"I share leenia's opinion, and don't appreciate that opinion being attacked. Have your own opinion".

wysiwyg, why so aggressive? "Attacked"? I disagreed with leenia's comment, and gave my own opinion. Several others have argued for a more nuanced view, and I don't see you attacking them.

Even if it were true that the reason for jokes about banjos is "Because it was an instrument of black people and then of working people esp. Southerners", that still wouldn't apply here in the UK, where the same jokes are told. Also, as I and several others have pointed out, the self same jokes are told about a whole range of instruments, depending on which instruments are common in a particular context - for example, the bodhran is common in Ireland and Irish pubs etc. in the UK, whereas the banjo is not that common - on the other hand, English sessions can tend to become dominated by melodeons and accordians, and hence they and their players become the butt of the jokes. Recently, with the growth in popularity of the ukelele, which used to be quite rare on the folk scene, I've heard similar comments about them too. In some cases (melodeons, bagpipes, accordians) it is likely to be connected to the loud, overpowering sound of the instrument, but when the same comments & jokes are made about less dominant instruments like mouth organs and ukeleles, it's less likely. These light-hearted jokes have a long history - there are medieval carvings & gargoyles in churches and cathedrals depicting e.g. bagpipers in an unflattering light. All I was pointing out is that it is unhelpful to take a reductionist approach - and I still don't know what leenia means by "economics, more than aesthetics, are behind jokes about musical instruments"!