At great hazard, I risk contradicting Kevin about anything, Twain or music. 
But--at a certain level, it is not that hard for a guitar player to play 
banjo, as in strum rudimentary chords. If Mark Twain did ever try to play 
the banjo, and if he could play some on the guitar, he could easily pick up 
some banjo chords. What Kevin refers to is playing three-finger bluegrass 
banjo, something that did not exist until the 1930s or 1940s. Earl Scruggs 
learned from people surrounding him in Flint Hill, NC, notably Snuffy 
Jenkins, and then perfected his amazing technique. Banjoists in the 
19th-century were either strumming chords (not that hard to get the 
rudiments of) or doing some kind of frailing (later called clawhammer). But 
we digress far afield from Mr. Mark Twain...

John Bird
--former banjo strummer in a Dixieland band, living proof a guitarist can 
make the switch
--and that was on a tenor banjo, which did not come about until the early 
20th century

-----Original Message----- 
From: Kevin Mac Donnell
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2013 3:44 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Mark Twain, banjo player?

Twain strummed a little guitar in his youth, but not banjo. He also plunked
a little on the piano most of his life, but not the banjo (his sister Pamela
gave piano lessons in Hannibal). Playing the banjo is not like playing
guitar and playing one does not mean you can play the other. My Dad had (and
still has at age 90) a bluegrass band and was a friend of Earl Scruggs and
they exchanged 8-track banjo tapes all the time. I tried learning both
guitar and 5-string banjo, soon gave up, and masteed classical piano
instead. Scriabin is soooo much easier.