One player leads,then he steps back,another player takes the lead & so on,the other players accompany the lead all the time & improvise their own bits around the lead player,meanwhile resisting all attempts to 'hog it',that's bad manners & also very amateurish.

I've always thought that Bluegrass music & Traditional 'Dixieland' Jazz have pretty much the same format. Form types? Well the reel, the waltz, and aire would be represented but called different things, the breakdown, the two step, shuffle or the ballad. Lots of 3/4 time and some that change time signature within the tune. Tunes that include root, two, three, four and five chords in the same tune. Not just the relative minors but modal structures that feature Dorian and Mixolydian modes. Not to contradict our moderator, but there lots of bluegrass and fiddle tunes that have minor structures. Breakdowns are often characterized by rapid tempos and unusual instrumental dexterity and sometimes by complex chord changes.

This is in contrast to old-time music, in which all instruments play the melody together or one instrument carries the lead throughout while the others provide accompaniment. In bluegrass, as in some forms of jazz, one or more instruments each takes its turn playing the melody and improvising around it, while the others perform accompaniment this is especially typified in tunes called breakdowns.

Gambling bar room blues tabs