“Kentucky Mandolin” is an instrumental written by Bill Monroe, the founder of bluegrass and a defining mandolin player. He recorded it with his Blue Grass Boys.
Set in G minor, the tune has a dark, brooding cast unusual among bluegrass instrumentals. It is a mandolin feature, built to show the instrument Monroe made central to the music, and it carries a haunting, almost modal quality.
The tune has become a standard piece for bluegrass mandolinists.
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