Instruments
The basic bluegrass instruments are guitar, mandolin, 5-string
banjo, fiddle and bass. All of the instruments are acoustic,
with the possible exception of the bass. If the electric bass
is used, it should be adjusted to the level and tonal quality
of an acoustic bass. Other instruments which sometime show
up in jam sessions are:
- Dobro, which is widely accepted and may be considered
almost a standard bluegrass instrument;
- Harmonica, which is sometimes loved, sometimes tolerated
and sometimes hated;
- Autoharp, which may be too quiet to be effective in a
full fledged jam session;
- Mountain dulcimer, which is often accepted but has even
more of a volume problem than the autoharp;
- Hammered dulcimer, which often plays "specialty tunes";
- Accordion, which is sometimes included but often scorned
(even though it was a part of one of the early versions
of Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys).
By and large, electric instruments and drums are out.
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