Sidebar 10

The ancient ancestor of the banjo was the Rebec: a skin head stretched over a gourd or hollow body with a neck holding three gut strings. It originated in Arabia a thousand years ago and was carried east and west with the spread of Islam.

The true American banjo wasn't invented until 1831, when Joel Sweeney added a fifth string, higher in pitch than any of the others, right next to the lowest pitched string, and secured by a peg halfway up the neck. The fifth string is then blended into the sound of the banjo and creates the familiar ring.

This odd instrument, with four pegs at the top of the neck and one peg sticking out on the side, captured the heart of America and is known as America's most original and distinctive musical invention.