Chapter 10: Bluegrass
While Bill Monroe gave bluegrass music its name and foundational structure, it was Earl Scruggs (1924 to 2012) who gave the genre its defining sound. Widely regarded as the most influential banjo player in American music, Scruggs revolutionized the instrument’s role in string band performance and elevated the banjo from rhythmic accompaniment to a dazzling fast lead melodic instrument.
Born in Shelby, North Carolina, Scruggs grew up in a musical household where the banjo was central to family gatherings and local traditions. After losing his father at age four, Scruggs immersed himself in music, mastering the banjo at a young age. While most players in the Appalachian tradition used clawhammer or two-finger picking techniques, Scruggs pioneered a more complex and agile three-finger picking style. This method, now known as Scruggs style, employs picks on the thumb, index, and middle fingers to produce rapid-fire, syncopated rolls that interweave melody, harmony, and rhythmic propulsion.
In addition to his picking technique, Scruggs used the instrument in other creative ways. He frequently used the banjo’s tuning pegs, particularly the Scruggs tuners he helped popularize, to bend notes in real time, sliding seamlessly between pitches mid-phrase. This technique added an almost vocal-like quality to his playing and became a hallmark of his most celebrated performances.
Scruggs joined Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in 1945, and his arrival marked a turning point in the band’s sound. Alongside Lester Flatt on guitar and vocals, Scruggs infused Monroe’s already high-energy string band with a level of instrumental virtuosity and rhythmic momentum that helped define the bluegrass genre.
In 1948, Scruggs and Flatt left Monroe to form their own group, the Foggy Mountain Boys, which quickly became one of the most successful and influential bluegrass bands of the 20th century. Their 1949 recording of “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” showcased Scruggs’s blistering technique and later gained widespread acclaim when it was featured in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde. Another hit, “The Ballad of Jed Clampett” (1962), served as the theme for The Beverly Hillbillies and introduced the sound of bluegrass banjo to a mainstream television audience.
Even after Flatt and Scruggs parted ways in 1969, Scruggs continued to innovate. He formed the Earl Scruggs Revue with his three sons, blending bluegrass with rock, country, and folk influences. The group incorporated electric instruments and expanded the possibilities of what the sound of bluegrass could be. While some traditionalists bristled at these changes, Scruggs’s forward-looking vision helped broaden bluegrass’s appeal and connect it with younger, more diverse listeners.
Over the course of his long career, Scruggs received countless accolades. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003, and was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1992. His three-finger style remains the global standard for bluegrass banjo, and his influence can be heard in the playing of countless musicians across genres