Bluegrass

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Bluegrass

• by Susan Simandle

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What is Bluegrass music?

• Bluegrass music is a form of American music with
  its own roots in the traditional music of the
  Scots-Irish immigrants of Appalachia, as well as
  the music of African-American slaves.
• http//explanation-guide.info/meaning/Bluegr
  ass-music.html

It began in Kentucky, the Bluegrass state.
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Where is it from?

• Bluegrass music had its start in the rural south
  (Kentucky) after World War II. It was basically a
  fusion of "hillbilly", "folk" and various types
  of "country" that were popular with the farm
  families and blue-collar workers.
  http//www.zianet.com/elm-st-station/blu-hist.html

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Who invented Bluegrass?

• If any one person can lay claim to having
  "invented" bluegrass it would certainly be Bill
  Monroe. http//explanation-guide.info/meaning/Blue
  grass-music.html

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• The Bluegrass style was named for his band, the
  Blue Grass Boys, formed in 1939.
  http//explanation-guide.info/meaning/Bluegrass-mu
  sic.html

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• Monroe's 1945-48 band, which featured banjo
  player Earl Scruggs, singer/guitarist Lester
  Flatt, fiddler Chubby Wise and bassist Cedric
  Rainwater, created the definitive sound and
  instrumental configuration that remains the model
  to this day. http//explanation-guide.info/meaning
  /Bluegrass-music.html

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What makes the bluegrass sound unique?

• Acoustic instrumentation

Harmonies featuring two, three, or four parts
An emphasis on traditional songs
Improvised instrumental solos
http//explanation-guide.info/meaning/Bluegrass-mu
sic.html
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• Instrumentation

Acoustic no electricity
"How many Bluegrass musicians does it take to
change a light bulb? One, and three to complain
because it's electric. Ricky Skaggs
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• Fiddle (aka violin)

often the lead instrument
active bowing
Ray Legere of Bowfire
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• Banjo

clawhammer frailing
3-finger rolls
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• Guitar

six-string steel
Martin D28
flat top
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• Mandolin

8 strings, tuned to 4 pitches
soft sound
tuned like the violin
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String Bass
no bow
played standing
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Resonator Guitar
Dobro
more volume
Hawaiian
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Who was instrumental in the development of
Bluegrass?

• The Carter Family

Bill Monroe
Lester Flatt
Earl Scruggs
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The most influential group in country music
history, the Carter Family switched the
emphasis from hillbilly instrumentals to vocals,
made scores of their songs part of the standard
country music canon, and made a style of
guitar- playing, "Carter-picking," the dominant
technique for decades. http//www.geocities.com/
Vienna/7059/carters.html
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Bill Monroe
Father of Bluegrass
Incorporated songs and rhythms from string
band, gospel (black and white), work songs and
"shouts" of black laborers, country and blues
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Lester Flatt
used thumb and finger picks on guitar
with Monroe and Scruggs, developed the
Bluegrass sound
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Earl Scruggs
developed the three-finger style of
banjo picking
performed with Flatt for 21 years
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Who is performing Bluegrass today?

• Ricky Skaggs

Alison Krauss
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• Ricky Skaggs

born in Lawrence County, Kentucky
plays mandolin and fiddle
http//explanation-guide.info/meaning/Ricky-Skaggs
.html
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Alison Krauss
most successful Bluegrass musician ever
studied with Bill Monroe
http//explanation-guide.info/meaning/Alison-Kraus
s.html