The high lonesome sound is the name for the high, hard-edged, emotional singing at the center of bluegrass. “High” is the pitch: a lead voice near the top of its range, with a tenor harmony above it. “Lonesome” is the feeling: songs about loss and distance, sung with a tight, plain tone. People use the phrase for Bill Monroe’s singing and for the whole style that followed him.
Where the phrase comes from
The phrase did not start with a bluegrass band. John Cohen, a musician and filmmaker with the New Lost City Ramblers, coined it for the singing of Roscoe Holcomb, a banjo player and singer from Daisy, Kentucky. Cohen filmed in eastern Kentucky in 1962 and released a short documentary called The High Lonesome Sound in 1963. A Roscoe Holcomb album with the same title followed in 1965.
Holcomb was an old-time mountain singer, not a bluegrass performer. The film did include Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys playing a show in Hazard, Kentucky.
The phrase moved to bluegrass soon after. In 1966, Decca released an album called The High, Lonesome Sound of Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys. From then on, the words were tied to Monroe and to bluegrass singing.
What “high” means
Bluegrass singers pitch songs high. The lead sings near the top of a comfortable range. The tenor harmony sits above the lead. The result is a sound that carries over banjos and fiddles with no microphone.
Bill Monroe had a high voice and often sang the tenor part above his lead singers. That high harmony on the chorus is one of the marks of the style. Read how to sing tenor on a bluegrass chorus.
This is one reason bluegrass jams use keys such as B and B flat. Singers choose the key that puts the song near the top of the voice. Read how to play in the key of B.
What “lonesome” means
Lonesome is harder to pin down. It is a mix of three things.
The tone. The voice is straight and tight, with little vibrato. Singers push the sound forward. It can sound raw.
The notes. Singers bend and slide into notes. They lean on notes that sit between major and minor, which gives the melody a bluesy color.
The songs. Many bluegrass songs are about leaving home, lost love, death, and hard times. A fast banjo can sit under a sad story.
Monroe had his own words for the old feeling in his music. He spoke of “ancient tones.”
Where the sound comes from
The singing draws on older music from the southern mountains: unaccompanied ballads, church singing, and the blues. Holcomb’s singing came from those same sources, which is why a phrase made for him fit bluegrass so well.
Who to listen to
Bill Monroe. Start here. Listen to his tenor on the choruses.
The Stanley Brothers. Carter Stanley sang lead and Ralph Stanley sang tenor above him. Ralph Stanley’s voice is one of the starkest in the music.
Del McCoury. Del McCoury sang lead for Monroe in the 1960s and carries the high, cutting style today.
Roscoe Holcomb. Listen to hear where the phrase began.
On this site, read about Man of Constant Sorrow and In the Pines, two songs that show the lonesome side of the music.
Not every bluegrass singer sounds this way
The phrase describes the center of the tradition, not all of it. Many bluegrass singers have smooth, warm voices. Bands since the 1960s have used softer harmony and lower keys. All of it is bluegrass.
When someone says a band has “that high lonesome sound,” they mean it sings in the older, harder style of Monroe and the Stanley Brothers.
What it means for a new singer
A new singer does not need a high voice to sing bluegrass. Pick the key that fits your own voice. Read how to find your singing key.
Three habits bring a voice closer to the style.
Sing near the top of your range, where the voice has an edge, and stop short of strain.
Sing with a straight tone. Leave out the vibrato.
Sing the words plain and clear, and let the story carry the feeling.
For how the harmony parts stack, read lead, tenor, and baritone: how bluegrass harmony works. For more words that bluegrass players use, read bluegrass slang.
Sources
The High, Lonesome Sound of Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, Wikipedia
John Cohen (musician), Wikipedia
Roscoe Holcomb: Stranger in a strange land, No Depression
John Cohen’s The high lonesome sound, Bluegrass Ireland Blog