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This particular page was created 23/11/2004 and last updated 17/05/2005
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| | Solo playingI've never heard of anybody actually using the plectrum banjo for Irish traditional music, but it ought to fit quite well. The most obvious way to do it is perhaps to tune it GDAE and treat it as an extra long scale Irish tuned tenor. Soundwise this should be perfect for fiddle style, but you need really flexible and/or long fingers to handle those stretches.
You could also simply think of it as a five-string banjo without the fifth string (which basically is what it is anyway). Since you don't want to use the fifth string very much for fiddle style anyway, the plectrum banjo should work just as well as the five-stringer.From a technical point of view the Irish bouzouki/Irish cittern can be said to be the closest equivalent to the plectrum banjo commonly used in Celtic traditional music today, so it can be a good idea to listen to and emulate the great zouk players. Just remember that the banjo packs a lot more punch, giving you a more straight-in-the-face attack rather than the gentle tingling of a zouk. Or perhaps you'd rather try to develop your own style - combining guitar style, dulcimer style and perhaps a little bit of harp style to create something similar to the American melody-chord plectrum banjo style but with a Celtic flavour.
AccompanimentThe plectrum banjo was specially design from strumming chords so go for it!
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