Music made at home
Long before stages and festivals, string-band music was something neighbors made together. Today's community jams carry on that tradition.
Front porches and kitchens
In the Appalachian mountains and across the rural South, music was played at home: on front porches, in kitchens, and at house dances. Tunes and songs passed from person to person by ear, so they changed a little with each player and community.
Scots-Irish and African American roots
- The fiddle tradition came largely from Scottish, Irish, and English settlers, whose dance tunes became the core of Southern old-time music.
- The banjo has African origins. It descends from gourd instruments made by enslaved Africans and their descendants in the Americas.
- Black and white musicians shared tunes, songs, and playing styles, and that exchange shaped the music we now call old-time and bluegrass.
Fiddlers' conventions
Fiddlers' conventions and contests brought players together from miles around. Alongside the competition, much of the real action happened informally as musicians gathered to swap tunes, a habit that lives on at festivals today.
Radio and the Grand Ole Opry
In the 1920s, radio and early recordings carried rural string-band music far beyond its home communities. Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, which began broadcasting in 1925, became one of the most influential showcases for country and string-band music.
Bill Monroe and the birth of bluegrass
Kentucky-born mandolinist Bill Monroe led the Blue Grass Boys, the band that gave bluegrass its name. In the mid-1940s, his lineup with guitarist Lester Flatt and banjo player Earl Scruggs set the classic sound: driving rhythm, high lonesome harmonies, and hot instrumental breaks, with Scruggs's three-finger banjo style at the center.
The folk revival
In the late 1950s and 1960s, the folk revival brought a new, often urban audience to traditional music. Young players sought out older musicians, learned their tunes, and helped launch a wave of festivals.
Parking-lot picking
At bluegrass and old-time festivals, some of the best music happens off stage. Campgrounds and parking lots fill with circles of pickers playing late into the night, open to anyone who knows the songs.
Today's community jams
Today, recurring jams meet in music stores, libraries, churches, restaurants, and community centers. They keep the old way alive: music learned by ear and shared among neighbors. Find one near you →