Re:The Nineteenth-Century Banjo
by Velofellow on Friday December 01, 2023 @12:21PM
(#38489333)
Reminded me of a fun bit of my own trivia! My Highschool guidance counselor, also an acoustic bass player in the folk idiom, babysat Bela Fleck as a youngster! She was instrumental (ha) in fostering my drive to set my sights on Music School, which I did.
She also helped introduced FIRST robotics to our small rural highs school. She was an awesome woman.
It was definitely in the air with players like Snuffy Jenkins. That particular part of North Carolina was full of banjo players and the three finger sound was “in the air” in many different ways at the time. It didn’t serve the Earl Is God hero worship of the time so it didn’t get talked about much in the 50s and 60s but it’s clear he didn’t pick up a banjo and invent everything he did. He perfected it yes, but did not invented it de novo.
That’s a great story about your great grandmother! What was her name? I’d love to help perpetuate the story.
His wikipedia page suggests the technique was common in the area, so while she probably didn't teach it to him, there's probably a kernel of truth in there somewhere.