It’s the Melody, Stupid!

In 1992, Bill Clinton grabbed headlines with the phrase “It’s the economy, stupid,” and used it to unseat George Bush as President. I’m not trying to stir up old political feuds or throw a hissy fit, but my point here should be as plain as the nose on your face. In playing traditional bluegrass, the melody should be considered almost sacred.

Bluegrass music is the delicate balance between tradition and innovation. In order to maintain the traditional side of bluegrass music, the melodies as well as the lyrics must be kept more or less intact. The hot licks we all

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Footprints in the Snow- history & lyrics

By Wayne Erbsen

One of the classic Bill Monroe songs of all time is Footprints in the Snow. Despite the fact that Bill claimed authorship under the pseudonym “Rupert Jones,” the song was much older. According to Neil Rosenberg, Bill learned it in the early 1930s when he was at the National Barn Dance in Chicago. The song was first recorded on June 4, 1931, by Ernest Branch & the West Virginia Ramblers under the title Little Footprints. With the help of my old friend Guthrie Meade, I have managed to track down the origin of Footprints in

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Tips for Figuring Out Chords

By Wayne Erbsen

Shindig. To people in western North Carolina where I live, “Shindig” is short for Shindig on the Green, which is an outdoor bluegrass music festival held on the courthouse steps in Asheville, North Carolina. The Shindig is a unique summer festival, drawing regional bluegrass and old-time musicians who just want to get together to pick and socialize and strut their musical stuff on stage. For the musicians, it’s not a paid gig, just a big music party with a large audience. Only the house band, The Stoney Creek Boys, get paid.

On Labor Day, I attended the

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Figuring Out Chords at the Shindig on the Green

By Wayne Erbsen

Shindig. To people in western North Carolina where I live, “Shindig” is short for Shindig on the Green, which is an outdoor bluegrass music festival held on the courthouse steps in Asheville, North Carolina. The Shindig is a unique summer festival, drawing regional bluegrass and old-time musicians who just want to get together to pick and socialize and strut their musical stuff on stage. For the musicians, it’s not a paid gig, just a big music party with a large audience. Only the house band, The Stoney Creek Boys, get paid.

On Labor Day, I attended the

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The Appalachian Dulcimer

By Wayne Erbsen

It’s amazing just how many people dream about playing a stringed instrument. When they finally do get around to trying out a guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, or bass, they sometimes find it takes a little more work than they figured to make their dreams come true. If you are one of those people who has always wanted to make your own music, instead of buying it prepackaged in the store, let me tell you about an instrument that is both very easy to play and inexpensive to buy — the dulcimer.

Of all the stringed instruments

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Learn to Play the Banjo & Save Electricity!

By Wayne Erbsen

You’re determined to save electricity and I’ll bet many of you have always wanted to play the banjo. You can do both! All you have to do is turn off your TV and fire up your banjo. Despite what you may have heard, playing the banjo is easy, especially when you start out learning in the right way that I’m about to show you. This article was written for total beginners on the banjo.  It’ll show you, in the most simplified terms possible, how to make music (and friends) with that cantankerous banjo of yours. Trust me.

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The Dreaded G Scale & the Magic Numbers

By Wayne Erbsen

I once heard it said, “There ain’t no notes in bluegrass music, you just pick it.”

While it may be comforting to suggest that music theory and bluegrass music don’t mix, in fact, knowing a little so-called music theory could be downright useful if you want to develop as a musician. Granted, many people are scared to death of musical scales. Trust me, this won’t hurt (all that much), and soon scales will be your new best friend.

First, since bluegrass is often played in the key of G, we’ll start by learning a G scale. Like

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Clarence White and the Roots of Bluegrass Guitar in Southern California

By Wayne Erbsen

In the early sixties I lived within earshot of the Ash Grove, a legendary folk club on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. As I recall, Monday night was called “hoot night,” and the house band was “The Country Boys.” When I first heard the band in mid-1962, it consisted of Clarence White on guitar, Billy Ray Lathum on banjo, LeRoy Mack on Dobro, and playing bass was Roger Bush.

In the fall of 1962 the band got the opportunity to record their first album for Briar International. At that time the founder of the band, Roland White,

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Lovesick Blues + Lyrics

By Wayne Erbsen

It was Saturday night, June 11, 1949, when 25-year-old Hank Williams walked onto the stage of the Grand Ole Opry for the first time and began singing Lovesick Blues. The audience was electrified. No other performer had ever been brought back to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry for six encores, as Williams was that night. With his debut of Lovesick Blues, a triumphant Hank Williams basked in the glow of his newfound fame. Meanwhile, Emmett Miller, who first recorded Lovesick Blues, sat at home, completely forgotten and down on his luck.

Turning

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A History of Bluegrass Guitar in Western North Carolina

By John Martin

When folklorists like Cecil Sharp came to the mountains of North Carolina they found an enduring musical culture of Scotch-Irish fiddle tunes and ballad singers as well as some of the only black banjo and fiddle players in the country.  In the 1940s, western North Carolinians helped produce a new form of music: bluegrass. Earl Scruggs popularized the regional three-finger banjo style that in many ways defined bluegrass, and the state also made many contributions to guitar playing. 

While the acoustic guitar began as a rhythm instrument, North Carolinians Don Reno, Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, and George

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