Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the United States Appalacian region. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in traditional English, Scottish and Irish ballads and dance tunes, and in traditional African-American blues and jazz. Bluegrass was further developed by musicians who played with Monroe, including 5-string banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt. Monroe characterized the genre as: "Scottish Bagpipes and ole-time fiddlin'. It's Methodist and Holiness and Baptist. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound." Bluegrass guitar is a blisteringly fast, highly technical art form that, paradoxically, almost anyone can learn. That's because the theory and chords behind bluegrass guitar are relatively simple, even if they don't seem like it at full pace. What takes some time is getting up to speed, but even that is within anyone's reach with some dedicated practice.
Pioneered in 1974 and still revered today, Phosphor Bronze has become synonymous with warm, well-balanced acoustic tone. D'Addario Phosphor Bronze strings are precision wound with corrosion-resistant phosphor bronze onto a carefully drawn, hexagonally shaped, high carbon steel core. The result is long-lasting, bright sounding tone with excellent intonation.
Behind every set of D'Addario strings are over three centuries of fine craftsmanship. The D'Addario family tradition began in the tiny town of Salle, Italy in 1680 where they made assorted instrument strings for over two hundred years before relocating to New York in 1905. As the modern string making industry began to develop, the D'Addario family emerged as innovators by designing the winding machine most string makers still use today. And while their techniques have modernized, the pride that goes into each set of strings dates back to the D'Addario family's earliest roots.
EJ19 is a light top, medium bottom Phosphor Bronze set that offers light gauged top strings and medium gauged bottom strings for a perfect balance of playability and projection. Since D'Addario introduced Phosphor Bronze guitar strings in 1974, they have been synonymous with warm and well-balanced acoustic tone.
