Bluegrass Starter Guide Which Instrument to Learn First

Bluegrass is the home music of East Tennessee, and it is one of the friendliest styles to join. Jams happen in living rooms, parking lots and festival fields, and nobody needs sheet music. The question is which instrument to carry in. Here is what each one does.

Guitar holds it together

The guitar keeps the rhythm with a boom chick strum and plays bass runs between chords. It is the easiest place to start because the chords are the same ones you would learn for any other music, and a dreadnought has the volume to be heard in a jam.

Banjo is the sound of bluegrass

The five string banjo played with fingerpicks in the Scruggs style gives bluegrass its drive. The rolls take a few weeks of patient practice, but once they click they come fast. A resonator banjo is the standard choice for bluegrass because it projects. Read the banjo buying guide for the details.

Mandolin plays the chop

The mandolin plays the off beat chop that acts as the drum kit of the band, and it takes the melody on breaks. It is small and light. The eight strings are tuned in pairs like a fiddle, so fiddle tunes transfer directly. See the mandolin buying guide.

Fiddle carries the melody

The fiddle sings the melody and the long notes behind a singer. It has no frets, so the first months are about training your ear and your bow arm. Lessons help more here than with any other instrument on this list. Our violin buying guide covers sizes and outfits.

Bass keeps the floor

An upright bass is the classic choice, but plenty of jams welcome an electric bass played simply on the root and fifth. If you already play bass guitar, you are ready now.

Which one first

• Fastest to join a jam: guitar.
• The signature sound: banjo.
• Small, portable and melodic: mandolin.
• If you love the singing lines: fiddle, with a teacher.

Every instrument we ship is set up by hand on our bench in Athens, Tennessee first. Read what a guitar setup is to see what that covers. We also teach guitar, banjo, mandolin and fiddle in the shop. See our lessons page. Questions? Call the shop at (423) 462-1894 and a real person will help you choose.