The chamber was made from any animals skin available, whether it was goat, horse, cow, raccoon, snake, etc. In 1856, wire, along with fishing line were introduced to be use as strings. The strings on early banjos were made from “…silk to dried bird gut to horsehair to vine or twine” (Conway 169). However, early banjos from Africa did not have bridges. The most important part is the bridge as it transmits sound from the strings to the head. Five elements that compose a banjo include the sound chamber, head (vibrating membrane), neck, bridge, and the strings. The first banjos were made with a gourd sound chamber.
It is already known that the 4-string banjo originated from Africa, along with oral tradition.
Most of these traditions are shown frequently in the music world, especially in bluegrass music. When slaves came to the Appalachian Mountain region from Africa, they brought over a lot of their traditions.
African music has always influenced other musical genres.