Bluegrass music

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Bluegrass
Hall of Honor

Bluegrass music is a

dance tunes, as well as in blues and jazz.[3] It was further developed by musicians who played with Monroe, including 5-string banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt. Monroe characterized the genre as "Scottish bagpipes and ole-time fiddlin'. It's a part of Methodist, Holiness and Baptist traditions. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound."[4]

Bluegrass features acoustic stringed instruments and emphasizes the

chord changes.[6]

Characteristics

Instrumentation

string bass) are often joined by the resonator guitar (also referred to as a Dobro) and (occasionally) harmonica or Jew's harp. This instrumentation originated in rural dance bands and is the basis on which the earliest bluegrass bands were formed.[7][8]

The fiddle, made by Italians and first used in sixteenth century Europe, was one of the first instruments to be brought into America.[9] It became popular due to its small size and versatility.[9] Fiddles are also used in country, classical, cajun, and old time music.

Banjos were brought to America through the African slave trade. They began receiving attention from white Americans when minstrel shows incorporated the banjo as part of their acts.[10] The "clawhammer", or two finger style playing, was popular before the Civil War. Now, however, banjo players use mainly the three-finger picking style made popular by banjoists such as Earl Scruggs.

Guitars are used primarily for rhythmic purposes. Other instruments may provide a solo on top of the guitar during

finger pick
.

Bassists almost always play

walking bass
excursions.

Instrumentation has been a continuing topic of debate. Traditional bluegrass performers believe the "correct" instrumentation is that used by Bill Monroe's band, the

harmonica, piano, autoharp, drums, electric guitar, and electric versions of other common bluegrass instruments, resulting in what has been referred to as "new grass." Despite this debate, even Monroe himself was known to experiment with instrumentation; he once even used a string orchestra, choir, and pre-recorded bird-song track.[12]

Vocals

Apart from specific instrumentation, a distinguishing characteristic of bluegrass is vocal harmony featuring two, three, or four parts, often with a

Stanley Brothers also utilized a high baritone part on several of their trios recorded for Columbia records during their time with that label (1949–1952).[17] Mandolin player Pee Wee Lambert sang the high baritone above Ralph Stanley's tenor, both parts above Carter's lead vocal.[18] This trio vocal arrangement was variously used by other groups as well; even Bill Monroe employed it in his 1950 recording of "When the Golden Leaves Begin to Fall'.[19][20] In the 1960s, Flatt and Scruggs often added a fifth part to the traditional quartet parts on gospel songs, the extra part being a high baritone (doubling the baritone part sung in the normal range of that voice; E.P. Tullock [aka Cousin Jake] normally providing the part, though at times it was handled by Curly Seckler).[21]

Themes

Bluegrass tunes often take the form of

Railroading has also been a popular theme, with ballads such as "Wreck of the Old 97" and "Nine Pound Hammer" (from the legend of John Henry
).

History

David Grisman, Chris Thile and Enrique Coria at the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival in 1998

Creation

stringed instruments
.

Bluegrass as a distinct musical form developed from elements of old-time music and traditional music in the Appalachian region of the United States. The Appalachian region was where many Scottish American immigrants settled, bringing with them the musical traditions of their homelands. Hence the sounds of jigs and reels, especially as played on the fiddle, were innate to the developing style. Black musicians, meanwhile, brought the iconic banjo to Appalachia.[22] Much later, in 1945, Earl Scruggs would develop a three-finger roll on the instrument which allowed a rapid-fire cascade of notes that could keep up with the driving tempo of the new bluegrass sound.[22]

Settlers from Britain and Ireland arrived in

House Carpenter", come from England and preserve the English ballad tradition both melodically and lyrically.[25] Some bluegrass fiddle songs popular in Appalachia, such as "Leather Britches" and "Soldier's Joy", have Scottish roots.[26] The dance tune "Cumberland Gap" may be derived from the tune that accompanies the Scottish ballad "Bonnie George Campbell".[27]

The music now known as bluegrass was frequently used to accompany a rural dancing style known as

audio recording. In 1948, what would come to be known as bluegrass emerged as a genre within the post-war country/western-music industry, a period of time characterized now as the golden era or wellspring of "traditional bluegrass". From its earliest days, bluegrass has been recorded and performed by professional and amateur musicians alike. Although amateur bluegrass musicians and trends such as "parking-lot picking" are too important to be ignored, it is touring musicians who have set the direction of the style. Radio stations dedicated to bluegrass have also proved influential in advancing the evolution of the style into distinctive subgenres.[citation needed
]

Classification

Bluegrass was initially included in the category of folk music and later changed to hillbilly.[citation needed] In 1948, bluegrass was placed under the country and western heading for radio airplay charting. All four of the seminal bluegrass authors - Artis, Price, Cantwell, and Rosenberg - described bluegrass music in detail as originating in style and form, in one form or another, between the 1930s and mid-1940s. However, the term "bluegrass" did not appear formally to describe the music until the late 1950s and did not appear in Music Index until 1965.[28] The first entry in Music Index mentioning "bluegrass music" directed the reader to "see Country Music; Hillbilly Music".[29] Music Index maintained this listing for bluegrass music until 1986. The first time bluegrass music had its own entries in Music Index was in 1987.[30]

The topical and narrative themes of many bluegrass songs are highly reminiscent of folk music. Many songs that are widely considered to be bluegrass are in reality older works legitimately classified as folk or old-time music that are performed in the bluegrass style.[citation needed] The interplay between bluegrass and folk forms has been academically studied. Folklorist Neil Rosenberg, for example, shows that most devoted bluegrass fans and musicians are familiar with traditional folk songs and old-time music and that these songs are often played at shows, festivals, and jams.[31]

Origin of name

"Bluegrass" is a common name given in America for the grass of the

Blue Grass Boys band, formed in 1939 with Bill Monroe as its leader. Due to this lineage, Bill Monroe is frequently referred to as the "father of bluegrass".[33]

Ralph Stanley on April 20, 2008, in Dallas, Texas

The bluegrass style of music dates from the mid-1940s. In 1948, the Stanley Brothers recorded the traditional song "Molly and Tenbrooks" in the Blue Grass Boys' style, arguably the point in time that bluegrass emerged as a distinct musical form.[34] Monroe's 1946 to 1948 band, which featured guitarist Lester Flatt, banjoist Earl Scruggs, fiddler Chubby Wise and bassist Howard Watts (also known as "Cedric Rainwater") – sometimes called "the original bluegrass band" – created the definitive sound and instrumental configuration that remains a model to this day. By some arguments, while the Blue Grass Boys were the only band playing this music, it was just their unique sound; it could not be considered a musical style until other bands began performing in a similar fashion. In 1967, "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" by Flatt and Scruggs, the instrumental banjo music, was introduced to a worldwide audience as a result of its frequent use in the movie "Bonnie and Clyde". But the functionally similar old-time music genre was long-established and widely recorded in the period of the film's events and later CD was released.[35] Ralph Stanley commented about the origins of the genre and its name.

Oh, (Monroe) was the first. But it wasn't called bluegrass back then. It was just called old-time mountain hillbilly music. When they started doing the bluegrass festivals in 1965, everybody got together and wanted to know what to call the show, y'know. It was decided that since Bill was the oldest man, and was from the bluegrass state of Kentucky and he had the Blue Grass Boys, it would be called 'bluegrass.'[36]

Subgenres and recent developments

Traditional bluegrass

Traditional bluegrass emphasizes the traditional elements and form of the genre as laid out by

key of G
, and a I-IV-V chord pattern is common. In traditional bluegrass, instrumental breaks are typically short and played between sections of a song, conventionally originating as a variation on the song's melody. Also common are breakdowns, an instrumental form that features a series of breaks, each played by a different instrument. Particularly since the 1990s, a number of younger groups have attempted to revive the sound and structure of traditional bluegrass, a trend that has been dubbed neo-traditional bluegrass.

Progressive bluegrass

The group The Country Gentlemen is credited with starting the progressive bluegrass movement with their 1960 album Country Songs, Old and New,[37] combining traditional ballads such as "The Little Sparrow," "Weeping Willow" and "Ellen Smith" with traditional bluegrass instrumentation and "bouncy" mandolin and banjo parts distinct from those of traditional players such as Monroe and Scruggs.

Due to the exposure traditional bluegrass received alongside mainstream country music on radio and televised programs such as the Grand Ole Opry, a wave of young and not exclusively Southern musicians began replicating the genre's format on college campuses and in coffeehouses amidst the American folk music revival of the early 1960s. These artists often incorporated songs, elements and instruments from other popular genres, particularly rock and roll. Banjoist Earl Scruggs of Flatt and Scruggs had shown progressive tendencies since the group's earliest days, incorporating jazz-inspired banjo and bass duets and complex chord progressions that extended the genre's original rigid, conservative structure. In the late 1960s, Scruggs experimented on duets with saxophonist King Curtis and added songs by the likes of counterculture icon Bob Dylan to the group's repertoire, while bandmate Lester Flatt, a traditionalist, opposed these changes, resulting in the group's breakup in 1969.

New Grass Revival began utilizing electric instrumentation alongside songs imported from other genres to great popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, and the term "newgrass" became synonymous with "progressive bluegrass". It continued to evolve though the '80s and '90s, moving closer to folk and rock in some quarters and closer to jazz in others, while festivals such as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, RockyGrass in Lyons, Colorado, and MerleFest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina began to attract acts from outside the bluegrass tradition, merging the bluegrass community with other popular music scenes across America.

Following the death of

Avett Brothers, Mumford & Sons and Trampled by Turtles have incorporated rhythmic elements and instrumentation from the bluegrass tradition into their popular music arrangements, as has the Branson-based band The Petersens.[38]

International bluegrass

While originating in the United States,[1] Bluegrass as a genre has expanded beyond the borders of the United States and become an internationally appreciated art form. Bluegrass associations now exist worldwide.[39] One such association, the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) was formed in 1985 and presents annual awards.[40][41][42] In 2012, the critically acclaimed Dutch-language Belgian film, The Broken Circle Breakdown, featured Flemish musicians performing Bluegrass music central to the story.[43][44]

International bluegrass groups include Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra and Ila Auto from Norway; Rautakoura and Steve 'n' Seagulls from Finland; Druhá Tráva and Poutníci from the Czech Republic (home of the subgenre, Czech bluegrass); Hutong Yellow Weasels and The Randy Abel Stable from China; Heartbreak Hill and Foggy Hogtown Boys from Canada; the U.K.'s The Beef Seeds, Southern Tenant Folk Union, and Police Dog Hogan; and Australia's Flying Emus, Mustered Courage, and Rank Strangers.

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Bluegrass | music". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Bluegrass Music - Library of Congress". Library of Congress. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  3. ^ a b Smith, Richard (1995). Bluegrass: An Informal Guide. a capella books. pp. 8–9.
  4. ^ "Bill Monroe: The Father of Bluegrass" Archived 2016-11-21 at the Wayback Machine, billmonroe.com, retrieved 17 January 2017
  5. ^
    S2CID 145540513
    .
  6. ^ "A short History of Bluegrass Music". Reno & Harrell. Archived from the original on 23 June 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  7. ^ van der Merwe 1989, p. 62.
  8. ^ "A Guide to Instruments In Bluegrass". zZounds Music. zZounds Music, LLC. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-1-61703-264-6
    .
  10. ISBN 978-1-61703-264-6
    .
  11. ISBN 978-1-61703-264-6
    .
  12. ^ steelman1963 (2013-05-15), Bill Monroe Last Days On Earth Video, archived from the original on 2021-10-30, retrieved 2019-06-11{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Jargon Database.com "High Lonesome Sound".
  14. ISBN 9780252096723
    .
  15. ISBN 9780801507588
    .
  16. ^ Weisberger, Jon (March 1, 2000). "Osborne Brothers – A High Lead, a Long Run". No Depressiion in Heaven: The Journal of Roots Music.
  17. ISBN 9781617036477
    .
  18. ^ Reid, Gary (1984). The Stanley Brothers, a Preliminary Discography. Roanoke, VA: Copper Creek Publications. pp. 2–3.
  19. ISBN 9780252031212
    .
  20. ^ Himes, Geoffrey (January 14, 2000). "Longview: A Mountain-Wailing Ensemble". The Washington Post, p N06.
  21. ^ Bartenstein, Fred (April 27, 2010). "Bluegrass Vocals (unpublished paper)". Bartenstein Bluegrass. Archived from the original on 2012-09-11. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  22. ^ a b "American Roots Music: Instruments and Innovations". PBS. 2001. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  23. doi:10.1080/03007769608591634
    .
  24. ^ Ted Olson, "Music — Introduction". Encyclopedia of Appalachia (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 2006), pp. 1109–1120.
  25. The Raleigh News & Observer
    . p. G5.
  26. ^ Cecelia Conway, "Celtic Influences". Encyclopedia of Appalachia (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee, 2006), p. 1132.
  27. ^ Song notes in Bascom Lamar Lunsford: Ballads, Banjo Tunes, and Sacred Songs of Western North Carolina [CD liner notes]. Smithsonian Folkways, 1996.
  28. ^ Kretzschmar, 1970[full citation needed][page needed]
  29. ^ Kretzschmar, 1970, p. 91[full citation needed]
  30. ^ Stratelak, 1988[full citation needed][page needed]
  31. ^ Rosenberg 1985, p. [page needed].
  32. ^ Rosenberg 1985, pp. 98–99.
  33. ^ "Bluegrass Music: The Roots". International Bluegrass Music Association. Archived from the original on April 30, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  34. ^ Rosenberg 1985, pp. 84–85.
  35. ^ "Bonnie And Clyde Soundtrack CD". cduniverse.com. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  36. ^ "Old-Time Man" interview June 2008 Virginia Living pp. 55–7.
  37. ISSN 0009-4978
    .
  38. ^ Trigger (2020-08-27). "The Petersens – The Enduring Bluegrass Family Band Gone Viral - Saving Country Music". www.savingcountrymusic.com. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  39. ^ "Bluegrass Music Associations and Societies". Bluegrass Country. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  40. ^ Lawless, John (2022-08-04). "2022 IBMA Industry and Momentum Awards nominees". Bluegrass Today. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  41. ^ "IBMA Bluegrass Live!". IBMA World of Bluegrass. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  42. ^ "About". IBMA. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  43. ^ Kulhawik, Joyce. "The Broken Circle Breakdown movie review (2013) | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com/. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  44. ISSN 0029-7712
    . Retrieved 2024-01-20.

References

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