Banjo music

Banjo music originated informally as a form of African folk music over a hundred years ago probably in the sub-Saharan region.

When the Americans forced African slaves to work on the plantations, banjo music followed them, and stayed primarily a form of African folk music, up to the 1800s.

With his minstrel shows, Joel Walker Sweeney is credited with extending the popularity of the banjo as well as its music to an enormous audience all over the United States and Europe.

[1] With the spread of popularity of the banjo, it influenced different kinds of music - it gave rise to mountain string bands, and even helped give a foundation for blues music.

While very basic compositions will consist of only melodies, more complicated pieces will have multiple drone notes, usually organized in a predictable roll pattern.