Quote Originally Posted by R_of_G View Post
Prepare to be shocked again? That's inaccurate.

The term "bluegrass" to describe the style of music originated in the middle of the last century (likely due to the association with the great Bill Monroe). The music itself is a derivative of "old time" music and is most assuredly a very old form of American roots music.

Also, I don't mean to blow off the rest of your answer as you're clearly putting thought into this discussion. I'm just hung up on the idea of a course in "Rock n Roll" getting a piece of American roots music history so fundamentally wrong. I shudder to think what (if anything) the course says about New Orleans jazz.
I can't say the teacher totally convinced me, and maybe why I unconsciously posted that as an example, hoping some other views would emerge. He did identify Bill Monroe as the culprit, and then the split off folks in Bill's group the Blue Grass Boys, Earl Scruggs and oh now I'm gonna flunk the test -- someone Flatt? Ahh, thank goodness for Wiki, Lester Flatt. But surely Monroe can't be the only bottleneck in that musical trend? Some research probably needed here.

What is "Miles' 70s electric bands" sounds interesting. Like Miles Davis?