Video: A Bluegrass Tribute to Earl Scruggs The death of Earl Scruggs, the virtuoso banjo player, in Nashville on Wednesday was mourned throughout the tight-knit bluegrass music world. Fellow musicians, many of whom had grown up listening to him or were lucky enough to meet and learn from him, remembered Mr. Scruggs as a shy but giving player. Reached at his home in Los Angeles via Skype, Steve Martin, the humorist and banjo player recalled learning to pick the song "Sally Goodin"" from Mr. Scruggs after a show in the late 1960s. "I couldn't believe he took time out to teach a young kid how to play his way of playing," said Mr. Martin. "It was a very lucky world to have lived in, to have known Earl," he said. John McEuen, a member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and a fellow banjo player, wrote in an email, "Earl Scruggs was a leader who demanded nothing of his countless followers, determined to perfect his art, yet unassuming as to his special talent and role as a legend in music. Scruggs was always excited and grateful to meet a new fan. Mr. McEuen, who will be playing at Studio 201 on Friday, said he plans to play many of Mr. Scruggs's tunes in his honor. At an informal session at the Jalopy Theater in Red Hook, Brooklyn, Noam Pikelny and Chris Eldridge, both members of the bluegrass band Punch Brothers jammed through a selection of Mr. Scruggs's songs with Steve Arkin, who began playing bluegrass banjo in the late 1050s. "For me, Earl Scruggs was the gold standard," said Mr. Arkin. His breaks were classical in the sense that you didn't feel the need to take away or replace a single note. For Mr. Eldridge, a guitar player, Mr. Scruggs was more than just a musical influence. He said he might not have been born had it not been for his parents" mutual love of the banjo and Mr. Scruggs" style, which initially brought them together. They were both bluegrass banjo players and anyone who does that does it because of Earl Scruggs, plain and simple. As I heard the news last night I was reflecting on Earl and I realized that I really owe my existence to Earl Scruggs," said Mr. Eldridge who then joined Mr. Arkin and Mr. Pikelny in a rousing version of "Fireball Mail," a classic Scruggs tune.