Music
american
Discover: Bluegrass
Best Age
Best Age
wk 16–104
Category
Music
Audio Track & Sing-Along Available in BabyNook
Listen to the full song, vocal melody, and soothing instrumental tracks directly in the BabyNook app.
About this music
Bluegrass music was born in the hills of Appalachia in the 1940s, pioneered by Bill Monroe and his band The Blue Grass Boys. Drawing on Scots-Irish folk traditions brought by early settlers, African-American blues, and old-time string band music, bluegrass became its own distinct American genre. It is defined by acoustic instruments — banjo, fiddle, mandolin, upright bass, and guitar — played at a fast, driving tempo with close vocal harmonies. The train motif is a recurring image in bluegrass: trains represented movement, freedom, and change in rural American life.
How to do it (Step by step)
- Chug your arms like a train wheel with the rhythm.
- Clap along to the fast banjo picking.
- Ask: 'Where is the train going?' and make up a destination together.