Although 5 string pickers are comfortable in their world of folk music or Bluegrass, in a rare quiet moment they might wonder: what is the difference between a plectrum and tenor banjo? Both instruments have 4 strings, so why the puzzle?
To wit: The plectrum banjo has 22 frets, and the strings are tuned C-G-B-D not unlike the folksy C tuning of its 5 string cousin. An optional D-G-B-E is called “Chicago tuning”. A staple in early jazz, this instrument is plucked with a flat pick, and the hyperkinetic Eddie Peabody is its most famous virtuoso. 
The tenor banjo evolved just prior to the 1920`s as a dance band instrument, and it first bore 17 and later 19 frets. It is tuned in perfect 5ths C-G-D-A like a viola or mandola. Popularized by Barney McKenna of the Dubliners, the traditional Irish tuning of G-D-A-E is like a mandolin or violin. This allows the 4 stringer to mimic the fiddle in Celtic music. In the adjacent photo, the BRC founder chords a friendly busker`s tenor banjo by an 11th century church near Paris, France.
There are many other iterations of the banjo like the rediscovered cello banjo, the bass and 6 string and long neck banjo, the banjo uke (banjolele), the banjo mandolin, and the guitjo. A champion of the 5 string banjo and social justice, the revered and legendary Pete Seegar probably introduced more generations of pickers to the banjo than any other ambassador of the instrument. Thanks, Pete.
In a tribute to diverse picking styles, enjoy a Bluegrass rendition of `Cripple Creek` in the below link and watch the BRC founder (black T-shirt at 2:00 mins) clawhammer the tune with his ring finger- a trick taught to him by his older brother decades ago.
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