Banjos with fingerboards and tuning pegs are known from the Caribbean as early as the 17th century. The African instruments differ from early African American banjos in that the necks do not possess a Western-style fingerboard and tuning pegs, instead having stick necks, with strings attached to the neck with loops for tuning.
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Various instruments in Africa, chief among them the kora, feature a skin head and gourd (or similar shell) body. The Portuguese banza: a possible ancestor of the modern banjo Banjo is also a common instrument for Caribbean genres like Biguine, Calypso and Mento. It is also very frequently used in traditional ("trad") jazz. Along with the fiddle, the banjo is a mainstay of American styles of music, such as Bluegrass and old-time music. Historically, the banjo occupied a central place in Black American traditional music and the folk culture of rural whites before entering the mainstream via the minstrel shows of the 19th century. Several rock bands, such as the Eagles, Led Zeppelin, and The Allman Brothers, have used the five-string banjo in some of their songs. The banjo is frequently associated with folk and country music, and has also been used in some rock, pop and Hip-Hop, also created by the Black American community. Early forms of the instrument were fashioned by Black Americans in the United States. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. (Composite chordophone sounded by plectrum, finger picks, or the bare fingers)