The modern banjo was invented by Joel Sweeney in the 1800s. To the drum he added a neck with a fingerboard like those found on guitars and other string instruments and added frets so you can easily play all the notes in tune. read more
British opera diva Adelina Patti advised Cammeyer that the zither-banjo might be popular with English audiences (it was invented there), and Cammeyer went to London in 1888. With his virtuoso playing, he helped show that banjos could make sophisticated music than normally played by blackface minstrels. read more
The first banjo-type instruments in the Americas were documented in the Caribbean as early as 1689, and the first mention of the banjo in the American colonies occurred in 1754 (where it is called a “banjer” in a Maryland newspaper). read more