Mountain Music History

BLUEGRASS

Although Bluegrass evolved from Old-Time music, it is now quite different. In contrast to the happy, danceable sounds of an Old-Time string band, Bluegrass music is often sad music based on themes of hard times. One tongue-in-cheek devotee called it "A celebration of pain." Bluegrass music is mainly a vocal style, where the instruments support the voices. The typical Bluegrass singer sings at the top of his or her vocal range, and often there are two, three, or four part harmonies. The songs themselves often dwell on themes of loneliness and heartbreak.

In contrast to Old-Time music, which is strongly fiddle-influenced, in Bluegrass no single instrument dominates. Instead, the banjo, fiddle, mandolin or guitar take turns playing breaks or solos, while the other instruments play back-up. In Bluegrass style, the banjo is played with finger picks in a three-finger style developed in the early 40's. In some ways, Bluegrass is akin to Jazz or Dixieland, because the instruments taking solos or breaks freely improvise off the main melody, while the rest of the band lays down a solid rhythmic foundation. In addition to influences from Jazz and Dixieland, Bluegrass also draws heavily on the Blues. This is expressed most often in notes played by the fiddle and sometimes the mandolin and the guitar. Some Bluegrass singers also sing the occasional "blues note."

Old-Time music is mainly upbeat instrumental dance music while Bluegrass is a vocal style where the [virtuoso] instruments freely improvise. In Old-Time, the fiddle is boss, and in Bluegrass, most often the singer takes the lead.

OLD-TIME
Bluegrass music evolved from an earlier type of country music that’s now called Old-Time music. As it’s commonly played, Old-Time music is a mostly instrumental string band style with a beat that’s designed for square dancing. As such, the music is spirited and upbeat. The main lead instrument in Old-Time music is the fiddle. The fiddler normally chooses the tunes, sets the rhythm, begins the tune, and signals to the other musicians when the tune will end. Another key ingredient in Old-Time music is the banjo, which is played in what is called "claw hammer style." This is a rhythmic style with the right hand striking or brushing down on the strings.

An Old-Time band would also feature a guitar player who keeps the rhythm and plays a few runs, but does not play the melody. Additional instruments in an Old-Time band often include a string bass, which keeps the rhythm and occasionally a mandolin player, who plays chords and also helps keep the rhythm. In Old-Time style, the instruments generally all play together all the time, with no breaks or solos. The melodies used in Old-Time music tend toward the traditional tunes brought over from the British Isles by Scots-Irish-English immigrants in the mid to late 19th century. Newly composed tunes are rare in Old-Time music.

MOUNTAIN GOSPEL
Click on this link to sample some of the world's best [traditional] Bluegrass Gospel music CD's:
http://mountainjubilee.com/merch.php

The term Gospel Music applies to a body of music that was developed in the United States during the twentieth century primary in the south-eastern part of the country and in portions of the Midwest and east. It is a Christian music that was not necessarily developed by the body of Churches, but independently. In other words, the singers and performers where church going people but their music wasn't directly an outgrowth of a Church organization.

There are three styles of Gospel music that were developed. These styles where developed independently of each other because of racial and physical separation. One style was Mountain Gospel and it was developed in the Southern Appalachian Mountains in Kentucky, southwest Virginia, north-eastern Tennessee and north-western North Carolina. This music (in the past called "hillbilly music") sprang forth from a people living deep in the hills. Bible believing and devoted, religious music formed a major part in the life of these rural peoples not only in their worship services, but as a part of their daily existence as well. The other two styles developed are Black Gospel and Southern (White) Gospel.

The innovation in music that led directly to the emergence of Gospel music is the introduction of "shape-note" musical notation (a form of icon-based, easy to read notation meant to simplify church singing). A driving force behind the system, among rural singers, arose during the 1870’s in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Publishing companies, musical periodicals, and schools dedicated to the furtherance of "seven-shape note singing" sprang up throughout the south. Publishers promoted their songbooks by organizing quartets to travel around singing the publishers songs and selling the songbooks in which the songs appeared.

With the invention of radio & sound recording, makers of this music flocked to radio stations and recording studios to promote themselves. The success of the early Southern Gospel quartets inspired the formation of musical groups of other sizes- duets, trios, and larger ensembles. In time what would be called Southern Gospel music asserted its influence on other musical genres popular in the South. Early country music acts incorporated into their repertoires the brand of gospel music available from shape note sources.

When Bluegrass music emerged as a recognized genre in the late 40s, the Southern Gospel style of singing was among the country music elements from which Bluegrass borrowed. Bluegrass Gospel blends a Southern Gospel and Mountain Gospel derived vocal styles with string band accompaniment as developed by Old-Time bands... There is a transformation of Gospel music from communal property to commercialism. As the early quartets gained fame and grew in professionalism, the communal shape-note “singings” that gave these artists their first venues were slowly transformed into concerts. Crowds that had come to learn and participate now came to listen and buy early records…

BLUEGRASS HISTORY
Bluegrass as a style developed during the mid 1940s. Because of war rationing, recording was limited during this time, and the best we can say is that bluegrass was not played before World War II, and it was being played after.

As with any musical genre, no one person can claim to have "invented" it. Rather, bluegrass is an amalgam of old-time music, blues, ragtime and jazz. Nevertheless, Bluegrass beginnings can be traced to one band. Today Bill Monroe is referred to as the "founding father" of bluegrass music; the bluegrass style was named for his band, The Blue Grass Boys, formed in 1939. The 1945 addition of banjo player Earl Scruggs, who played with a three-finger roll now known as "Scruggs style," is pointed to as the key moment in the development of this genre. Monroe's 1945-48 band, which featured banjo player Earl Scruggs, singer/guitarist Lester Flatt, fiddler Chubby Wise and bassist Howard Watts, aka "Cedric Rainwater," created the definitive sound and instrumental configuration that remains a model to this day.

By some arguments, as long as The Blue Grass Boys were the only band playing this music, it was just their unique style; it could not be considered a musical genre until other bands began performing the same style. In 1947 the Stanley Brothers recorded the traditional song "Molly and Tenbrooks" in the Blue Grass Boys' style, and this could also be pointed to as the beginning of bluegrass as a genre.

It is important to note that bluegrass is not and never was a folk music under a strict definition, however the topical and narrative themes of many bluegrass songs are highly reminiscent of "folk music". In fact many songs that are widely considered to be "bluegrass" are older works legitimately classified as "folk" or "old-time" performed in a "bluegrass" style. From its earliest days to today, bluegrass has been recorded and performed by professional musicians. Although amateur bluegrass musicians and trends such as "parking lot picking" are too important to be ignored, it is professional musicians who have set the direction of the genre. While bluegrass is not a folk music in the strictest sense, the interplay between bluegrass music and other folk forms has been studied. Canadian Folklorist Dr. 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 and festivals.

FIRST GENERATION
First generation bluegrass musicians dominated the genre from its beginnings in the mid-1940s through the mid-1960s. This group generally consists of those who were playing during the "Golden Age" in the 1950s, including Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, the Stanley Brothers, Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs with the Foggy Mountain Boys, Reno and Smiley, Mac Martin and the Dixie Travelers, the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, Jim and Jesse, and Jimmy Martin.

SECOND GENERATION
Bluegrass's second generation came to prominence in the mid- to late- 1960s, although many of the second generation musicians were playing (often at young ages) in first generation bands prior to this. Among the most prominent second generation musicians are J. D. Crowe, Doyle Lawson, Sam Bush, and Tony Rice. With the second generation came a growth in progressive bluegrass, as exemplified by second generation bands such as the Country Gentlemen, New Grass Revival, Seldom Scene, and Del McCoury and the Dixie Pals. In that vein, first-generation bluegrass fiddler Vassar Clements, mandolin virtuoso David Grisman, Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia (on banjo) and Peter Rowan as lead vocalist collaborated on the album Old and in the Way; the Garcia connection helped to expose progressive bluegrass to a rock music audience.

THIRD GENERATION
The third generation in bluegrass reached primacy in the mid-1980s. Third generation bluegrass saw a number of notable changes from the music played in previous years. In several regards, this generation saw a redefinition of "mainstream bluegrass." Increased availability of high-quality sound equipment led to each band member being miked independently, and a "wall of sound" style developed (exemplified by IIIrd Tyme Out and Lonesome River Band). Following the example set by Tony Rice, lead guitar playing became more common (and more elaborate). An electric bass became a generally, but not universally, accepted alternative to the traditional acoustic bass, though electrification of other instruments continued to meet resistance outside progressive circles. Nontraditional chord progressions also became more widely accepted. On the other hand, this generation saw a rennaissance of more traditional songs, played in the newer style.

FOURTH GENERATION
It could be argued that a fourth generation of bluegrass musicians is beginning to appear, marked by a high level of technical skill. Although it is too soon to see definite trends, the most notable fourth generation musician to emerge so far is probably Chris Thile, who released solo bluegrass albums at age 13 and 16 (Leading Off and Stealing Second, respectively). Recently, however, Thile's claim to the throne of bluegrass "prince" has been challenged by Josh Pinkham, a Florida teenager who performed at "MerleFest" only 18 months after picking up a mandolin. Another notable recent bluegrass band is Colorado's Open Road, a traditional-sounding band with strong original material.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Since the late 1990s, several mainstream country musicians have recorded bluegrass albums. Ricky Skaggs, who began as a bluegrass musician and crossed over to mainstream country in the 1980s, returned to bluegrass in 1996, and since then has recorded several bluegrass albums and tours with his bluegrass band Kentucky Thunder.

Around the same time, country music superstars Dolly Parton and Patty Loveless released several bluegrass albums. Along with the Coen Brothers' movie, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the subsequent "Down From the Mountain" music tour, this has brought bluegrass music to a much wider audience. Meanwhile, bands such as the Yonder Mountain String Band and Druhá Tráva have attracted large audiences while pushing at the edges of progressive bluegrass.

No discussion of recent developments in bluegrass music would be complete without mention of Alison Krauss. A ocalist/fiddler whose first album was released when she was just 16, Krauss and her band, Union Station, were major contributors to the soundtrack of 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?'. As a solo artist, collaborator, producer and with Union Station, Krauss has won, as of 2006, 20 Grammy Awards, the most of any female artist in history. She is now tied for 7th place on the all-time winners list.

SUB-GENRES
In addition to what might be considered "mainstream" bluegrass, which has gradually changed over the last 60 years, two major subgenres have existed almost since the music's beginning.

Traditional Bluegrass:
Emphasizes the traditional elements. Traditional bluegrass musicians are likely to play folk songs, songs with simple traditional chord progressions, and use only acoustic instruments. In the early years, traditional bluegrass sometimes included instruments no longer accepted in mainstream bluegrass, such as washboards, mouth harps, and harmonicas. Traditional bands may use bluegrass instruments in slightly different ways (claw-hammer style of banjo playing, or multiple guitars or fiddles within a band). In this sub-genre, the guitar rarely takes the lead (the notable exception being gospel songs), remaining a rhythm instrument. Melodies and lyrics tend to be simple, and a I-iv-V chord pattern is very common.

Progressive Bluegrass:
The other major subgenre is progressive bluegrass, synonymous with "newgrass" (the latter term is attributed to New Grass Revival member Ebo Walker). Progressive bluegrass came to widespread attention in the late 1960s and 1970s, as some groups began using electric instruments and importing songs from other genres (particularly rock & roll). However, progressive bluegrass can be traced back to one of the earliest bluegrass bands. A brief listen to the banjo and bass duets Earl Scruggs played even in the earliest days of the Foggy Mountain Boys give a hint of wild chord progressions to come. The four key distinguishing elements (not always all present) of progressive bluegrass are instrumentation (frequently including electric instruments, drums, piano, and more), songs imported (or styles imitated) from other genres, chord progressions, and lengthy "jam band"-style improvisation.

............................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Wikipedia defines Bluegrass music as a form of North American roots music. It has its own roots in Irish, Scottish and English traditional music. Bluegrass was inspired by the music of immigrants from the British Isles (particularly the Scots-Irish immigrants in Appalachia), as well as that of rural African-Americans, jazz, and blues. In bluegrass, as in jazz, each instrument takes a turn playing the melody and improvising around it, while the others revert to backing; this is in contrast to old-time music, in which all instruments play the melody together or one instrument carries the lead throughout while the others provide accompaniment. Bluegrass is distinctively acoustic, rarely using electrical instruments.