Word: mandolin
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...tune "Uncle Pen." Bill recalls that as the youngest member of a musical family, his choice of instruments was limited. Oldest brother, Birch, played the most coveted and to Bill always the most important instrument, the fiddle. Next in line, Charlie chose guitar. Bill, coming along last, chose the mandolin, a virtually unknown instrument in recorded country music at that time. Not content to borrow styles from other musicians, Bill created a unique way of playing the mandolin, incorporating chords which could be used for rhythm when the mandolin was not being played as a lead instrument. Bill Monroe...
...Virtuoso Mandolin...
Already Bill's virtuoso mandolin style was being noticed. It wasn't long before the brothers decided to go their separate ways, Charlie and Bill starting their own groups, the Kentucky Pardners and the Blue Grass Boys, respectively. From Bill's desire to honor his home state originated the name that gradually became associated with the music played by a number of groups which resemble Bill Monroe's in instrumentation and style...
...first Blue Grass recording was made in 1940, the successful "Mule-skinner Blues," a tune authored by another pioneer of early country music, Jimmy Rodgers, the "Singing Brakeman." In these early days, Bill Monroe's band contained mandolin, guitar, fiddle and string bass, the last of these being the only instrument not found in traditional country music. In 1945 the Blue Grass band took the form in which it remains today, with the addition of a five-string banjo, played by Earl Scruggs in the now universal three-finger style. which bears little resemblance to the earlier "claw hammer" style...
Blue Grass music features high and unusual vocal harmonies. Breaks between verses and strictly instrumental numbers show off the extreme virtuosity employed on fiddle, mandolin, and banjo: the playing incorporates, like jazz, a great deal of improvisation within set patterns. Lead work is supported by the rhythmic foundation of guitar and string bass. Musicians in the field are known for the astounding sophistication of their techniques; most do not read music and have received no formal instruction on their instruments...