For folks who are curious about documented banjo history this is a very interesting folio of music. Perhaps the earliest folio of music featuring TAB that is not a instruction book.
Published in 1890, "Brooks And Denton Collection of Compositions and Arrangements for the Banjo No. 1 as played by the leading banjoists of the world (that is the title).
This folio in interesting in that it has the normal staff with A notation banjo music and directly below it has an early form of TAB. Evidently this did not catch on because we don't really see TAB for popular fretted instruments commonly until Mel Bay gets started in publishing.
The music is a good example of what you would have wanted to play were you interested in the banjo in 1890. See below for a video of "Tyro Mazurka" (one of the pieces in the collection-- though I am actually playing from a Fred Van Eps arrangement) to hear an example.
Ruby Brooks and Harry Denton (the two seated on the left above) were a very popular banjo duo. They were hot stuff-- the 19th century equivalent to a 1980s rock stars!
Brooks was an early recording artist and some his recordings can be found on Youtube. They had a big influence on other recording artists including Vess Ossman and Fred Van Eps who recorded several of their compositions.
Harry Denton lived long enough to become the first President of the American Banjo Fraternity (if you are not a member then you should join now!).
Here is a chance to play direct from the 1890 sheet music without needing to read notes (or have someone translate it). The TAB is a little different than modern TAB. It was called "The Simplified Method" or sometimes "Open and Shut" because of the open and closed dots.
To read the Tab, each line is a string (like modern) and the circles are open strings. The dots are stopped strings at the fret given as a number next to the dot. Use the notation for the note duration. The "tuning" is standard (as applied to all banjo music prior to "old time")--basically Bluegrass "G" with the fourth string lowered one step.
Check it out here...
https://archive.org/details/BrooksAndDentonBanjoNo1
This is courtesy of our very own Marc Smith (trapdoor). While you are there, check out all of the other banjo documentation I've put up!