Editing Bluegrass music (section)

===Instrumentation===
[[File:BluegrassBanjo.jpg|right|100px|thumb|A [[Banjo#Five-string banjo|5-string banjo]]]] The [[violin]] (also known as the [[fiddle]]), [[five-string banjo]], [[acoustic guitar|guitar]], [[mandolin]], and [[Double bass#Use in bluegrass and country|upright bass]] ([[string bass]]) are often joined by the [[resonator guitar]] (also referred to as a [[Dobro]]) and (occasionally) [[harmonica]] or [[Jew's harp]]. This instrumentation originated in rural dance bands and is the basis on which the earliest bluegrass bands were formed.<ref>van der Merwe 1989, p. 62.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=A Guide to Instruments In Bluegrass|url=https://www.zzounds.com/edu--bluegrassinstruments|access-date=13 April 2020|website=zZounds Music|publisher=zZounds Music, LLC}}</ref>

The fiddle, made by Italians and first used in sixteenth century Europe, was one of the first instruments to be brought into America.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Lornell|first=Kip|title=Exploring American Folk Music : Ethnic, Grassroots, and Regional Traditions in the United States|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|year=2012|isbn=978-1-61703-264-6|location=Mississippi|pages=29–30}}</ref> It became popular due to its small size and versatility.<ref name=":2" /> Fiddles are also used in [[Country music|country]], [[Classical music|classical]], [[Cajun music|cajun]], and [[Old time fiddle|old time]] music.

Banjos were brought to America through the African slave trade.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Institution |first=Smithsonian |title=Banjos |url=https://www.si.edu/spotlight/banjos-smithsonian |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=Smithsonian Institution |language=en}}</ref> They began receiving attention from white Americans when [[minstrel show]]s incorporated the banjo as part of their acts.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lornell|first=Kip|title=Exploring American Folk Music : Ethnic, Grassroots, and Regional Traditions in the United States|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|year=2012|isbn=978-1-61703-264-6|location=Jackson, Mississippi|pages=28}}</ref> The "[[clawhammer]]", or two finger style playing, was popular before the Civil War. Now, however, banjo players use mainly the [[Scruggs style|three-finger picking style]] made popular by banjoists such as [[Earl Scruggs]].

Guitars are used primarily for rhythmic purposes. Other instruments may provide a solo on top of the guitar during [[Break (music)|breaks]], guitarists may also provide these solos on occasion. The instrument originates from eighteenth century Spain, but there were no American-made models until the [[C. F. Martin & Company|C.F. Martin Company]] started to manufacture them in the 1830s.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lornell|first=Kip|title=Exploring American Folk Music : Ethnic, Grassroots, and Regional Traditions in the United States|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|year=2012|isbn=978-1-61703-264-6|location=Mississippi|pages=31}}</ref> The guitar is now most commonly played with a style referred to as [[flatpicking]], unlike the style of early bluegrass guitarists such as [[Lester Flatt]], who used a thumb pick and finger pick.

Bassists almost always play [[pizzicato]], occasionally adopting the "slap-style" to accentuate the beat. A bluegrass [[bass line]] is generally a rhythmic alternation between the root and fifth of each [[chord (music)|chord]], with occasional [[walking bass]] excursions.

Instrumentation has been a continuing topic of debate. Traditional bluegrass performers believe the "correct" instrumentation is that used by Bill Monroe's band, the [[Blue Grass Boys]] (guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and bass). Departures from the traditional instrumentation have included dobro, [[accordion]], [[Diatonic harmonica|harmonica]], [[piano]], [[autoharp]], [[drum]]s, [[electric guitar]], and electric versions of other common bluegrass instruments, resulting in what has been referred to as "new grass." Despite this debate, even Monroe himself was known to experiment with instrumentation; he once even used a string orchestra, choir, and pre-recorded bird-song track.<ref>{{Cite web |author=steelman1963 |title=Bill Monroe Last Days on Earth Video|date=2013-05-15 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zov5eZBPfs |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/4zov5eZBPfs |archive-date=2021-10-30 |publisher=[[YouTube]] |access-date=2 June 2024}}{{cbignore}}</ref>