RIP Earl Scruggs

Bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs died Wednesday morning:

Banjo player Earl Scruggs, who helped define the sound of bluegrass, died Wednesday morning. Scruggs, who began playing the banjo when he was four years old, just after his father died, and would go on to become a member of some of the most influential groups in bluegrass.
Scruggs died of natural causes in a Nashville hospital, according to his son. He was 88 years old.Scruggs played in Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys band, and later led Flatt & Scruggs with guitarist Lester Flatt. But his lifelong affection for the banjo began long before, as a young boy on the North Carolina farm where he grew up. At first, he tried a picking technique using just his thumb and index finger, but he always wanted to poke his middle finger into the mix. The picking technique he developed, using three fingers, revolutionized banjo playing and took on his name: Scruggs style.