Why Earl Scruggs was the Beethoven of the banjo

Published on April 7, 2026

A trip to North Carolina to study bluegrass yielded this lesson: Earl Scruggs was the greatest there ever was.

I spent a couple of months last year studying bluegrass in North Carolina, and I learned that there is one tune you never ask a banjo player to play for you. “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” Earl Scruggs’s most famous instrumental, is a tune so familiar, so oft-played, that even suggesting it at a jam will mark you out as an idiot know-nothing newcomer. It’s the equivalent of self-identifying as a Trekkie when the correct term is Trekker.

If you know one banjo tune – well, if you only know one – it’s probably “Duelling Banjos,” and you probably heard it in the film *Deliverance* or in one of the endless pastiches you can now watch on YouTube (my favorite is this one from *Father Ted*). But if you know two, then the other one, I will bet you now, was written . Scruggs was the most influential banjo player there has ever been: he was banjo’s Bach, Beethoven, and Bob Dylan all rolled into one.

He pioneered the three-finger style of picking responsible for the sound you hear whenever you think of the instrument’s fleet-fingered, jangling sound. Until then, banjo players played in the traditional “clawhammer” style – Scruggs’s use of the third finger allowed him to play the driving arpeggios that we associate with banjo music today.

Earl Scruggs’s impact on music is immeasurable, and his techniques have become the standard for countless banjo players who followed in his footsteps. For anyone wishing to understand the evolution of bluegrass, one must begin with Scruggs. His innovative approach transformed the banjo from a humble folk instrument into a centerpiece of American roots music. The legacy he left behind continues to influence musicians across various genres, solidifying his position as the unparalleled master of the banjo.

Why Earl Scruggs was the Beethoven of the banjo

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