What is unusual about the five-string banjo's fifth string?

It is short and starts mid-neck

The Banjo Quiz – Facts Worth Knowing

The banjo descends from gourd instruments brought to the Americas by enslaved West Africans, and the banjo quiz traces its path from those roots to bluegrass. Learn about the drum-like head, the short fifth string, clawhammer style, Earl Scruggs' three-finger roll, Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Pete Seeger and modern players like Béla Fleck.

Start the Banjo Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Origins
Where do the banjo's roots lie?
Head
What gives the banjo its bright twang?
Fifth
What is unusual about the five-string banjo's fifth string?
Scruggs
Which banjo player developed the three-finger roll?
Breakdown
Which Flatt and Scruggs tune is a banjo classic?
Clawhammer
What is clawhammer?
Deliverance
Which film featured Dueling Banjos?
Fleck
Which banjo player blends jazz, classical and bluegrass?
Tenor
How many strings does a tenor banjo have?
Seeger
Which folk singer wrote a famous banjo instruction book?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Where do the banjo's roots lie?
Answer: West African gourd instruments
Enslaved Africans brought them.
Q2: What gives the banjo its bright twang?
Answer: A drum-like head
It is stretched like a drum.
Q3: What is unusual about the five-string banjo's fifth string?
Answer: It is short and starts mid-neck
It is a drone string.
Q4: Which banjo player developed the three-finger roll?
Answer: Earl Scruggs
He played with Bill Monroe.
Q5: Which Flatt and Scruggs tune is a banjo classic?
Answer: Foggy Mountain Breakdown
It appeared in Bonnie and Clyde.
Q6: What is clawhammer?
Answer: A downstroke style of playing
It is common in old-time music.
Q7: Which film featured Dueling Banjos?
Answer: Deliverance
It was released in 1972.
Q8: Which banjo player blends jazz, classical and bluegrass?
Answer: Béla Fleck
He has many Grammys.
Q9: How many strings does a tenor banjo have?
Answer: Four
It was popular in jazz bands.
Q10: Which folk singer wrote a famous banjo instruction book?
Answer: Pete Seeger
It was published in 1948.

The Banjo Quiz – America's Twangy Icon

The banjo descends from gourd instruments that enslaved West Africans brought to the Americas. Its body has a drum-like head stretched over a frame, giving the instrument its bright, twangy sound.

The five-string banjo has a short fifth string that starts partway up the neck and acts as a drone. Old-time players use the downstroke clawhammer style, while Earl Scruggs developed the three-finger roll that defined bluegrass on tunes like Foggy Mountain Breakdown. Four-string tenor banjos were popular in early jazz bands.

Pete Seeger wrote a famous banjo instruction book in 1948, Dueling Banjos became famous through the film Deliverance and Béla Fleck has carried the banjo into jazz and classical music. The banjo remains central to bluegrass, folk and country.

What This Quiz Teaches

Musicians and folk fans will enjoy these questions.

Where the banjo came from
What gives its twang
What the fifth string does
Who developed the three-finger roll
What clawhammer is

Did You Know?

Steve Martin is a skilled banjo player.
Rhiannon Giddens explores banjo history.
Resonators make banjos louder.
Banjos appear in Irish music.
Mumford & Sons used banjo in pop.