Bluegrass?

[shadow714]

I am not too familiar with bluegrass but heard some today and liked it. Can someone suggest an album with guitar based songs to learn on guitar. I am a intermediate player. TY

[HHP]

Originally Posted by shadow714

I am not too familiar with bluegrass but heard some today and liked it. Can someone suggest an album with guitar based songs to learn on guitar. I am a intermediate player. TY

If its really Bluegrass, it won't be guitar based to much degree. You can find solo and duo guitar recording of the same tunes played in Bluegrass.

Closest I could suggest is "Manzanita" or "Cold On The Shoulder" by Tony Rice.

[L20A]

Find some Norman Blake and Doc Watson albums.
Not exactly main stream Bluegrass but you will like it.

[Tomm Williams]

Dan Crary plays some great stuff

[Pheof]

Flatt & Scruggs, Bill Monroe. Guitar's usually not primary in Bluegrass, and if you're new to BG I recommend taking in some easy tunes. Don't jump right into Tony Rice and all that too quickly. Learn some standards first, just the chord progressions.

[guit3090]

Bluegrass guitar today is mostly rhythm,except Bryan Sutton and some others, still the chords are not straight chords.
Here is a site with lots of great Bluegrass CDs.
www.crossroadsmusic.com

[edocaster]

Probably not mainstream bluegrass as well but I've been enjoying Julian Lage and Chris Eldridge's Avalon.

[guit3090]

Great Song!!!

[sbeirnes]

A great place to start is with Old And In The Way.

[SJ VanSandt]

There are loads of resources on Youtube: lessons, live performances, recordings. Also check for bluegrass jams in your local area - bluegrassers love to get out and play together! In my area there are beginner/intermediate jams that are perfect for people just getting into bluegrass. If the jam is too advanced for you, just watching can be very educational - and fun. Have fun exploring!

[jljohn]

Guys, guys...easy now. He's just starting into BG. Let's not send him down the progressive route, the new-grass route, or the flatpicking guitar driven current flavor of BG route either. I like all of the above as much as the next guy, but really that's not the place to start.

Go back and find some Jimmie Rodgers, The Carter Family, Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, and The Foggy Mountain Boys (Flatt and Scruggs). By-and-large, all current BG stands on these shoulders (yes, there are others, but this is a good start). You'll probably recognize some tunes and be introduced to other great ones.

As a more modern, yet still foundational, album, I'd recommend the Will the Circle Be Unbroken Album put together by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Moving beyond this, there is a big world of BG to explore. You may know the names of many of the greats (Stanley Brothers/Ralph Stanley, Doc Watson, Norman Blake, Tony Rice, etc.) and some of the rising stars. But I highly recommend that you go back and at least familiarize yourself with the foundations of bluegrass and pick some of those tune to learn and play. Old Carter family standards like Wildwood flower and songs like You are My Sunshine and My Home's Across the Blueridge Mountains are great places to start playing.

I hope this helps.

[Vognell]

All good recommendations! also try David Grier, if you like good flatpicking. I've got the House to Myselfand Live at the Linda really show off his talents as a solo artist.

Also check out the Bluegrass Album Band. All good stuff.

[Teleman52]

Tony rice is pretty much the standard of bluegrass guitar. Listen to lots of him, it will be very difficult to pick that stuff up at first for sure.

If you plan on attending any jams, you should learn the chords to lots of fiddle tunes. Some of the most popular at mine are..


Red haired boy
Whiskey before breakfast
Southern flavor
Old Joe clark
Ragtime annie
Black mountain rag
Arkansas traveler.

I would suggest you check out banjobenclark.com for learning how to flatpick these tunes. I think for bluegrass, your best bet for learning to flatpick is to just learn as many fiddle tunes as possible. This will give you a good idea of the notes that will work when used in certain keys. Then just add so blue notes and slides and you got passable bluegrass flatpicking. Fiddle tunes are the heart and soul of bluegrass

[CSG]

Start with Bill Monroe. There is a LOT of bluegrass music/video available on youtube but it Begins with Bill Monroe even though guitar is more secondary to the mandolin, fiddle, and banjo with Monroe. Flat and Scruggs (guitar and banjo) is the next step.

[cary]

Jimmie Martin, the Stanley Brothers.

That's where I'd start.