@AndrewH its not all important as far as what the name is.  there are gray areas.    It matters to me if i look at the calendar and tonight is the bluegrass jam and tommorow is the old time jam.  I wasnt familiar with the differences until the last few years.  Id lump anything with a fiddle as bluegrass unless it was some top 40 country tune. 

ELCBK said

Wow, 3 years since this thread inspired a whole slew of rabbit holes all over the forum! 

...I still enjoy Carol Ann Wheeler's video demonstration! 

 

@AndrewH said:

Interesting. The impression I always got was that old time was more of the vocal tunes and bluegrass was faster and more rhythmic. I may have had it reversed, or maybe I was mostly paying attention to the solo breaks. Or maybe it's that most of the old time tunes I've heard have been played by beginner to intermediate level fiddlers.

 

I look at this now & realize there are MANY examples of 'Old Time' AND 'Bluegrass' tunes that have lyrics - they're sung AND danced to. The difference for me is the 'breakdown' in Bluegrass.

Tommy Jarrel does sing along with fiddling a few of his tunes (like in the OP video), but this 'Round Peak' (Surry County) Old Time Style feels (to me) more about zoning out to the mesmerizing, driving groove - perfect for the clogging styles of dancing. 

...I'd lose my place in no time!

  

oh yes..theres certainly old time music with lyrics for sure.  and a great fiddler e.g. Tommy Jarrel..can fiddle those and sing... In general as styles go though.. its more instrumental vs what youll find in bluegrass.  especially jam to jam..the main thing its good music!.  lines do blur though.. we can only generalized here anyway...it all depends on who is jamming, where, etc and so on. as a description to ones interested in the styles.

ELCBK said
 

Thanks!

Rats, I was too slow... added a video while you were replying to me! 

Tell me if you've seen that one.

no i havent but i will!   thank you!

agaun on styles to beat the hell outta a dead horse 🤣  the one came from the other so that should say something.  "OLD TIME" has been aroumd alot longer.  you see now how complicated it can be to describe each without there being a yeah but.  🙂  doesnt really matter unless someone reading this in the future is planning on jamming after learning or trying to learn fiddle tunes and is about to step into their first jam.  hopefully itll help on what to expect in general. our luck their 1st jam will have tubas.