Isn’t Everything Bluegrass?
January 19th, 2009 and last modified on January 19th, 2009. by bluegrass-blogger
I heard it television the other day: Big News!
Bluegrass is IN.
So funny … was it ever OUT?
Well, of course not! There are just some people who don’t get it until you tell ‘em it’s the “in thing.”
Honestly, I think some folks are just about as dense as a horse’s behind. (ooops, sorry fellow! didn’t know you were listening).
Everyone’s playing bluegrass instruments: banjos, mandolins, acoustic bass, jumbo acoustic guitars, fiddles … it’s music that sets your feet to dancing and your emotions soaring higher than the ceiling. Who can stop their hands from clapping or the toes from tapping to the rhythm and beat of a good hoe down tune?
While country music is played on a lot of electric instruments, bluegrass pickers are found picking on acoustic stringed instruments such as the fiddle, the five string banjo, jumbo acoustic guitars, mandolins and the upright bass. You’ll also find a few playing the resonator guitar (often called by the Dobro brand name).
Bluegrass music is usually a fast moving, heavily improvised type of music that is often technically demanding. The guitar players usually use the “flat picking” technique, played with a flat pick (like Doc Watson’s famous style). The banjo players often use a three-finger style developed by Earl Scruggs.
There has been a lot of debate over what really constitutes a bluegrass band. The term, “bluegrass” originated from Bill Monroe’s band, The Blue Grass Boys. Because of this most bluegrass pickers will argue that a true bluegrass band has the same instruments used in Monroe’s band: mandolin (played by Monroe), the fiddle, guitar, banjo and upright bass.
Modern bluegrass bands have added the resonator guitar (Dobro), accordion, harmonica, piano, autoharp, drums, Drum kit, electric guitar, and electric versions of all other common bluegrass instruments. And, while this instrumentation may depart from the traditional bluegrass band, they’ve opened up a whole new world for lovers of bluegrass.
Now, don’t let this modernization get you down! If you don’t like a particular instrument just stop and think for a moment …. Isn’t EVERYTHING bluegrass????
Well, of it should be!
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