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. Other songs have different names in different places for instance in England there is an old ballad known as 'A Brisk Young Sailor Courted Me', but exactly the same song in North American bluegrass is known as 'I Wish My Baby Was Born'. The dance tune Cumberland Gap may be derived from the tune that accompanies the Scottish ballad Bonnie George Campbell. Some bluegrass fiddle songs popular in Appalachia, such as 'Leather Britches', and 'Pretty Polly', have Scottish roots. Others, such as The Twa Sisters, also come from England however, the lyrics are about Ireland. Several Appalachian bluegrass ballads, such as 'Pretty Saro', 'Barbara Allen', 'Cuckoo Bird' and 'House Carpenter', come from England and preserve the English ballad tradition both melodically and lyrically. Many older bluegrass songs come directly from the British Isles. These traditions consisted primarily of English and Scottish ballads-which were essentially unaccompanied narrative-and dance music, such as Irish reels, which were accompanied by a fiddle.

Settlers from the United Kingdom and Ireland arrived in Appalachia during the 18th century, and brought with them the musical traditions of their homelands. It has mixed roots in Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and English traditional music, and also later influenced by the music of African-Americans through incorporation of jazz elements. Bluegrass was inspired by the music of Appalachia.

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a subgenre of country music.

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