Guitars and Jazz Musicians

Few artists have a passion for their musical instruments as do jazz and blues guitarists. One of the most well known blues musicians, B.B. King, even named his jazz guitar Lucille, thus giving his guitar a life of itself. Electric guitars originally came onto the music scene in the 1930's. With the advent of rock and roll, the electric guitar became one of the most coveted instruments with the youth of America.

Originally these electric guitars were made with a single pickup. A pickup allows the electric guitar player to attain different levels of quality with their guitar. As time progressed, jazz guitars were made with two and three pickups for versatility of sound. There are now two types of electric guitar. One is hollow bodied and the other is solid bodied. Most Jazz musicians use hollow bodied guitars because Jazz guitars have a mellower sound than the traditional electric guitar, a sound that is needed for the traditional sound of jazz music.

The original selling point of 6-String electric guitars to most jazz musicians was volume. In the past the guitar was relegated to the back of a jazz band while the brass and the drums were the driving force. Jazz guitars brought the sound of the guitar into the forefront, making electric guitar the most important sound in a jazz ensemble.

Many of jazz's most accomplished players are not heard of outside the circles of the jazz world. Charlie Christian played with the Benny Goodman Orchestra and was one of the first to be featured in jazz guitar solos in a highly public arena. Freddie Green played with the Count Basie Orchestra with a jazz guitar beat that kept the hard rhythm of swing band music at the fevered pace required.

Few understand that the jazz guitar and the electric guitar used by rock bands differ in any way. In fact they are quite different and jazz guitars are required to produce the tones and melodies required by jazz music.