CLIFFORD ESSEX MUSIC CO. LTD

The Home of the Banjo, Mandolin, Guitar and Kindred Instruments

'EARLY MINSTREL MUSIC'

Compiled and arranged by Alan Middleton

FORTY FINGERSTYLE BANJO SOLOS

WITH CD 

WRITTEN IN MUSICAL NOTATION & TABLATURE

A Review by Mike Moss

Of all musical instruments, none has been as deeply and intimately associated with a single genre as the banjo and minstrel music. An instrument designed to imitate those of the African slaves, the banjo became a part of the minstrel show in the 1830s and remained as such, in all styles ranging from stroke style to plectrum, for well over a century: the BBC’s Black and White Minstrel Show, for instance, was aired on television until 1978, and endured as a stage show until 1987. A Clifford Essex director, Clem Vickery, was featured in the show in both the popular BBC T/V series and on the West End stage, as the musical speciality playing plectrum banjo. Nowadays, due to its offensive nature and the evolution of society, the minstrel show is often seen as an embarrassment and is rarely mentioned; and yet, some of the most enduring melodies in the history of popular culture – such as Swanee River or Camptown Races – were born from the minstrel phenomenon.

There are plenty of books published which explore the early styles of minstrel banjo – that is, how the minstrels historically played the banjo – but this book is not one of them. As its title indicates, the goal of this book is to explore minstrel music, whether or not it was written for the banjo; as such, this selection includes arrangements of songs or pieces originally written for the piano-forte, specifically arranged for the modern fingerstyle five-string banjo. The selection presents a general overview of the music in the genre, ranging from an arrangement of Bonja, originally a song with piano-forte accompaniment, and one of the first songs about the banjo and African Americans, to a broad selection of songs and dances such as the ever-famous Turkey in the Straw, whose now-stereotypical use in cartoons was consecrated by its premier in the 1928 Mickey Mouse cartoon, Steamboat Willie.

The usefulness of this book as a cultural artefact is immediately apparent: for instance, many scholarly publications point out that, in spite of their claims that they were playing authentic African tunes, the minstrels’ music was primarily influenced by English, Scottish and Irish music; however, actually playing the tunes allows the reader to experience this fact first hand. Thus, playing the tunes in this book can be seen as an active way of studying musical and cultural history.

The arrangements are both tuneful and easy, being well within the grasp of the average fingerstyle banjoist; as is typical of Clifford Essex publications, this book combines high-quality classic style notation, with both right and left-hand fingerings, with tablature, so the book is accessible to all banjoists. When reading this book, the reader should keep an open mind at all times, as some of the titles are offensive by today’s standards, while considering that these tunes from a bygone era deserve to be studied as a part of our musical history.

  Postage UK - £3.00     Europe - £6.00 Rest of the world - £10.00

If required, it is the responsibility of the customer to pay any taxes or import duties for customs clearance.