Bluegrass Music

The history of American Bluegrass Music

The beginnings of bluegrass music came with immigrant groups to America in the early 1600s. The music originated in Ireland, Scotland, England, and the African American religious music and blues songs, melded into early bluegrass. Slaves from Africa had brought with them an instrument which became the banjo--a major player in producing the bluegrass sound.

Settlers during that time made their homes in the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and the Virginias. The songs they wrote centered around their daily lives in this new country. The words reflected farm living or “mountain music” from the trappers who covered large areas of the woodlands. Bluegrass music remained localized in these regions until recordings of the songs were put onto phonograph cylinders by travelers through the southern states. In the early 1900s these old-time musical recordings were played over the radio and the bluegrass mountain music began to gain popularity throughout the United States.

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The vocal quality of the singers became more important than it had been in the past. The music and words were still primary, but to compete with all other musical forms the singers needed to be able to match the voices of current popular singers. Some of those who qualified in this area were Jimmie Rodgers, family bands like The Carter Family, and duets such as the Monroe Brothers from Kentucky. Their ability to combine fantastic vocals with melodic backup and meaningful lyrics advanced traditional bluegrass into the new century.

Charlie and Bill Monroe split up as a duet in 1938. Each on formed his own new band. Since he was from Kentucky (the Bluegrass State), Bill titled his group “Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys.” With his band came a new sound for country music. Bill’s new band had a hard driving, powerful sound. They used traditional acoustic guitar, mandolin, and banjo, along with very distinctive vocal harmony. The songs and rhythms they used incorporated qualities from string bands, gospel music from both white and African American religions, working songs, and the “shouts” produced by black farm laborers, and typical country and blues music. This wide musical variety included vocal duets, trios and quartet harmonies. The groups became best known for Bill’s “high lonesome” powerful solos. After trying various combinations, Bill finally decided to use the mandolin, banjo, fiddle, guitar, and bass as instrumental backup for the band.

In 1945, when 21-year-old Earl Scruggs highlighted the banjo sound in his music, with an innovative three-finger style of picking, his sound energized the audience’s enthusiasm. This came to be known as the “Scruggs’ style.” Another progressive influence came from Lester Flatt who played guitar and sang backup for Monroe’s band. These two left the band and started “The Foggy Mountain Boys.” They included the Dobro or resophonic guitar into the instrumental format of their band. The Dobro is included in many bluegrass bands even today. Flatt and Scruggs did much to extend the knowledge of bluegrass via national television. Scruggs wrote and recorded “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” which became one of bluegrass music’s most famous instrumentals.

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