The years have passed but the music never gets old. Hear members of the Central Texas Bluegrass Association as they employ their guitars, banjos, big bass, fiddles, and harmonicas to play favorite Christian bluegrass Gospel songs. Psalm 98:4-5 says, "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the Lord with the harp: with the harp, and the voice of a psalm." Gospel songs recorded here include: "Old Country Church, "I'm Using My Bible For a Road Map," "Willie Roy," "Back to the Cross," "A Few More ...," Where the Soul of Man Never Dies," "This World is Not My Home," "I Can Almost Hear My Mother," "I'll Fly Away," I Saw the Light," and "Somebody Touched Me."
Unlike mainstream country music, bluegrass is traditionally played on acoustic stringed instruments. The fiddle, five-string banjo, guitar, mandolin, and upright bass (string bass) are often joined by the resonator guitar (also referred to as a Dobro®) and harmonica. This instrumentation originated in rural dance bands and is the basis on which the earliest bluegrass bands were formed.
The guitar is now most commonly played with a style referred to as flatpicking, unlike the style of seminal bluegrass guitarist Lester Flatt, who used a thumb and finger pick. Banjo players often use the three-finger picking style made popular by Earl Scruggs. Fiddlers will frequently play in thirds and fifths, producing a sound that is characteristic to the bluegrass style. The bassist will almost always play pizzicato, occasionally adopting the "slap-style" to accentuate the beat. |
