- Oct 20, 2013
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I am a Bluegrass musician. I play the guitar, the mandolin, and the fiddle, and I sing lead and harmony in Bluegrass songs. I've been playing this music for over 40 years, and I love it. I should mention that I have been playing Rock music for also this long period of time too, and I play the 6 string electric guitar, and I played with a Rock band for 8 years in clubs.
Although I like both types of music very much, and classical too, there is no doubt in my mind that no kind of music stirs me right down to my soul as much as Bluegrass. The bluesy solos, the mixture of so many different instruments,* and most of all the great harmony singing style, derived from the southern spiritual tradition (both black and white churches) is really moving.
I think it's unfortunate that Bluegrass never took hold commercially, as did rock and other types of music, but for those of us who have known this music for a long time, we can get tons of it online in videos, and it will be around for a long time, whether it's a big moneymaker or not.
Because Bluegrass isn't a commercial music (my cable TV company doesn't even include it in their lineup of about 30 types of music), it's not too well known. So I'm just wondering if PF members do know about Bluegrass, if they have much knowledge of it, and what they think about it (if anything).
* It's also interesting how Bluegrass music combines quite a variety of stringed instruments which hail form different parts of the world. The guitar from Spain, the banjo from Africa, the mandolin & Violin (fiddle) from Italy, the dobro guitar from Haweii. Some of these may have also had forerunners from other countries too. And although Bluegrass is thought of as a white people's music, it does have connections to black music too, in the southern negro spiritual style singing, and the banjo, which for quite some time was the favorite instrument of the American negro (so said Thomas Jefferson)
Although I like both types of music very much, and classical too, there is no doubt in my mind that no kind of music stirs me right down to my soul as much as Bluegrass. The bluesy solos, the mixture of so many different instruments,* and most of all the great harmony singing style, derived from the southern spiritual tradition (both black and white churches) is really moving.
I think it's unfortunate that Bluegrass never took hold commercially, as did rock and other types of music, but for those of us who have known this music for a long time, we can get tons of it online in videos, and it will be around for a long time, whether it's a big moneymaker or not.
Because Bluegrass isn't a commercial music (my cable TV company doesn't even include it in their lineup of about 30 types of music), it's not too well known. So I'm just wondering if PF members do know about Bluegrass, if they have much knowledge of it, and what they think about it (if anything).
* It's also interesting how Bluegrass music combines quite a variety of stringed instruments which hail form different parts of the world. The guitar from Spain, the banjo from Africa, the mandolin & Violin (fiddle) from Italy, the dobro guitar from Haweii. Some of these may have also had forerunners from other countries too. And although Bluegrass is thought of as a white people's music, it does have connections to black music too, in the southern negro spiritual style singing, and the banjo, which for quite some time was the favorite instrument of the American negro (so said Thomas Jefferson)
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