The banjo is a brazilian instrument which is derived from the cavaquinho, especially associated with a samba subgenre called pagode. The banjo was first introduced by sambista Almir Guineto in the late 1970's and early 1980's, attending on one hand the necessity for a louder acoustic instrument similar to the cavaquinho, and on the other the drive for innovation. The samba banjo has the same tuning and range as the cavaquinho, but its timbre is quite different - it's the timbre of the traditional banjo, applied on a much higher pitch. It is played with a pick for rhythm comping, with sophisticated strumming beats, thus it is a primarily rhythmic instrument, and virtuosity is sometimes considered to be based on breaking repetitive patterns and surprising the listener with unexpected and inventive rhythmic figures, while keeping the rhythm steady. The cavaquinho is a small string instrument (like the ukulele) of the European guitar family with four wires or gut strings. ... Samba is one of the most popular forms of music in Brazil. ... Pagode is a Brazilian style of music which originated in the Rio de Janeiro region as a subgenre of Samba. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... In music, timbre, also timber (from Fr. ... A four-string banjo For other uses, see Banjo (disambiguation) The banjo is a stringed instrument of African American origin adapted from several African instruments. ...