Q 01/05

Which film made the bluegrass instrumental 'Dueling Banjos' a hit?

A) Cold Mountain

B) Deliverance

C) The Sting

D) Smokey and the Bandit

Answer · why

B) Deliverance

Deliverance. The film credited the tune to its performers, so its composer Arthur Smith, who had written it in the 1950s as 'Feudin' Banjos', sued War...

Q 02/05

Which Osborne Brothers bluegrass hit became an official state song of Tennessee?

A) Wabash Cannonball

B) Mountain Dew

C) Rocky Top

D) Orange Blossom Special

Answer · why

C) Rocky Top

Rocky Top. Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, the couple behind the Everly Brothers' 'Bye Bye Love', wrote it in 1967, and the University of Tennessee's ban...

Q 03/05

Which instrument was Bill Monroe's trademark?

A) Autoharp

B) Banjo

C) Fiddle

D) Mandolin

Answer · why

D) Mandolin

Mandolin. His older brothers had already claimed the instruments they wanted, so the youngest of eight took what was left, then turned it into a lead ...

Q 04/05

Earl Scruggs popularised a three-finger picking style on which instrument?

A) Mandolin

B) Upright bass

C) Dobro

D) Banjo

Answer · why

D) Banjo

Banjo. In country bands it had mostly been a comedian's prop; Scruggs's rapid three-finger rolls made it a lead voice and caused a sensation when he j...

Q 05/05

In which region of the United States did bluegrass develop in the 1940s?

A) The Mississippi Delta

B) Appalachia

C) The Great Plains

D) The Pacific Northwest

Answer · why

B) Appalachia

Appalachia. Its mountain string bands had long mixed the ballads and dance tunes of British and Irish settlers with African American blues, the blend ...