In the early days of music the guitar was used in a pretty basic form, it was played with a simple rhythm and a simple beat. As the years moved on the basic form of the guitar was transformed into a form of expression, outlet, and expert techniques. Johnny Cash was one of the first to change the way the guitar was played. Even though he wasn't exceptional it changed the way people saw the guitar. They saw it could be used for more than just an instrument, it could be used to say what people wanted to say threw the strings. Jimmie Hendrix came out and blew peoples minds with his style and performances. He could make sounds that no one ever even thought of with his guitar. He used to play a right handed guitar upside down with the strings reversed to fit his left handed style.
Duane Allman was the best slide guitarist in history. The way he played just sent chills, and excitement up peoples spines. He taught himself how to play by listening to old blues records over and over, he would slow them down and play them again. He gave the slide guitar it's popularity and respect. The banjo was introduced during the slave days and was made popular by the old black men that would sing and dance to it's tune. Later on many different genres claimed the banjo until it finally settled in the mountain music and bluegrass. Stevie Ray Vaughn was an expert lead guitarist along with Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. They have all been the stepping stones for how the guitar is played today.
There are even musicians in country music that play the lead guitar that have learned from the Geniuses from the past. Brad Paisley is an exceptional guitar player and Keith Urban who was once a rock and roll singer in Australia is one of the best in country music. No matter what genre of music people listen to the guitar is played in many different ways and will always continue to change when people push the limit and find new sounds. That's what music is all about.
Learning how to play jazz guitar is tougher than practicing a few chords. You'll need to study the structure of jazz music itself so you can capture the music's specific rhythm and tension. |
Knowing how to string a guitar is critical if one of your strings breaks. If you don't do it properly, your guitar just won't sound the same. |