bluegrass

Bluegrass is a form of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the United States, with strong roots in Kentucky. It emerged from traditional rural string-band music, gospel, and the influence of Scottish, Irish, and African American musical traditions. The genre is named for the Blue Grass Boys, Bill Monroe’s band, whose ensemble established many characteristic features: high tempo, virtuosic instrumental playing, and close three- and four-part vocal harmonies, often with a prominent mandolin lead.

Instrumentation typically includes five-string banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and double bass. Performances feature fast, intricate instrumental breaks for each instrument and tightly arranged vocal harmonies, with an emphasis on the high lonesome vocal sound. Songs range from fiddle tunes and gospel-influenced numbers to ballads and bluegrass standards, usually played over simple chord progressions.

Originators and key figures include Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys, and early pioneers such as Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, whose three-finger banjo technique helped define the sound. The Stanley Brothers and other acts of the era helped popularize the style. In the 1960s and 1970s, progressive bluegrass, or newgrass, emerged, incorporating jazz influences and longer improvisations, with artists such as Bela Fleck and Tony Rice.

Bluegrass has a dedicated regional scene centered in Appalachia and Kentucky, with national and international festivals and the International Bluegrass Music Association promoting the genre. It has influenced country, folk, and Americana, and remains a living, evolving form played worldwide.