![]() The guitar and the bass fiddle generally played rhythm only, with Lester’s snappy guitar runs punctuating the end of each line. When Bill Monroe led the “original” bluegrass band with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs in the mid-1940s, the “lead” instruments, that is, those that commonly played solo passages, were the fiddle, mandolin, and banjo. This was a time before Tony Rice, and pickers who inspired him, such as Clarence White and Doc Watson, became well known to bluegrass audiences. Along with Don Reno, the Stanleys and their guitarists, particularly George Shuffler, did much to popularize the lead guitar sound in bluegrass in the late 1950s and early 60s. In this post I want to focus on the earlier use of the guitar as a bluegrass lead instrument, especially by the Stanley Brothers. ![]() ![]() It’s safe to say that Tony Rice’s influence is heard in nearly all contemporary bluegrass lead and rhythm guitar playing. The sad news of Tony Rice’s passing on Christmas Day has prompted many well deserved and insightful tributes to his extraordinary skills as a guitar innovator and singer. ![]()
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