The History of Bluegrass Music

The roots of bluegrass started in the early 1600s, when people migrated to America from different counties. Among them were the Irish, Scottish, and English. They brought with them different types and styles of music. Bluegrass did not come from Kentucky, as many thought, but came from the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Different types of folk music came together. The early settlers in the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia wrote new songs about everyday life on the farm or in the mountains. Neighbors would get together in the “Good Old Days” and bring their instruments. They would gather around telling stories, singing, and playing music. If they did not have an instrument to bring, they would find things around the house such as wash tubs, washboards, spoons, jugs, and even deer antlers. Others would bring their guitars, fiddles, and squeeze boxes.

Nobody invented bluegrass. This style of music was called mountain music or country. The bluegrass style was developed in the 1940s, after World War II. A country boy from Kentucky named Bill Monroe started a band called “The Bluegrass Boys.” Bill Monroe is known as the grandfather of bluegrass. They had three part harmonies and the instruments that they used were acoustic guitars, mandolins, fiddles, banjos, and the upright bass guitars. The banjo as the bluegrass sound was designed by African slaves brought to the United States.

Earl Scruggs was a living legend of bluegrass. He invented the three finger style of guitar picking. You can hear him using this style in the theme song ”The Beverly Hillbillies.” Bluegrass is still a pure form of music in America today.