Passage V

That High Lonesome Sound

[1]

Bill Monroe gets most of the credit for popularizing the hybrid genre of music known as bluegrass. [A] A high-energy country music that emerged in the 1940s, Monroe wanted to feature acoustic stringed instruments, such as: the fiddle, banjo, mandolin, guitar, and upright bass. High-pitched, harmonized vocals given the music what Monroe called “that high lonesome sound.” While few dispute Monroe’s critical role in the formation of this now-classic American genre of music, Monroe was always quick to acknowledge his musical influences, which included music he had heard on the radio and in church; musicians he had met; and a talented uncle.

[2]

Monroe was raised in rural Kentucky with a large family. [B] His uncle Pen taught him and his eight siblings to play a variety of instruments. [C] The family performed the music of their Scottish and Irish ancestors—folk songs and ballads that settlers had brought to the Appalachian region during the eighteenth century. Monroe became skilled at playing mandolin and guitar and being a skilled fiddle player. Eventually, he was often providing accompaniment for Uncle Pen at local dances. (68)

[3]

Arnold Schultz was an African American traveling musician who taught Monroe how to play the blues. “I’m a farmer with a mandolin and a high tenor voice,” Monroe modestly insisted. Schultz’s bluesy, syncopated style can be heard in bluegrass music’s use of polyrhythms (70) . These jazzlike polyrhythms are one of Monroe’s clearest deviation in style from the old-time folk music he’d grew up playing. The music Monroe had played with his family was primarily Scottish and Irish folk music. (73)

[4]

Unfortunately, Schultz never recorded his music, so he wasn’t well known to the public. Monroe, however, spoke of Schultz’s influence frequently with gratitude and respect. [D] Monroe also later honored his uncle Pen: in a song, “When the caller hollered do-si-do / You knew Uncle Pen was ready to go.” The influences of both men, Pen and Schultz, live on in bluegrass music.