Editing Bluegrass music (section)

==History==
[[File:Amazing David Grisman, Chris Thile, Enrique Coria Winterhawk (Greyfox) Bluegrass Festival 1998.webm|thumb|right|[[David Grisman]], [[Chris Thile]] and [[Enrique Coria]] at the [[Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival]] in 1998]]

===Creation===
[[File:Bluegrass group jamming.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Bluegrass artists use a variety of [[stringed instrument]]s.]]
Bluegrass as a distinct musical form developed from elements of [[old-time music]] and [[Appalachian music|traditional music]] in the [[Appalachia|Appalachian region]] of the [[United States]]. The Appalachian region was where many [[Scottish Americans|Scottish American]] immigrants settled, bringing with them the musical traditions of their homelands. Hence the sounds of [[jig]]s and [[reel (dance)|reel]]s, especially as played on the fiddle, were innate to the developing style. Black musicians, meanwhile, brought the iconic banjo to Appalachia.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/americanrootsmusic/pbs_arm_ii_banjo.html|title=American Roots Music: Instruments and Innovations|date=2001|website=PBS|access-date=June 22, 2018}}</ref> Much later, in 1945, [[Earl Scruggs]] would develop a three-finger roll on the instrument which allowed a rapid-fire cascade of notes that could keep up with the driving tempo of the new bluegrass sound.<ref name=":1" />

Settlers from Britain and Ireland arrived in [[Appalachia]] during the 18th century and brought with them the musical traditions of their homelands.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sweet |first1=Stephen |title=Bluegrass music and its misguided representation of Appalachia |journal=Popular Music and Society |date=1 September 1996 |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=37–51 |doi=10.1080/03007769608591634 }}</ref> These traditions consisted primarily of English and Scottish [[ballad]]s—which were essentially unaccompanied narrative—and dance music, such as [[reel (dance)|reel]]s, which were accompanied by a fiddle.<ref name="olson">Ted Olson, "Music — Introduction".  ''Encyclopedia of Appalachia'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 2006), pp. 1109–1120.</ref> Many older bluegrass songs come directly from the [[British Isles]]. Several Appalachian bluegrass ballads, such as "[[Pretty Saro]]", "[[Pretty Polly (ballad)|Pretty Polly]]", "[[The Cuckoo (song)|Cuckoo Bird]]", and "[[House Carpenter]]", come from [[England]] and preserve the English ballad tradition both melodically and lyrically.<ref name="cuckoo">{{cite news|title=The beauty and mystery of ballads|last=Goldsmith|first=Thomas|date=February 6, 2005|work=[[Raleigh News & Observer|The Raleigh News & Observer]]|page=G5}}</ref> Some bluegrass fiddle songs popular in Appalachia, such as "Leather Britches" and "Soldier's Joy", have Scottish roots.<ref>Cecelia Conway, "Celtic Influences".  ''Encyclopedia of Appalachia'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee, 2006), p. 1132.</ref> The dance tune "[[Cumberland Gap (folk song)|Cumberland Gap]]" may be derived from the tune that accompanies the Scottish ballad "[[Bonnie George Campbell]]".<ref>Song notes in ''Bascom Lamar Lunsford: Ballads, Banjo Tunes, and Sacred Songs of Western North Carolina'' [CD liner notes]. Smithsonian Folkways, 1996.</ref>

The music now known as bluegrass was frequently used to accompany a rural dancing style known as [[buckdancing]], [[flatfooting]], or [[clogging]]. As the bluegrass sound spread to urban areas, listening to it for its own sake increased, especially after the advent of [[Sound recording and reproduction|sound recording]]. In 1948, what would come to be known as bluegrass emerged as a genre within the post-war country/western-music industry, a period of time characterized now as the golden era or wellspring of "traditional bluegrass". From its earliest days, bluegrass has been recorded and performed by professional and amateur musicians alike. Although amateur bluegrass musicians and trends such as "parking-lot picking" are too important to be ignored, it is touring musicians who have set the direction of the style. Radio stations dedicated to bluegrass have also proved influential in advancing the evolution of the style into distinctive subgenres.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

===Classification===
Bluegrass was initially included{{by whom|date=January 2025}} in the category of [[folk music]] and later changed to [[hillbilly]].{{citation needed|date=May 2021}} In 1948, bluegrass was placed under the [[Country music|country and western]] heading for radio airplay charting. All four of the seminal bluegrass authors – Artis, Price, Cantwell, and Rosenberg – described bluegrass music in detail as originating in style and form, in one form or another, between the 1930s and mid-1940s. However, the term "bluegrass" did not appear formally to describe the music until the late 1950s and did not appear in Music Index until 1965.<ref>Kretzschmar, 1970{{full citation needed|date=May 2021}}{{page needed|date=May 2021}}</ref> The first entry in Music Index mentioning "bluegrass music" directed the reader to "see Country Music; Hillbilly Music".<ref>Kretzschmar, 1970, p.&nbsp;91{{full citation needed|date=May 2021}}</ref> Music Index maintained this listing for bluegrass music until 1986. The first time bluegrass music had its own entries in Music Index was in 1987.<ref>Stratelak, 1988{{full citation needed|date=May 2021}}{{page needed|date=May 2021}}</ref>

The topical and narrative themes of many bluegrass songs are highly reminiscent of folk music. Many songs that are widely considered to be bluegrass are in reality older works legitimately classified as folk or [[old-time music]] that are performed in the bluegrass style.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}} The interplay between bluegrass and folk forms has been academically studied. Folklorist Neil Rosenberg, for example, shows that most devoted bluegrass fans and musicians are familiar with traditional folk songs and old-time music and that these songs are often played at shows, festivals, and [[jam session#Bluegrass|jams]].{{sfn|Rosenberg|1985|p={{page needed|date=May 2021}}}}

===Origin of name===
"Bluegrass" is a common name given in America for the grass of the ''[[Poa]]'' genus, the most famous being [[Kentucky bluegrass]]. A large region in central [[Kentucky]] is sometimes called the [[Bluegrass region]] (although this region is west of the hills of Kentucky). Exactly when the word "bluegrass" was adopted is not certain, but is believed to be in the late 1950s.{{sfn|Rosenberg|1985|pp=98-99}} It was derived from the name of the seminal [[Blue Grass Boys]] band, formed in 1939 with [[Bill Monroe]] as its leader. Due to this lineage, Bill Monroe is frequently referred to as the "father of bluegrass".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibma.org/about.bluegrass/history/index.asp |title=Bluegrass Music: The Roots |website=International Bluegrass Music Association |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430180118/http://www.ibma.org/about.bluegrass/history/index.asp |archive-date=April 30, 2011 |access-date=September 10, 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Ralph Stanley 2006.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Ralph Stanley]] on April 20, 2008, in Dallas, Texas]]
The bluegrass style of music dates from the mid-1940s. In 1948, [[the Stanley Brothers]] recorded the traditional song "[[Molly and Tenbrooks]]" in the Blue Grass Boys' style, arguably the point in time that bluegrass emerged as a distinct musical form.{{sfn|Rosenberg|1985|pp=84-85}} Monroe's 1946 to 1948 band, which featured guitarist [[Lester Flatt]], banjoist [[Earl Scruggs]], fiddler [[Chubby Wise]] and bassist Howard Watts (also known as "Cedric Rainwater"){{snd}}sometimes called "the original bluegrass band"{{snd}}created the definitive sound and instrumental configuration that remains a model to this day. By some arguments, while the Blue Grass Boys were the only band playing this music, it was just their unique sound; it could not be considered a musical style until other bands began performing in a similar fashion. In 1967, the banjo instrumental "[[Foggy Mountain Breakdown]]" by [[Flatt and Scruggs]] was introduced to a worldwide audience as a result of its frequent use in the movie "Bonnie and Clyde". But the functionally similar [[old-time music]] genre was long-established and widely recorded in the period of the film's events and later CD was released.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7962923 |title=Bonnie And Clyde Soundtrack CD |publisher=cduniverse.com| access-date=21 July 2020}}</ref>

[[Ralph Stanley]] commented about the origins of the genre and its name.
{{blockquote|Oh, (Monroe) was the first. But it wasn't called bluegrass back then. It was just called old-time mountain [[hillbilly]] music. When they started doing the bluegrass festivals in 1965, everybody got together and wanted to know what to call the show, y'know. It was decided that since Bill was the oldest man, and was from the bluegrass state of [[Kentucky]] and he had the Blue Grass Boys, it would be called 'bluegrass.'<ref>"Old-Time Man" interview June 2008 ''Virginia Living'' pp. 55–7.</ref>}}