bluegrass

bluegrass, a country and western style of music that emerged in the United States after World War II (1939–45). It is a direct descendant of the old-time string-band music that had been widely played and recorded by such groups as the Carter Family from the late 1920s. Other artists whose music epitomize bluegrass include Bill Monroe (who defined the genre’s “high lonesome” singing style), Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, Ralph Stanley, and the Osborne Brothers. A bluegrass revival in the late 20th century introduced a new generation of musicians such as Béla Fleck, Alison Krauss, Mumford & Sons, and Rhiannon Giddens.

Characteristics and instruments of bluegrass

Bluegrass is distinguished from the older string-band music by its more syncopated (off-beat) rhythm, its relatively high-pitched tenor (lead) vocals, tight harmonies, and a strong influence of jazz and blues. It differs from other varieties of country and western music in its driving rhythms and its repertory, as well as in the very prominent place given to the banjo, always played in the three-finger Scruggs style, which is unique to bluegrass. Mandolin and fiddle are generally featured considerably more in bluegrass than in other country and western music, and traditional square-dance tunes, gospel songs, and ballads furnish a much larger part of the repertory.

Early figures in bluegrass

The bluegrass style was originated by Kentucky native Bill Monroe, who by the mid-1940s had experimented considerably with new methods of presenting string-band music. He began to evolve a highly distinctive mandolin style while playing with his brothers Birch (on fiddle) and Charlie (on guitar). After their group broke up, he formed his own group, the Blue Grass Boys. In 1939 Monroe and his band made their first appearance on the popular Grand Ole Opry radio show, which helped give the genre a wider audience. The Blue Grass Boys already showed many of the distinctive features of modern bluegrass when in 1945 Earl Scruggs, originator of a revolutionary three-finger banjo technique, joined it.

Discover how ordinary objects work, and expand your understanding of the familiar.

SIGN UP

" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">

Thank you for signing up!"

Back to homepage

By clicking "Sign Up", you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Britannica Quiz

Sound Check: Musical Vocabulary Quiz

The bluegrass style emerged fully in the years 1945–48, and by the late 1940s a number of bands were playing the music; the most successful were usually led by musicians who had at one time or another played with the Blue Grass Boys and learned the style directly from Monroe. These included Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt, who together formed the Foggy Mountain Boys in 1948 and introduced the Dobro, a resonator guitar that produces a twangy sound, to the repertoire of instruments used in bluegrass.

Another early leading figure in bluegrass was Ralph Stanley, a banjoist from Virginia who began performing with his guitar-playing brother Carter Stanley. The Stanley Brothers eventually formed a five-person string band called the Clinch Mountain Boys, with Ralph on vocals and banjo. Among their songs that became bluegrass standards were “Man of Constant Sorrow” and “Angel Band.” After Carter died in 1966, Ralph continued to perform. He would play an important role in the bluegrass revival of the 2000s.

Bluegrass in the 1960s and ’70s and New Traditionalists

By the 1950s bluegrass had moved from performances on the radio in small Southern communities and national radio programs such as the Grand Ole Opry to television and so-called “hillbilly” bars. The next decade saw bluegrass musicians drawing audiences to college concerts, coffeehouses, and folk festivals. Flatt and Scruggs recorded the theme song for the TV comedy series The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–71), and their essential 1949 tune “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” was featured in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde and charted in the Billboard Hot 100 the following year. Other bluegrass performers who became prominent in the 1960s include the Kentucky-born Osborne Brothers, featuring Sonny Osborne on banjo and Bobby Osborne on mandolin. In 1967 the duo had success with the single “Rocky Top,” which soon became a country music classic.

In the late 1960s and ’70s the influx of younger musicians interested in bluegrass brought some influence from rock music. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Grateful Dead, the Byrds, and the Flying Burrito Brothers all incorporated the bluegrass style into their songs, as did mainstream country artists such as Dolly Parton. Bluegrass continued to have its pop culture moments, as in the famous “Dueling Banjos” scene in the film Deliverance (1972). In the 1980s, as some country musicians crossed over to the pop charts, “New Traditionalists” such as mandolin and fiddle player Ricky Skaggs, who had formerly played with Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band; singer Kathy Mattea; and banjoist Béla Fleck (with his band the Flecktones) released rootsy, leanly produced bluegrass albums that garnered critical acclaim.

Explore Britannica Premium!

The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.

SUBSCRIBE

Revival in the 1990s and early 21st century

The year 1991 saw the opening of the Bluegrass Hall of Fame in Owensboro, Kentucky. Within a few years Alison Krauss, a fiddler and singer from Illinois, emerged as a bluegrass star with the 1995 hit single “When You Say Nothing at All.” Showcasing an impeccable soprano voice, Krauss enjoyed a successful solo career and earned critical and commercial recognition with her band Union Station. With Ralph Stanley, she was a prominent contributor to the bluegrass-heavy soundtrack album for the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). Krauss also partnered with such unlikely collaborators as Led Zeppelin front man Robert Plant and amassed more than 25 Grammy Awards in her career.

Bluegrass music continued to find eager audiences in the early 21st century. An official World Bluegrass Day was established in 2019; it is celebrated on October 1. Among the bands and musicians who contributed to the genre’s continued popularity were British folk-rock band Mumford & Sons, fiddler and banjoist Rhiannon Giddens (as a solo performer and with the Carolina Chocolate Drops), and the punk-influenced Virginia-based string band Old Crow Medicine Show.