Old Time and Bluegrass music uses a variety of instruments that originated from whatever people could find around the house to use. Many people brought instruments and ideas from their country of origins and blended it with new ideas in the neighborhood.

Stringed intruments were made from any kind of resonating body with some type of neck attached. One or more strings were then stretched across the body and up the neck where some sort of tuners were attached. Early instruments were unfretted and as time went on, a system was developed of frets that helped standardize the pitch.

Wind instruments consisted of flute like creations or blowing into bottles.

Percussion came about with anything they could beat on or hit together.

So, now that we are in the 21st century, instruments have become sophisticated. Firewood Band uses guitars, a string bass, fiddles, banjos, and mandolins. Yet sometimes we used the intruments of our forefathers. Firewood Band has been known to use washboards, jew's harps, a tin whistle, and sometimes a tambourine, spoons, and wood blocks because we need to have plenty of instruments for children to play when we are on the Andrus porch.

If you would like to know the histories of the instruments or the specifics of the instruments Firewood Band uses, click on the name of the instrument.

As you will be able to see all of us in Firewood Band are working to learn at least something on most of the instruments. And we are having a blast doing it.