rest. Several direct-to-video DVDs have since been made based around the Blue's Room concept. These tunings are often taken up a tone, either by tuning up or using a capo. In a 2004 Blue's Clues episode, The Legend of the Blue Puppy, Blue talks as a puppet in a segment called Blue's Room. 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). This image is the answer to the host's original question, which goes along the lines of "What does Blue want to do today?". In earlier times, the tuning gCGBd was commonly used instead. After all three have been found, the host sits in his "thinking chair" and puts the three clues together to form a central image.

Probably the most common, certainly in bluegrass, is the open G tuning: gDGBd. Along the way, the host speaks with many other residents of the house, which are usually characters based on inanimate objects such as a side-table drawer, a shaker of salt, and a mailbox. Many tunings are used for the five-string banjo. The host, with the help of the audience (who are constantly spoken to and asked questions by the host), then searches the house for Blue's three clues. Pete Seeger popularised a folk style by combining clawhammer with "up picking" without the use of finger picks. Blue responds by jumping at the screen and marking it with a blue pawprint. 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'. The game of Blue's Clues begins near the beginning of the episode, when the host asks Blue some sort of question.

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. When Burns chose to leave the show, the character Steve went off to college and his younger brother Joe (played by Donovan Patton) moved in to take care of Blue. American Old-time music typically uses the five-string open back banjo. From 1996 to 2002, Blue's owner was Steve, a non-animated character played by Steve Burns. In these styles the emphasis is on arpeggiated figures played in a continuous eighth-note rhythm. . 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. The series follows a blue dog, named Blue, through her everyday life, providing small children with educational entertainment.

The banjo can be played in several styles and is used in various forms of music. It features live action superimposed upon paper-cutout animation similar to that of South Park. This new banjo came to be tuned gCGBD; somewhat higher than the eAEG#B tuning of the banjar. Blue's Clues is a daytime children's show which airs on Nickelodeon and now appears on several "On Demand" channels. 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. Miss Marigold - Blue's Teacher. 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. Green Puppy.

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. Orange Kitten. The origins of the five-string banjo can be traced back to Joel Walker Sweeney, an American minstrel performer. Purple Kangaroo. . Tickety Tock. A metal footed bridge ensures that pickups draw sound from both the strings and the head. Slippery - a bar of soap.

There are also solid body electric banjos; one such banjo, the Crossfire (manufactured by Deering), has two powerful magnetic pickups under the drumhead. Side Table Drawer. 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. Periwinkle - the next-door neighbor, a talking cat. Banjo strings are most commonly metal, although nylon and gut can be used on some banjos, especially those played in the classical style. Pail and Shovel. The earliest banjos were unfretted, like the African and Asian instruments that inspired them, but most banjos today are fretted. Pepper's children.

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. Salt and Mrs. The woods used in construction vary, but are often combinations of maple, walnut, and ebony for fingerboards, pegheads, and the tops of bridges. Paprika and Cinnamon - Mr. 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. Pepper. 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. Salt and Mrs.

A six-string version, tuned and played similar to a guitar is gaining popularity. Mr. The modern banjo comes in a variety of different forms, including four- (plectrum and tenor banjos) and five-string versions. Mailbox. 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. Magenta - Blue's best friend, a female magenta dog. Its name is commonly thought to be derived from the Kimbundu term mbanza. Blue - a female blue dog.

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