Soloing - Bluegrass style

[Andy B]

Things that helped me:

1. Keep the pick moving.

2. Play the words.

3. Listen to a lot of Bill Monroe and other first and second generation players.

4. Find someone whose playing you like and ask them to show you something. There are a lot of ways to sound good. Most bluegrass players are friendly and helpful.

[Timbofood]

Andy mentions the "Ask the picker" point. In forty years of playing this stuff, I have not found many players who were not willing to share. The first one was the first summer I started playing, Wendy Miller took me on the bus and showed me his tuning for "Windy Chimes" when we was working with Larry Sparks. That was a day I will remember the rest of my life, the genuine enjoyment he showed when he showed me how it worked. Still one of my TOP mandolin players to listen to. His son posts here now and then, he strikes me as being very much the same.
The guys out working the style are mostly very willing to talk, sometimes they are really busy but I've only been shot down by two that I can remember, both recently as a matter of fact. Time of day, heat, may well have been factors too.