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newgrass

Newgrass

United States · 1970s
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Description

Newgrass (often synonymous with progressive bluegrass) is a modern, exploratory branch of bluegrass that blends the acoustic virtuosity and ensemble interplay of traditional bluegrass with the harmony, rhythm, and songcraft of rock, folk, and jazz.

Typical newgrass ensembles keep the bluegrass core—mandolin, banjo, fiddle, acoustic guitar, and bass—while freely adding Dobro, percussion/drum set, piano, and occasional electric instruments. The style favors extended solos, odd meters, sophisticated harmonies, and reinterpretations of non-bluegrass repertoire alongside original songwriting.

The spirit of newgrass is adventurous and improvisational: players stretch traditional forms, use complex chord colors and modal harmony, and treat arrangements as living frameworks for creative interplay.

History
Origins (late 1960s–1970s)

Newgrass coalesced in the United States at the turn of the 1970s as younger acoustic musicians, steeped in traditional bluegrass, embraced the energy of rock and the harmonic language of jazz. Landmark records and bands—John Hartford’s groundbreaking Aereo-Plain (1971), the formation of New Grass Revival (1971), and progressive outfits like The Seldom Scene and Country Gazette—signaled a shift toward drums, electric bass, contemporary songwriting, and improvisation. Festivals such as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival became hubs for the burgeoning movement.

Expansion and “new acoustic” era (late 1970s–1980s)

David Grisman’s quintet fused bluegrass picking with jazz (“Dawg music”), while Tony Rice redefined flatpicking with sophisticated harmony and tone. Béla Fleck advanced melodic and chromatic banjo techniques, opening doors to complex arrangements and cross-genre collaborations. The term “newgrass” came to represent a mindset: reverence for tradition coupled with fearless innovation.

1990s–2000s: Crossover and jamgrass

The 1990s saw wider audiences via Nickel Creek’s contemporary songwriting and Béla Fleck & the Flecktones’ jazz-fusion approach. Parallel to this, “jamgrass” acts (e.g., Yonder Mountain String Band, Leftover Salmon) adopted jam-band improvisation, expanding song lengths and rhythmic palettes while retaining acoustic drive.

2010s–present: Renaissance and mainstream visibility

Artists like Punch Brothers, Greensky Bluegrass, The Infamous Stringdusters, Molly Tuttle, and Billy Strings brought new levels of virtuosity, arranging sophistication, and popular appeal. Streaming-era visibility and cross-genre collaborations normalized pop and rock covers in a bluegrass context, while original material leaned into detailed arrangements, odd meters, and jazz-inflected harmony—all without losing the genre’s acoustic heart.

How to make a track in this genre
Instrumentation

Start with mandolin, 5‑string banjo, fiddle, acoustic guitar, and upright (or electric) bass. Add Dobro, occasional drum kit or hand percussion, and keys when appropriate. Keep acoustic timbres central, even when expanding the palette.

Rhythm and Groove

Use bluegrass drive (mandolin chop on beats 2 and 4; walking or syncopated bass) but feel free to adopt rock backbeats, half-time feels, and odd meters (5/4, 7/8). Tempos commonly range from 80–160 BPM. Allow sections to stretch for solos and dynamic builds.

Harmony and Melody

Go beyond I–IV–V. Employ modal flavors (Mixolydian and Dorian are common), secondary dominants, ii–V–I motion, and extended chords (add9, 11, 13). Re-harmonize traditional progressions; use voice-leading to connect chord tones smoothly under fast melodic lines.

Technique and Improvisation

Feature virtuosic flatpicking (guitar), crosspicking (guitar/mandolin), melodic/chromatic banjo lines, double-stop and shuffle bowing on fiddle, and rhythmic mandolin chops. Build arrangements around traded solos, call-and-response, and ensemble hits. Encourage jazz-like improvisation over agreed forms and vamps.

Songwriting and Repertoire

Blend originals with inventive covers of rock, pop, and folk tunes. Write contemporary lyrics (personal narratives, modern themes) while honoring bluegrass storytelling craft. Structure songs with intros/outros, instrumental breaks, and textural contrasts (duo sections, breakdowns, and full-band peaks).

Arrangement and Production

Balance clarity and energy: mic acoustic instruments to preserve transient detail; leave headroom for dynamic solos. Use sectional contrast (meter or key shifts) to sustain interest. On stage, plan cue-based jams and modal vamps to facilitate spontaneous interaction.

Main artists
Influenced by
Bluegrass
Bluegrass is a high-energy, acoustic string‑band music that emerged in the Appalachian South during the 1940s, crystallized by Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys. It is defined by brisk tempos, virtuosic instrumental breaks, and tight, close‑harmony singing often described as the "high lonesome" sound. Typical instrumentation features five‑string banjo (often in Earl Scruggs’ three‑finger style), mandolin (with percussive off‑beat "chop" chords), steel‑string guitar (flatpicking), fiddle, and upright bass; the dobro (resonator guitar) is common, while drums are traditionally absent. Repertoire mixes traditional ballads, fiddle tunes, gospel quartets, and original songs, all delivered with driving rhythm and improvisatory flair.
Jazz
Jazz is an improvisation-centered music tradition that emerged from African American communities in the early 20th century. It blends blues feeling, ragtime syncopation, European harmonic practice, and brass band instrumentation into a flexible, conversational art. Defining features include swing rhythm (a triplet-based pulse), call-and-response phrasing, blue notes, and extended harmonies built on 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths. Jazz is as much a way of making music—spontaneous interaction, variation, and personal sound—as it is a set of forms and tunes. Across its history, jazz has continually hybridized, from New Orleans ensembles and big-band swing to bebop, cool and hard bop, modal and free jazz, fusion, and contemporary cross-genre experiments. Its influence permeates global popular and art music.
Rock
Rock is a broad family of popular music centered on amplified instruments, a strong backbeat, and song forms that foreground riffs, choruses, and anthemic hooks. Emerging from mid‑20th‑century American styles like rhythm & blues, country, and gospel-inflected rock and roll, rock quickly expanded in scope—absorbing folk, blues, and psychedelic ideas—while shaping global youth culture. Core sonic markers include electric guitar (often overdriven), electric bass, drum kit emphasizing beats 2 and 4, and emotive lead vocals. Rock songs commonly use verse–chorus structures, blues-derived harmony, and memorable melodic motifs, ranging from intimate ballads to high‑energy, stadium‑sized performances.
Country Rock
Country rock is a hybrid of country music’s storytelling, twang, and acoustic textures with rock’s backbeat, amplification, and song structures. It typically features electric and acoustic guitars, pedal steel, close vocal harmonies, and a steady 4/4 groove, while lyrics focus on roads, small towns, heartbreak, and everyday American life. The sound ranges from jangly and rootsy to polished and radio-friendly, bridging bar-band energy with country elegance and shaping the template for later Americana and heartland styles.
Folk Rock
Folk rock is a fusion genre that blends the narrative lyricism, modal melodies, and acoustic timbres of traditional folk with the backbeat, amplification, and song structures of rock. It typically pairs acoustic or traditional instruments (acoustic guitar, mandolin, fiddle) with a rock rhythm section (electric guitar, bass, drums), often featuring chiming 12‑string guitar textures, close vocal harmonies, and socially conscious or storytelling lyrics. The result ranges from intimate, reflective ballads with a steady backbeat to more anthemic, roots‑driven rock. Emerging in the mid‑1960s through artists such as Bob Dylan and The Byrds, folk rock became a gateway for traditional and roots materials to enter mainstream popular music, and it seeded later movements from country rock and Americana to jangle pop and modern indie folk.
Americana
Americana is a contemporary umbrella term for U.S. roots music that blends folk, country, blues, bluegrass, gospel, and roots rock into a songwriter-centered, largely acoustic-leaning sound. Hallmarks include story-driven lyrics; warm, organic production; and traditional instrumentation such as acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, harmonica, pedal steel, upright or electric bass, and restrained drums. Rhythms often draw on the train beat, shuffles, two-step, waltz time, and relaxed backbeats. Harmonically it favors diatonic progressions (I–IV–V, I–vi–IV–V), modal tinges (Mixolydian), and close vocal harmonies. Rather than a rigid style, Americana functions as a bridge among related roots traditions, emphasizing authenticity, regional imagery, and narrative songwriting over genre flashiness.
Folk
Folk is a song-centered acoustic tradition rooted in community storytelling, everyday life, and social history. It emphasizes clear melodies, simple harmonies, and lyrics that foreground narrative, protest, and personal testimony. As a modern recorded genre, folk coalesced in the early-to-mid 20th century in the United States out of older ballad, work song, and rural dance traditions. It typically features acoustic instruments (guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, harmonica), strophic song forms, and participatory singing (choruses, call-and-response).
Traditional Bluegrass
Traditional bluegrass is an acoustic string-band music that crystallized in the mid‑1940s around Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys. It is defined by the "high lonesome" vocal sound, breakneck ensemble drive, and virtuosic instrumental breaks traded among banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and upright bass, with no drums or electric instruments. Core features include three-finger Scruggs‑style banjo, mandolin back‑beat "chop" on the off‑beats, flatpicked guitar runs (e.g., the G‑run), and strong two‑beat bass. Repertoires span breakdowns, fiddle tunes, gospel quartets, murder ballads, and sentimental songs, typically arranged with a kickoff, alternating verses/choruses, instrumental solos ("breaks"), and a tag ending. Harmonically it favors I–IV–V progressions with Mixolydian flavors (♭VII), relative minors, and occasional secondary dominants. Performances often gather around a single microphone, balancing parts dynamically while maintaining the music’s raw, propulsive energy.
Progressive Bluegrass
Progressive bluegrass is an expansionist, boundary‑pushing strain of bluegrass that blends the genre’s core acoustic instrumentation with the harmonic language, song forms, and improvisational practices of jazz, rock, folk, and contemporary songwriting. Often called “newgrass,” it favors virtuosic soloing, sophisticated reharmonization, odd and mixed meters, and inventive arrangements. While it usually remains largely acoustic (banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar, dobro, upright bass), progressive bluegrass is comfortable with tasteful amplification, occasional drums or electric bass, and covers of non‑bluegrass repertoire. The result is music that retains the drive and string-band precision of traditional bluegrass while embracing modern harmony, melodic invention, and improvisation inspired by jazz and progressive rock.
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