Jazz guitar
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The term jazz guitar may refer to either a type of guitar or to the variety of playing styles used in the various genres which are commonly termed "jazz." The guitar has a long history in jazz music, as both an ensemble and solo instrument. These styles were shaped by some of the genre's influential jazz guitarists.
The earliest guitars used in jazz were acoustic; while acoustic guitars are still sometimes used in jazz, most jazz guitarists since the 1940s have performed on an amplified electric guitar. Typically, jazz electric guitarists use an archtop with a big soundbox, violin-style f-holes, a "floating bridge", and a magnetic pickup. Solid body guitars are also used.
Jazz guitar playing styles include "comping" with jazz chord voicings (and in some cases walking basslines) and "blowing" (improvising) over jazz chord progressions with jazz-style phrasing and ornaments. Comping refers to playing chords underneath a song's melody or another musician's solo improvisations. When jazz guitar players improvise, they may use the scales, modes, and arpeggios associated with the chords in a tune's chord progression.
