Because It Looks Like One

    All things considered, the banjo is a rather odd-looking musical instrument. It looks like the result of an arranged marriage between a drum and a ukulele.  When I asked a country musician why it was called a “banjo,” I was told, “Because it looks like one!” Basically, a banjo is a round wooden shell covered with either a plastic or natural hide “head” and attached to a fretted neck. It is yet another American musical instrument “not invented here.”
    Although opinions vary somewhat, the origin of the banjo is generally thought to be the African continent. When slaves were taken from their homeland to the Caribbean, they brought this musical instrument with them. Immigrants from the Caribbean to the U.S. then brought it here, where it began a long process of increasingly sophisticated development.