Instrument: Banjo | Philharmonia Orchestra (London, UK)

n this film, Nigel Woodhouse introduces the banjo. The banjo is a rare visitor to the orchestra, but has been used by composers in the 20th century onward to evoke American folk music and jazz especially. All of our instrument films: TABLE OF CONTENTS 00:00 Intro 00:24 Orchestral extract: Weill, Threepenny Opera, Cannon Song 00:35 Origins, from the slave trade to Jazz 01:10 Nigel’s banjo 01:38 The construction of the banjo 02:24 Tuning the strings 02:52 Frets 03:11 Different playing styles 03:42 The five-string banjo 04:07 Irish tenor banjo 04:40 The banjo in the orchestra 04:56 Orchestral Extract: G Gershwin, Theme from Rhapsody in Blue 05:07 Jazz colour in the orchestra: Shostakovich, Weill and Gershwin 06:12 Orchestral Extract: John Adams, Gnarly Buttons 06:26 Bartok pizzicato 06:47 Orchestral extract: George Benjamin, Sometime Voices 06:54 Banjo in the orchestra: Challenges 07:20 Tips on findi