We all know what bluegrass music sounds like. At least we think we do. A lot of people who don’t even know, or like bluegrass think they know what it sounds like, too. I know more than once, I’ve heard a song and exclaimed “Now THAT’S bluegrass!” I bet you’ve said that too, but it would not be surprising if the song that made YOU say it was markedly different from the song that elicited the reaction from me.
If I had a nickel for every time I’ve listened in on a “What is bluegrass?” argument, I’d buy you a pre-war Martin D18.
What makes bluegrass so fascinating is the remarkable variety of textures its best musicians are able to evoke from a fairly limited set of instruments “allowed” in bluegrass. Can you think of any other form of music thats so militant about the instrumentation? Not classical, not blues, not jazz, not pop, certainly. Maybe Mariachi.
So, let’s say you’re a great musician, and very creative. And you decide to form a band with 4 other musicians, equally skilled, and creative and motivated. Then someone says, “Wait, you can only use a guitar, a fiddle, a standup bass, a mandolin and a banjo to make your music.” What kind of cacophony can you achieve with these limitations? Will you be limited to renditions of “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” or – gasp – “The Beverly Hillbillies Theme”?
Of course not.
You can have plenty of fun doing those songs, but with those same few instruments, you can make music that roars, and music that whispers. You can exhilarate and you can lament. You can evoke wistful triumph and abject despair. Each of those instruments you’re being allowed in your bluegrass band have amazing range. The banjo, guitar, mandolin, fiddle and bass can create exciting driving music with great intensity. But those same wires, wood and horsehair can make sweet, emotional music as well.
Rather than stifling the creativity of great musicians, the fairly rigid instrumentation of bluegrass can be coaxed into astonishing self-expression.
I exaggerated the rigidity of the bluegrass “rules” for acceptable instruments, of course. And I left out the contribution of singing to bluegrass – possible its most important instrument. But the point is, bluegrass is wonderful, and part of the reason for that is how it can make the complexity seem simple, and how it can make also make simplicity seem complex. On a simple musical canvas, bluegrass achieves an amazing variety of textures. Can I get a “Yee haw!”?
