Why Guitar

[raylinds]

In reading threads, I see a number of comments from people like, 'my favorite players are not jazz guitarists,' or, 'my favorite jazz instrument is not a guitar.' That got me to wondering why people have chosen to play jazz on a guitar, including myself.

While I always liked jazz, I started playing blues guitar, as that was my passion when I was young. At some point, I started to get more into jazz than the blues (though still love it and play it). Since my favorite jazzers were Rollins and Coltrane, I started to learn tenor saxophone. As an apartment dweller, it became very impractical to practice tenor sax without incurring the wrath of neighbors.

I started to listen to more jazz guitarists, and fell in love with the sound of the instrument. Also, since I had experience playing guitar, it seemed like a sensible choice of jazz instrument, and I found tenor lines sounded great on the instrument.

What is the reason you chose the guitar?

[gglol]

i had the exact same experience. i started playing guitar emulating my favorite blues guitarists and jam band artists (trey anastasio, jerry garcia), got into jazz through their improvisation. now my favorite musicians are coltrane, rollins, charlie parker, stan getz et al. so i started learning alto sax (while keeping up with guitar). its much easier learning a second instrument i've found! but although guitar is probably not my favorite solo jazz instrument, its chord melody and comping where it shines the most imo.

check out sonny rollins with jim hall here, great solo and great compage. you can't not want to be both.

sonny rollins live - YouTube

[JakeAcci]

To me it's a compromise:

I started playing guitar to play rock, pop, and folk. I didn't get into jazz seriously until I had already been playing ten years or so. I already had a lot of knowledge on the guitar, so it seemed crazy to start a different instrument, rather than build on what I already had.

I'll admit to being one of the folks who doesn't usually dig jazz guitarists all that much, and part of it is tone, timbre, and limitations of the instrument (compared to piano,) but another part of it is that I do think there's a certain attitude that guitar players tend to have in common that might be a bit of a turn off to me. Don't infer that I'm talking about cockiness or arrogance, it's more of just a general approach to music making.

I love piano and relate to that instrument the most, but in a sense nothing beats the convenience of a guitar - I can bring it anywhere as an acoustic, and as an electric/archtop I just bring my little polytone amp and I'm set.

Relative to other instruments, guitar is cheap, portable, accessible, and fun!

Lastly, I love jazz, but it's not the only genre I love or am interested in playing. I find that what I learn about jazz on the guitar helps me quite a bit in the other genres I play.

[mr. beaumont]

I too, was already pretty firmly entrenched as a guitar player when I finally started taking jazz seriously about 10 years ago.

I think I like listening to other instruments more than guitar because of the wow factor...there's very few guitarisms I hear and I can't figure out what the player was thinking...but with horns and piano and even drums, there's sooo many things that are idiomatic to that instrument that are still foreign to me...

I would not say I'm a jazz guitar player who dislikes jazz guitar, I own a lot of "jazz guitar" albums...I just get my ear caught easier by those other instruments...

[Stevebol]

I figured it would be better to be a so-so guitarist than a terrible violinist.

[FatJeff]

Because guitar players get the most chicks.

[raylinds]

Originally Posted by FatJeff

Because guitar players get the most chicks.

We have a winner!

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Originally Posted by FatJeff

Because guitar players get the most chicks.

So how's jazz guitar working out for you?

[raylinds]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

I too, was already pretty firmly entrenched as a guitar player when I finally started taking jazz seriously about 10 years ago.

I think I like listening to other instruments more than guitar because of the wow factor...there's very few guitarisms I hear and I can't figure out what the player was thinking...but with horns and piano and even drums, there's sooo many things that are idiomatic to that instrument that are still foreign to me...

I would not say I'm a jazz guitar player who dislikes jazz guitar, I own a lot of "jazz guitar" albums...I just get my ear caught easier by those other instruments...

Yeah, I know what you mean. I have to admit that I much prefer playing single note lines versus chords. One of the things that I thought was cool with playing tenor sax was that I never had to play more than one note. Then I heard cats like Coltrane doing multiphonics. That really blew my mind!

[FatJeff]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles

So how's jazz guitar working out for you?

What do you mean? Is this a jazz guitar forum or something? Hey wait a minute...I thought this was the pentatonic pattern guitar forum!

No wonder I'm not getting any action.

[augusjazz]

I like the guitar, I started as a teenager because I liked the rock.
From there, I never thought to play another instrument for popular music.
Besides the guitar can sing at the same time.

[ah.clem]

My dream instrument is piano, but I just don't have the talent/ability/whatever to be a really good solo pianist. Good enough to comp and work out arrangements, but realistically, I'm just not that good, even after years of jazz piano study. For some reason the guitar is very approachable for me and I find it much more manageable than the piano, easier to feel successful. I've started CM lessons and I am quite happy with how good I feel about my playing.

[Sphere]

Guitar is the most popular instrument, so it makes sense that a lot of guitar players get into jazz.
I had already been playing for a few years when I started listening to a lot of jazz, and pretty much none of it was guitar related. Some of the most interesting, and important, jazz musicians were not guitarists, unfortunately. Even these days a lot, if not most, jazz guitarists limit themselves to the language of bebop.

[Billnc]

I have always been fascinated with sound, as a kid I wanted to play organ. Guitar was far more affordable than a B3 so I got one. My first teacher only taught jazz. After hours he would help me with my pop group but lessons were only jazz. I've always liked jazz, not that I was exposed to too much as a kid but I lived with my grandparents and my grandmother had some Nat King Cole jazz records I loved.
I've played sax, guitar, bass, both fretted and fretless (actually until last year my main professional instrument for twenty years) and keyboards. Of all these instruments the ones that hold the most fascination with me tone wise, when alone and practicing are an archtop (I've learned this is a must for me though I don't care what others play) and a fretless bass. There are similar tonal qualities to both I think.
I think a guitar is the most gorgeous sounding chordal instrument there is.

[jayx123]

I started playing tenor sax ( 5 years) but had to give it up because the reed had a bad effect on my lips. maybe it was a mild allergic reaction to it. I had a guitar at home and taught myself to play and gave up the sax, I never studied guitar with a teacher but. I had 2 jazz teachers which are pianists. I love the guitar but I also love the tenor sax. maybe having starting out on the sax makes me much more interested in single line improvisations then comping or chord melody.

Jay

[eddy b.]

I like the way it feels...the vibration on my chest...the strings on the fingers...the way it sounds, all the nuance of sound from where the string is picked to amps and effects etc. the guitar is a physical manifestaion of infinite sound possibilties...I mean c'mon it's the GUITAR it's COOL!!!

[strumcat]

I didn't have a choice. When I was 14, the big kid who lived upstairs told me I had to learn how to play guitar because he wanted to do a duet in a talent show. Being young and impressionable, and not knowing any better, I just did it. Then I read some book or other by some guy named Happy Traum and learned how to finger-pick. Years later I stumbled in here looking for advice on amps, and haven't found my way out yet. So now I figure I should learn how jazz guitar works, and I'm doing the study group thread thing. One day I hope to be able to make jazz-like sounds and make the big bucks and have all the babes like everyone else here.

[Tom Karol]

I chose guitar simply because I love the way it sounds. Still do! I also like the fact that it's polyphonic, so you can play solo effectively. If I didn't play guitar, I think I would have gravitated towards vibes or a B3, but neither of those are very portable. For horns, it would be tenor sax or trombone; I think I just like instruments that have roughly the same range as my voice. Of course, for portability, flute should have been an option!

[Atticus]

I started on electric bass, which got me into jazz. Though there are very skillful bassists in blues, reggae, rock, metal, and all sorts of other genres, jazz bassists (fusion bassists in particular) are top of the heap. I wanted to play in my school's jazz band, but our bassist is too good for me to replace. I had started learning a bit of guitar for songwriting purposes about a year before, so I decided to make guitar my main focus and join as a guitarist. One of the two they had dropped out, and the other one is one of my best friends and we've spent loads of time working together since he has experience and technique, and I have a lot of knowledge of theory that he lacks.

Now, if I could go back in time and choose a concert band instrument besides tuba, it would either be tenor sax, bari sax, or bassoon (which doesn't really have a place in jazz, though I'd be interested to see someone contradict me on that). But I dig playing guitar. I have one of the greatest ranges in the band, and I don't have to bust my lips to play high notes like I do on tuba. Guitar is flexible- bass lines, chords, melodies, whatever role needs filling, I can do it. I can also play in more genres- besides jazz, blues, and concert band, there's not a lot of call for wind instruments. I can do jam with a folk group one night, have jazz band rehearsal the next, and play with a rock band later in the week. And I love the sound of a chord. Vocal harmonies are one of the most powerful things in music, but since I'm a terrible singer and can't be a chorus by myself anyway, a polyphonic instrument suits me.

Oh, and my Tele, Lunchbox, and bag of cords, picks, and misc. gear is a lot less heavy than my bass rig or my tuba (probably lighter than a bari, too, come to think of it).