A question regarding the quoted reference from above -

"...the traditional technique used to play the akonting, called o'teck (literally, "to stroke"), which is basically the same as the stroke style, considered to be the oldest extant technique for playing the banjo... Both the akonting o'teck and the banjo stroke style are forms of down-picking... - Shlomo Pestcoe"

The question, does the statement "basically the same as the stroke style" mean it's the same as the stroke style or not? If there are differences, why aren't they significant? As a downstroke banjo player, can I pick up an Akonting and play it or not, and why not? To say "Both the akonting o'teck and the banjo stroke style are forms of down-picking" that means they are two types of downpicking, hence the question.

Also, to understand then, the early Minstrels (blackface musicians) in this country copied a style they saw used on gourd banjos, not Akontings but a follow-on instrument built by slaves in the U.S. These Minstrels and other early players developed the style, and it was a published technique by the 1850's. Soon afterword another style for banjo, the "guitar-style," was developed and also published in the early banjo tutors just prior to the Civil War..

- Dan Wykes