Bluegrass music
Bluegrass | |
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Hall of Honor |
Bluegrass music is a
Bluegrass features acoustic stringed instruments and emphasizes the
Characteristics
Instrumentation
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
Bassists almost always play
Instrumentation has been a continuing topic of debate. Traditional bluegrass performers believe the "correct" instrumentation is that used by Bill Monroe's band, the
Vocals
Apart from specific instrumentation, a distinguishing characteristic of bluegrass is vocal harmony featuring two, three, or four parts, often with a
Themes
Bluegrass tunes often take the form of
History
Creation
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
The music now known as bluegrass was frequently used to accompany a rural dancing style known as
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
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
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
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
- ^ a b "Bluegrass | music". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
- ^ "Bluegrass Music - Library of Congress". Library of Congress. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
- ^ a b Smith, Richard (1995). Bluegrass: An Informal Guide. a capella books. pp. 8–9.
- ^ "Bill Monroe: The Father of Bluegrass" Archived 2016-11-21 at the Wayback Machine, billmonroe.com, retrieved 17 January 2017
- ^ S2CID 145540513.
- ^ "A short History of Bluegrass Music". Reno & Harrell. Archived from the original on 23 June 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
- ^ van der Merwe 1989, p. 62.
- ^ "A Guide to Instruments In Bluegrass". zZounds Music. zZounds Music, LLC. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-61703-264-6.
- ISBN 978-1-61703-264-6.
- ISBN 978-1-61703-264-6.
- ^ 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) - ^ Jargon Database.com "High Lonesome Sound".
- ISBN 9780252096723.
- ISBN 9780801507588.
- ^ Weisberger, Jon (March 1, 2000). "Osborne Brothers – A High Lead, a Long Run". No Depressiion in Heaven: The Journal of Roots Music.
- ISBN 9781617036477.
- ^ Reid, Gary (1984). The Stanley Brothers, a Preliminary Discography. Roanoke, VA: Copper Creek Publications. pp. 2–3.
- ISBN 9780252031212.
- ^ Himes, Geoffrey (January 14, 2000). "Longview: A Mountain-Wailing Ensemble". The Washington Post, p N06.
- ^ Bartenstein, Fred (April 27, 2010). "Bluegrass Vocals (unpublished paper)". Bartenstein Bluegrass. Archived from the original on 2012-09-11. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
- ^ a b "American Roots Music: Instruments and Innovations". PBS. 2001. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
- .
- ^ Ted Olson, "Music — Introduction". Encyclopedia of Appalachia (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 2006), pp. 1109–1120.
- The Raleigh News & Observer. p. G5.
- ^ Cecelia Conway, "Celtic Influences". Encyclopedia of Appalachia (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee, 2006), p. 1132.
- ^ Song notes in Bascom Lamar Lunsford: Ballads, Banjo Tunes, and Sacred Songs of Western North Carolina [CD liner notes]. Smithsonian Folkways, 1996.
- ^ Kretzschmar, 1970[full citation needed][page needed]
- ^ Kretzschmar, 1970, p. 91[full citation needed]
- ^ Stratelak, 1988[full citation needed][page needed]
- ^ Rosenberg 1985, p. [page needed].
- ^ Rosenberg 1985, pp. 98–99.
- ^ "Bluegrass Music: The Roots". International Bluegrass Music Association. Archived from the original on April 30, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
- ^ Rosenberg 1985, pp. 84–85.
- ^ "Bonnie And Clyde Soundtrack CD". cduniverse.com. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^ "Old-Time Man" interview June 2008 Virginia Living pp. 55–7.
- ISSN 0009-4978.
- ^ Trigger (2020-08-27). "The Petersens – The Enduring Bluegrass Family Band Gone Viral - Saving Country Music". www.savingcountrymusic.com. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
- ^ "Bluegrass Music Associations and Societies". Bluegrass Country. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
- ^ Lawless, John (2022-08-04). "2022 IBMA Industry and Momentum Awards nominees". Bluegrass Today. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
- ^ "IBMA Bluegrass Live!". IBMA World of Bluegrass. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
- ^ "About". IBMA. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
- ^ Kulhawik, Joyce. "The Broken Circle Breakdown movie review (2013) | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com/. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
- ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
References
- Artis, B. (1975). Bluegrass. NY: Hawthorne Books, Inc. ISBN 0843904526.
- Cantwell, R. (1996). When we were good: The folk revival. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674951328.
- Cantwell, R. (1984). Bluegrass breakdown: The making of the old southern sound. Chicago: University Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252071171.
- Kingsbury, Paul (2004). The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-517608-1.
- Lornell, Kip (2020). Capital Bluegrass: Hillbilly Music Meets Washington, DC. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199863113.
- Lornell, Kip. Exploring American Folk Music : Ethnic, Grassroots, and Regional Traditions in the United States. University Press of Mississippi, 2012. ISBN 978-1-61703-264-6.
- Newby, Tim (2015) ISBN 9780786494392.
- Price, S. D. (1975). Old as the hills: The story of bluegrass music. NY: The Viking Press.
- Rosenberg, Neil V. (1985). Bluegrass: A History. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-00265-6.
- ISBN 0-19-316121-4.
- Trischka, Tony, Wernick, Pete, (1988) Masters of the 5-String Banjo, Oak Publications. ISBN 0-8256-0298-X.