CITATION — REFERENCE ENTRY
Exploring Syncretic Approaches to Improvisatory Practices in Irish Bluegrass — The Boolean: Snapshots of Doctoral Research at University College Cork
- Key
- coker2026-irish-bluegrass-improvisation
- Authors
- Coker, Kathleen Elizabeth
- Issued
- 2026-3-20
- Type
- article-journal
- Container
- The Boolean: Snapshots of Doctoral Research at University College Cork
- Volume
- 8
- Pages
- 14-18
Raw CSL JSON
{
"DOI": "10.33178/boolean.2026.1.3",
"URL": "https://journals.ucc.ie/index.php/boolean/article/view/boolean-2026-3",
"page": "14-18",
"type": "article-journal",
"title": "Exploring Syncretic Approaches to Improvisatory Practices in Irish Bluegrass",
"author": [
{
"given": "Kathleen Elizabeth",
"family": "Coker"
}
],
"issued": {
"date-parts": [
[
2026,
3,
20
]
]
},
"volume": "8",
"container-title": "The Boolean: Snapshots of Doctoral Research at University College Cork"
}
Claims
-
Drawing on George Lewis's distinction between Afrological and Eurological improvisation, Coker places bluegrass in the Afrological mode, describing its improvisation as transformative and referential and governed by harmonic continuity rather than melodic contour, reflecting roots in Black musical creativity.
"Bluegrass employs the Afrological mode of improvisation through transformative, referential improvisation governed by harmonic continuity rather than melodic contour."
-
Bluegrass draws on communal knowledge of repertoire, has historically been transmitted aurally and orally, is commonly played by ear, and is often played informally by musicians who have not rehearsed together.
"Both bluegrass and instrumental dance music in Irish traditional music utilise group-based community practice, meaning that musicians play together informally and not always in a “band” or “ensemble” scenario where material is rehearsed."
-
'Irish Bluegrass' is a community term for musicians in Ireland who play both Irish traditional music and bluegrass; Coker finds that they habitually combine Irish-style ornamentation with bluegrass-style runs in their improvised melodic variation.
"However, analysis of ‘Irish Bluegrass’, performance practice shows that instrumentalists habitually integrate these dual modes of melodic variation"
-
In bluegrass, melodic variation generally uses harmonically rooted 'licks' or 'runs' with no obligation to resemble the original melody; these cells move between harmonies rather than embellishing a melody note, unlike the named ornaments of Irish traditional music.
"In bluegrass, the general approach to melodic variation deploys harmonically-rooted “licks” or “runs” with no obligation to resemble the original melody."
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