Bluegrass music and its origin

Do you know what bluegrass music is? Honestly I had no idea what it was until recently. By definition bluegrass music was inspired by the music of immigrants to the US from the British Isles, particularly those from Scotland and Ireland who settled in Appalachia. Their musical traditions combined with the traditions of old time music, ragtime, and blues, and began to develop as a unique style after WW II.

In the beginning, bluegrass was dance music played in rural areas. Later on, the popularity grew and it began to spread to more urban areas. Hundreds of bands across the South were playing bluegrass music in the 1950s. There are different sessions in the bluegrass music, each instrument player will take turn playing the melody and improvise around it - the term bluegrass became official when Bill Monroe's band, the blue grass boys used it.

Acoustic strings instruments such as upright bass, mandolin, guitar, five-string banjo, and fiddle are common bluegrass instruments. Other instruments such as accordion, harmonica, piano, and drums can also be found in bluesgrass music. It focuses on traditional songs, that have been passed down from generation to generation.

If you are interested to hear more about bluegrass music, here are a couple places to find them:
Bluegrass Country
Bluegrass Radio