From: oldbob@spamchilitech.net   
      
   Here's a snippit of some bluegrass jam rules I saw published here about 4   
   years ago:Instruments   
      
   The basic bluegrass instruments are guitar, mandolin, 5-string banjo, fiddle   
   and bass. All of the instruments are acoustic, with the possible exception   
   of the bass. If the electric bass is used, it should be adjusted to the   
   level and tonal quality of an acoustic bass. Other instruments which   
   sometime show up in jam sessions are:   
   Dobro, which is widely accepted and may be considered almost a standard   
   bluegrass instrument.   
    Harmonica, which is sometimes loved, sometimes tolerated and sometimes   
   hated. Autoharp, which may be too quiet to be effective in a full fledged   
   jam session Mountain dulcimer, which is often accepted but has even more of   
   a volume problem   
   than the autoharp.   
    Hammered dulcimer, which often plays "specialty tunes".   
    Accordion, which is sometimes included but often scorned (even though it   
   was a part of one of the early versions of Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass   
   Boys)   
   By and large, electric instruments and drums are out.   
      
   The Structure of a Bluegrass Song   
      
   Bluegrass songs are typically divided into a series of breaks, verses, and   
   choruses. A typical bluegrass song might be structured as follows:   
   (1) An initial Break (often call the Kickoff), (2) Verse, (3) Chorus, (4)   
   Break, (5) Verse, (6) Chorus, (7) Break, (8) Verse, (9) Chorus, (10) Break,   
   (11) Chorus   
      
   In each of the individual units, there is a lead activity and a backup   
   activity. In a break, usually one of the individual instruments takes the   
   lead while the rest of the instruments back him (or her) up. In the verse,   
   usually there is one lead singer. In the chorus, there are usually one, two,   
   three or four singers singing one, two, three of four part harmony. In both   
   the verse and the chorus, there is instrumental backup   
   music. The most important rule in bluegrass jamming is IF YOU ARE NOT   
   LEADING, YOUR JOB IS TO DO BACKUP IN SUCH A WAY AS TO MAKE THE LEAD SOUND AS   
   GOOD AS POSSIBLE. A point often missed by novices is that backup in a jam !   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)