Appalachian Folk music is a much broader and older genre than Bluegrass. They are not one and the same. If there is any argument here, it is whether bluegrass is an entity of Appalachian Folk Music. Since the origin of the term "bluegrass" and the related musical style can be placed a specific point in the historical past, some may argue that they cannot rightly be designated as folk even if the use of commonly accepted folk songs are involved. On the other hand, there has been some evolving of "bluegrass" that is natural and unorchestrated. It has taken on a life of its own.



A comment on the five string banjo. I wish I could recall the sources. I have read that the fifth string was added in America to an instrument of African origin. I had always assumed that the short string was the 'added' string until seeing an old painting depicting a banjo and player. It showed a short string with a peg in the side of the neck and three long strings. Doess anyone know anything about this painting?