There are two styles of banjo that I play, Stroke Style and Guitar of Finger Style.    Stroke style is thought to be the first true Banjo style developed.  The modern  Clahammer style is a simplified example of this.  Playing in this manner, the first finger and thumb of the right hand are used.  Frank Converse wrote this in his Banjo Instructor Without a Master, 1865. 

  

    Holding the Banjo.  Sit erect.  The Banjo resting on the front of the right thigh; the neck elevated and resting in the left hand between the thumb and forefinger.  Rest the right fore-arm on the rim of the instrument near the ail piece, bringing the wrist over the bridge.

    Position of the Right Hand.  Partly close the right hand, allowing the first finger to project in a little in advance of the others.  Hold the fingers firm in this position.  Slightly curve the thumb.  Strike the strings with the first finger (nail) and pull with the thumb.

    Guitar Style is similar to modern Classical Guitar.  This also carries the title Classic Banjo.  The modern Scruggs Style is a pattern driven variation of this technique. Finger Style banjo dominated popular culture in the late 19th century.  The popularity of the Guitar today is similar to the 19th century Banjo craze.  In his New and Complete Method for the Banjo With or Without a Master 1865, Frank Converse wrote this on Guitar Style Banjo...

    The forearm rests upon the instrument in the same position and manner as in playing the Banjo style.  All of the fingers are used, and are held a little curved over, and touching the strings about three inches from the bridge.  Pull the strings with the points of the fingers and particularly avoid touching them with the nails.  To soften the sound move the hand forward, touching the strings almost directly over the rim.

    The Classical Guitarists of today favor growing the nails out on the right hand.  They use their fingernails to pick the strings.  This was not taught in the Banjo or Guitar tutors of the 19th century.

    Sometimes while playing in the Stroke Style I will use what is called a thimble.  Described in the Publisher’s Preface of the Briggs’ Banjo Instructor, 1855.

    He had a light one  and a heavy one (Banjo) for different kinds of work, and he played so strong that he had to get a piece of steel made for the end of his finger, as a sort of shield, to prevent his tearing off his nail.

    The ones I use, I make from brass using the pattern on the fold-out in Frank Converse’s New and Complete Method for the Banjo With or Without a Master 1865.  I have also made a few based on the cuts found in catalogs and periodicals of the time.