About this archive
A Classic Banjo Library
This is a collection of banjo sheet music.
The music relates to what is now called “classic” banjo. Massively popular in the late Victorian and Edwardian eras it is now very seldom heard, although there is a small community of musicians keeping it alive.
It is the work of a well known British collector who wishes to remain anonymous online.
The pieces included date from the late nineteenth century right up to some modern compositions.
Everything here is given away freely — to download, play, print, and share. It comes with no guarantees of any kind, whether as to accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any purpose, and is offered simply in the hope that it proves useful. I believe nothing here infringes copyright; should anything turn out to, it will be removed at once on request — please email russ at russchandlermusic dot com.
Classic Banjo
The music collected here is written for the five-string banjo, played in the fingerstyle manner — picking the strings with the fingertips rather than strumming or frailing — which gives classic banjo its bright, articulate voice. Its repertoire is the notated parlour and concert music of the period: rags, marches, schottisches, gavottes and cake-walks.
Crucially, these instruments are strung with gut or, today, nylon strings rather than the steel strings of bluegrass and old-time playing, producing a warmer, more rounded tone well suited to the music. A little less common is the zither banjo — a closed-back instrument popularised in Britain by players such as Alfred Cammeyer, whose fifth string runs through a tube in the neck and whose resonating body lends it a sweeter, more delicate sound.
I will be looking to expand the archive to other sources over time, so if you have anything you would be interested in including please email me at the above address.
If you would like to learn more about the Classic Banjo there is a lively community and another very significant music library online at classic-banjo.ning.com.
In addition there is an excellent collection of music, books, periodicals and other ephemera relating to the style by the US-based banjo enthusiast Joel Hooks on Archive.org at archive.org/details/@joel_hooks.
Copyright & rights
The great majority of this music is in the public domain: under UK and EU law copyright in a musical work lasts for the life of the composer plus seventy years, and most pieces here were written by composers who died well over seventy years ago. Where that is the case, both the music and the original printed editions are free of copyright.
A few later pieces, running up to the present day, may still be in copyright — protection depends on when the composer died, not on how old the music is. Copyright in all such works remains with the original owners, and nothing here is intended to deprive any composer, arranger or publisher of their rights.
If you own the rights to anything in the archive and would prefer it not to appear, please get in touch and it will be removed at once, no questions asked.
A note on historical language
Some of this music dates from the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, and a small amount of it carries titles, lyrics or cover artwork that use racist language or imagery — including material drawn from the minstrel tradition. By the standards of today this content is offensive, and we understand it may be distressing.
It has been kept in its original form rather than altered or hidden, so that the historical record stays honest and the music can be studied and understood in its proper context. Its inclusion is not an endorsement of the attitudes it reflects.