Most but not all of these recordings are of Monroe playing Monroe tunes.

Big Mon is a great rippin' fiddle tune. Bill shows how it goes in the original 1958 recording, then listen to a Sam Bush version. This is the end of a duet with Jerry Douglas, where they've just picked the tempo up at the end.

Bluegrass Breakdown is a classic Monroe instrumental. Frank Wakefield kicks it off, from a live recording in 2001 (used by permission of Frank Wakefield & Jim Moss, candlewater.com).

Bluegrass Stomp is the most popular of Monroe's stomp tunes. This is Bill's second break from the original 1949 recording. Frank Wakefield plays it his own way, then Bill's way, from The Kitchen Tapes, 1963.

Daybreak in Dixie- Bill Napier wrote and recorded this classic with the Stanley Brothers in 1957. Not a Monroe tune, but note the Monroe gallop throughout.

Get Up John is played in open D tuning (F#A/DD/aa/ad- low to hi) and is an example of Bill's cross-tuned sound. Alternate tunings are not uncommon among old time fiddlers, a strong influence on Monroe's sound. This is from a live recording from 1954. Then Frank Wakefield takes Get Up John for a ride (used by permission of Frank Wakefield & Jim Moss, candlewater.com).

Gold Rush- Monroe sits in on Mark O'Connor's fiddle tribute album Heroes to play a break on his own tune.

My Father's Footsteps- this is Monroe playing on former Blue Grass Boy Butch Robins' album Grounded Centered and Focused. It's typical of the simple tunes Monroe wrote during his later years.

Monroe's Hornpipe - compare the original from 1958 with a version recorded in 1980. The arpeggio runs and upstroke accents are typical Bill.

Pike County Breakdown is Monroe's adaptation of the more sedate "Sweet Betsy from Pike". This is classic Bill, never playing the same section exactly the same. Then hear Ronnie McCoury tear into it, from a live recording of the Del McCoury Band. Finally, Chris Thile wows the crowd with his version at a festival workshop at a recent Merlefest.

Soldiers Joy- Mike Compton plays a Monroe variation on this fiddle tune, from a live recording with David Grier.

Tennessee Blues- the first tune Bill says he wrote, recorded in 1940.  Ricky Skaggs  pays his respects to the tune on his 1980 brother duet recording with Tony Rice.

Rawhide-  the alpha dog tune for bluegrass mandolin players. WSM live from 1963 and an abbreviated version from Sam Bush, Mike Marshall and Joe Craven.

Louisville Breakdown- Doyle Lawson romps through Louisville Breakdown in a Monroe inspired medley from his Tennessee Dream LP.

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