Instruments

Many instruments are used in jazz music. The instruments in the marching band formed the nucleus of early jazz combos. These include a cornet or trumpet for the main melody along with a clarinet and trombone for counter melodies. A rhythm section containing drums, string bass or tuba, and a banjo or guitar accompanies these melody instruments.

Banjo

The banjo is a plucked instrument. It has a long fretted neck piercing a circular frame over which a membrane is tightened with thumbscrews. It often contains a resonator over the open back. In the early 20th century the banjo became an important rhythmic instrument of the jazz band. It is now cultivated as a folk instrument.

Saxophone

The saxophone is the most common instrument used in jazz music. Although it appears to be from the brass family, it is actually a woodwind because it has a reed. This instrument fits well into bands because its sound blends well with other instruments. Composers of other more serious forms of music have also written for the saxophone. However, it has been most effectively used in jazz and other popular music. Many jazz performers have become famous playing the saxophone.

Trumpet

The trumpet has been a principal jazz instrument since the beginning. Early jazz musicians such as King Oliver and Louis Armstrong played the trumpet. Jazz trumpet styles have influenced both the way the orchestral trumpet is played and much of the contemporary music written for the trumpet.

Drums

Drums are among the oldest musical instruments. They are the best known of all percussion instruments. They are found all over the world in many different shapes and sizes. Traps are an assorted set of drums and other percussion devices played by a single performer. These are a standard feature of jazz music.

Trombone

The trombone is a brass wind instrument. It uses a slide to regulate pitch. There are two types of trombones, the slide and the valved. The player of the slide trombone moves the slide. The bell joint passes over the shoulder. The trombone was a featured instrument in jazz bands. The term "tailgate" is used to describe jazz music and a style of New Orleans trombone playing in the early 1900's. This refers to the use of slides and slurs produced only by the trombone. This is also known as portamento.

Keyboard

The keyboard is like a piano but is electric and can produce many more tones and sounds than a regular piano. It can imitate many different instruments. The keyboard was introduced in jazz music during the early 1970's

Electric Guitar

The electric guitar is a guitar whose sound comes through an amplifier. Jazz music used these instruments for melody sounds and bass sound. This instrument was also introduced in jazz music during the 1970's.

Home