Earl Scruggs was an American musician noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style, now called “Scruggs style”, that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music.

His three-finger style of playing was radically different from the ways the five-string banjo had been historically played.

He popularized the instrument in several genres of music and elevated the banjo from its role as a background rhythm instrument, or a comedian’s prop, into featured solo status.