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Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a subgenre of country music. Bluegrass was inspired by the music of Appalachia.〔Robert Cantwell, ''Bluegrass Breakdown: The Making of the Old Southern Sound'' (University of Illinois Press, 2002), pgs 65-66.〕 It has mixed roots in Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and English〔Musicologist Cecil Sharp collected hundreds of folk songs in the Appalachian region, and observed that the musical tradition of the people "seems to point to the North of England, or to the Lowlands, rather than the Highlands, of Scotland, as the country from which they originally migrated. For the Appalachian tunes...have far more affinity with the normal English folk-tune than with that of the Gaelic-speaking Highlander." Olive Dame Campbell & Cecil J. Sharp, ''English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, Comprising 122 Songs and Ballads, and 323 Tunes'', G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1917, pg xviii.〕 traditional music, and also later influenced by the music of African-Americans through incorporation of jazz elements. Settlers from the United Kingdom and Ireland arrived in Appalachia during the 18th century, and brought with them the musical traditions of their homelands. These traditions consisted primarily of English and Scottish ballads—which were essentially unaccompanied narrative—and dance music, such as Irish reels, which were accompanied by a fiddle.〔Ted Olson, "Music — Introduction". ''Encyclopedia of Appalachia'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 2006), pp. 1109–1120.〕 Many older bluegrass songs come directly from the British Isles. Several Appalachian bluegrass ballads, such as "Pretty Saro", "Barbara Allen", "Cuckoo Bird" and "House Carpenter", come from England and preserve the English ballad tradition both melodically and lyrically. Others, such as The Twa Sisters, also come from England; however, the lyrics are about Ireland.〔Joseph Jacobs, ''English Fairy Tales'', transcript〕 Some bluegrass fiddle songs popular in Appalachia, such as "Leather Britches", and "Pretty Polly", have Scottish roots.〔Cecelia Conway, "Celtic Influences". ''Encyclopedia of Appalachia'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee, 2006), p. 1132.〕 The dance tune Cumberland Gap may be derived from the tune that accompanies the Scottish ballad Bonnie George Campbell.〔Song notes in ''Bascom Lamar Lunsford: Ballads, Banjo Tunes, and Sacred Songs of Western North Carolina'' (liner notes ). Smithsonian Folkways, 1996.〕 Other songs have different names in different places; for instance in England there is an old ballad known as "A Brisk Young Sailor Courted Me", but exactly the same song in North American bluegrass is known as "I Wish My Baby Was Born".〔the version performed by Tim Eriksen, Riley Baugus and Tim O'Brien for the Cold Mountain Soundtrack was based on this song and is lyrically identical to it〕 In bluegrass, as in some forms of jazz, one or more instruments each takes its turn playing the melody and improvising around it, while the others perform accompaniment; this is especially typified in tunes called breakdowns. This is in contrast to old-time music, in which all instruments play the melody together or one instrument carries the lead throughout while the others provide accompaniment. Breakdowns are often characterized by rapid tempos and unusual instrumental dexterity and sometimes by complex chord changes. There are three major subgenres of bluegrass and one unofficial subgenre. Traditional bluegrass has musicians playing folk songs, tunes with simple traditional chord progressions, and using only acoustic instruments, with an example being Bill Monroe. Progressive bluegrass groups may use electric instruments and import songs from other genres, particularly rock & roll. Examples include Cadillac Sky and Bearfoot. "Bluegrass gospel" has emerged as a third subgenre, which uses Christian lyrics, soulful three- or four-part harmony singing, and sometimes the playing of instrumentals. A newer development in the bluegrass world is Neo-traditional bluegrass; exemplified by bands such as The Grascals and Mountain Heart, bands from this subgenre typically have more than one lead singer. Bluegrass music has attracted a diverse following worldwide. Bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe characterized the genre as: "Scottish bagpipes and ole-time fiddlin'. It's Methodist and Holiness and Baptist. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound."〔("Bill Monroe: The Father of Bluegrass" ), billmonroe.com, retrieved 17 February 2013〕 ==Characteristics== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「bluegrass music」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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