Old-Time Music vs Bluegrass

Old-time music refers mainly to the varieties of Appalachian music recorded in the 1920s and 1930s and sold under the general label "hillbilly music." Added to this basic repertoire was the music sought out by various "revivalists" during (mainly) the 1960s, who saw traditional music as a possible antidote to anxieties about modernity. "Hillbilly music" evolved into today's country music and also became one of the roots of bluegrass.

It is common to assume romantically that the hillbilly music of the 1920s and 30s was some kind of pristine, isolated musical tradition handed down from generation to generation. While there may be a grain of truth to this image, there are three points I would emphasize. First, even without outside influences, music that gets handed down from generation to generation still changes. One obvious manifestation of this process is the many different versions of traditional ballads. The second point is that the recorded music of the 1920s and 30s selected for certain types of performances and repertoire and shunted aside others--based on the assessment of record company executives about what would sell. Voice-only ballads, for example, rarely appear on commercial recordings from the era of hillbilly music, but they were a mainstay of the revivalist recordings of the 1960s. Different agendas behind recording projects naturally result in different content. Third, the folks in Appalachia during the 1920s and 30s were not isolated, musically or otherwise. Hillbilly music, therefore, reflects to at least some degree the broader world of popular music available on records and across the airwaves. The romantic view of hillbilly and old-time music is more a reflection of wishful thinking than historical reality--as is usually the case with romantic views in general.

Old-time music turns out to be a fairly complex phenomenon. But most people who pursue it are, understandably, uninterested in analyzing its social history. Instead, they simply enjoy the music. So, how does it differ from bluegrass? Here is a table of typical contrasts:

	BLUEGRASS	OLD-TIME
Banjo	Scruggs-style 3-finger roll; resonator	semi-percussive, claw-hammer style (also called frailing); no resonator
Mandolin	major instrument; percussive chord chopping (closed chords) on the offbeat when not playing a solo	minor instrument; duplicates the fiddle or plays ringing, open chords
Fiddle	optional	the core instrument
Singing	multi-part harmony is common	less rigidly structured--often everyone sings in unison
Individual Solos	standard feature; high level of improvisation (like jazz)	rare; tend to stay close to the melody
Typical keys	same as old-time music plus several of the "flat" keys common in jazz (e.g., Bb)	D, G, A, and the Dorian, Mixolydian, and Aeolian modes of A; less commonly C & F
Genre Influences	jazz, blues, and western swing; bands with names invoking bakery products (dough, yeast, fritters, biscuits, etc.) tend to be especially influenced by jazz and western swing	blues, to a lesser extent; little bits of popular music from different times
Essential Technological Development	the microphone (in the early decades there would only be one at a performance, so "working the mic" was a major skill as individuals approached the mic for a solo and everyone else shuffled accordingly)	recording equipment (microphones and more--hillbilly music existed on records before bluegrass came along)
Attitudinally	tends to be competitive; musical ancestors revered	rarely competitive; often exerts a semi-meditative effect on the players & dancers; musical ancestors revered (as in bluegrass)
Main Ancestors	Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, Ralph and Carter Stanley	more diffuse; each region tends to celebrate certain "authentic hillbillies" as authenticators of local styles
Typical Camping Abode	Recreational Vehicles (RVs), often adorned with plastic pink flamingoes, plastic palm trees, and Christmas lights	tents; idiosyncratic decorations

Putting these elements together, the resulting sound is quite different. Moreover, the social dynamics of the two types of music tends to be different, even if this difference might not be obvious to a casual observer. Some bluegrass enthusiasts complain that old-time music all sounds the same; some old-time enthusiasts complain that all bluegrass sounds the same. A few players and listeners like both types of music equally well.