Bluegrass as a style of music developed during the mid-1940s. Because of war rationing, recording was limited during that time, and it would be most accurate to say that bluegrass was played some time after World War II, but no earlier. As with any musical genre, no one person can claim to have 'invented' it. Rather, bluegrass is an amalgam of old-time music, gospel, country, blues, folk, ragtime and jazz. Nevertheless, bluegrass's beginnings can be traced to one man, Bill Monroe, who is referred to as the founding father of bluegrass music; the style was named after his band, the Blue Grass Boys, formed in 1939. In 1945, the addition of banjo player Earl Scruggs, who played with a three-finger roll style originally developed by Snuffy Jenkins, but now almost universally known as "Scruggs style", is considered the key moment in the development of the music.
Unlike mainstream country music, bluegrass relies mostly on acoustic stringed instruments. The fiddle, five string banjo, acoustic guitar, mandolin, and upright bass is the essential core instrumentation often joined by the resonator guitar. The acoustic guitar is most commonly played with a flatpick and the banjo players often use the three-finger style developed by Scruggs. Instrumental solos are improvised, and are frequently technically demanding.
At times the musicians may perform gospel songs, singing four-part harmony and including no or sparse instrumentation. Bluegrass bands have included instruments as diverse as the resonator guitar, accordion, harmonica, piano, autoharp, drums, jaws harp and electric versions of all other common bluegrass instruments, though these are considered to be more progressive and are a departure from the traditional bluegrass style.
Besides instrumentation, a distinguishing characteristic of bluegrass is vocal harmony featuring two, three, or four parts, often featuring a dissonant or modal sound in the highest voice. This vocal style has been characterized as the 'high lonesome sound'. There is also an emphasis on traditional songs, often with sentimental or religious themes.
The increased availability of traditional music recordings, nationwide indoor and outdoor bluegrass festivals and movie, television and commercial soundtracks featuring bluegrass music have aided in bringing this music out of modern day obscurity. Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs & the Foggy Mountain Boys achieved national prominence with tour sponsorship by Martha White Flour and for playing the soundtrack for the film Bonnie and Clyde, as well as on a television show called The Beverly Hillbillies. The Deliverance movie soundtrack also featured bluegrass music, in particular, 'Duelling Banjos', performed by Eric Weissberg on banjo and Steve Mandel on guitar. In 2001, the triple platinum selling soundtrack for the Coen Brothers movie, O Brother, Where Art Thou? attracted wider audiences for bluegrass and traditional country music.
Bill Monroe passed away on September 9, 1996, four days before his 85th birthday. In May 1997, Bill Monroe was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because of the profound influence of his music. He is also a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Bluegrass Music Hall of Honour.
Bluegrass music is now performed and enjoyed around the world. In addition to the to the classic style born in 1945 that is still performed widely, bluegrass bands today reflect influences from a variety of sources including traditional and fusion jazz, contemporary country music, Celtic music, rock & roll ('newgrass' or progressive bluegrass), old-time music and Southern gospel music-in addition to lyrics translated to various languages.
Bluegrass instruments, the five string banjo, fiddle, acoustic guitar, mandolin, and the resonator guitar are available from Digital Village on-line, in-store or via telephone mail-order. Contact any DV store for information on instruments to play Bluegrass