Rhythm guitar
Encyclopedia
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle
that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythm
ic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony
, ie. the chords
, where a chord is a group of notes played together. Therefore, the basic technique of rhythm guitar is to hold down a series of chords with the fretting
hand while strumming rhythmically with the other hand. More developed rhythm techniques include arpeggios, damping, riffs, chord solos and complex strum
s.
In ensembles or "bands" playing within the acoustic
, country
, blues, rock
or metal
genres (among others), a guitarist playing the rhythm part of a composition plays the rôle of supporting the melodic lines and solos played on the lead instrument or instruments, be they string, brass, wind, keyboard or even percussion instruments, or simply the human voice, in the sense of playing steadily throughout the piece, whereas lead instruments and singers switch between carrying the main melody and falling silent. In big band
music, the guitarist is considered part of the rhythm section
, alongside bass and drums.
In some musical situations, such as a solo singer-guitarist, the guitar accompaniment provides all the rhythmic drive; in large ensembles it may be only a small part (perhaps one element in a polyrhythm
). Likewise, rhythm guitar can supply all of the harmonic input to a singer-guitarist or small band, but in ensembles that have other harmony instruments (such as keyboard
s) or vocal harmonists, its harmonic input will be less important
In the most commercially available and consumed genres, electric guitar
s tend to dominate their acoustic
cousins in both the recording studio
and the live venue. However the acoustic guitar
remains a popular choice in country
, western
and especially bluegrass music
, and is used almost exclusively in folk music
.
; however,many variations are possible.
A backbeat, is a syncopated
accentuation
on the "off" beat. In a simple 4/4 rhythm these are beats 2 and 4. Emphasized back beat, a feature of some African styles, defined rhythm and blues
recordings in the late 1940s and so became one of the defining characteristics of rock and roll
and much of contemporary popular music
.
", each comprising a root, third and fifth note of a given scale, interspersed four-note chords, which include the sixth, seventh or ninth note of the scale. Three-chord progressions are common in earlier pop and rock, using various combinations of the I, IV and V chords, with the 12-bar blues being particularly common. Minor and modal chord progressions feature in later popular music.
s, ie. to play individual notes in a chord separately. If this is done rapidly enough, listeners will still hear the sequence as harmony rather than melody. Arpeggiation is often used in folk and country, sometimes in imitation of older banjo
technique. It is also prominent in 1960s pop, such as The Animal
's House of the Rising Sun, and jangle pop
from the 1980s onwards. Rhythm guiarists who use apreggio often favour semi-acoustic guitars and twelve string guitar
s to get bright, undistorted "jangly" sound.
", that is repeated throughout the composition. In heavy metal
(or just "metal") music, this is typically expanded to more complex sequences comprising a combination of chords, single notes and palm muting. The rhythm guitar part in compositions performed by more technically oriented bands often include riffs employing complex lead guitar techniques. In some genres, especially metal, the audio signal from the rhythm guitar's output is often subsequently heavily distorted by overdriving the guitar's amplifier
to create a thicker, "crunchier" sound for the palm-muted rhythms.
within a song. In those with a single guitarist, the guitarist may play lead and rhythm at different times or simultaneously, by overlaying the rhythm sequence with a lead line.
playing.
In guitar-bass-and-drums power trio
s guitarists must double up between rhythm and lead. For instance Jimi Hendrix
combined full chords with solo lick
s, double stop
s and arpeggio
s.
The Pirates, when they established themselves in 1962-64 and again from 1976 onwards as a separate, power trio entity from Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, were pioneers of the technique of playing guitar solos with a thick chordal rhythm-guitar-like style, which was later popularised by Wilko Johnson
of Dr. Feelgood
in the 1970s.
A recent innovation is the use of a "looping pedal" to record a chord sequence or riff over which the lead line can then be played, simulating the sound achieved by having two guitarists.
guitar or a humbucker
-equipped electric guitar for a richer and fatter output. Also, rhythm guitarists may use strings of a larger gauge than those used by lead guitarists. However, while these may be practices, they are not necessarily the rule and is subject to the style of the song and the preference of the individual guitarist.
While rhythm guitarists in metal bands use distortion effects, they tend to use less of the modulation effects such as flangers
used by lead guitar players. Whereas the lead guitarist in a metal band is trying to make their solo tone more prominent, and thus uses a range of colorful effects, the rhythm guitarist is typically trying to provide a thick, solid supporting sound that blends in with the overall sound of the group. In alternative rock and post punk bands, though, where the band is trying to create an ambient soundscape rather than an aggressive Motörhead-style "Wall of Sound
", the rhythm guitarist may use flanging and delay effects to create a shimmering background.
than in, for instance, rock or pop. On the other hand, jazz guitarists are expected to have deep knowledge of harmony.
ists use their knowledge of harmony
and jazz theory to create jazz chord "voicings," which emphasize the 3rd and 7th notes of the chord. Some more sophisticated chord voicings also include the 9th, 11th, and 13th notes of the chord. In some modern jazz styles, dominant 7th chords in a tune may contain altered 9ths (either flattened by a semitone, which is called a "flat 9th", or sharpened by a semitone, which is called a "sharp 9th"); 11ths (sharpened by a semitone, which is called a "sharp 11th"); 13ths (typically flattened by a semitone, which is called a "flat 13th").
Jazz guitarists need to learn about a range of different chords, including major 7th, major 6th, minor 7th
, minor/major 7th, dominant 7th, diminished
, half-diminished
, and augmented chords. As well, they need to learn about chord transformations (e.g., altered chords, such as "alt dominant chords" described above), chord substitution
s, and re-harmonization techniques. Some jazz guitarists use their knowledge of jazz scales and chords to provide a walking bass-style accompaniment.
Jazz guitarists learn to perform these chords over the range of different chord progression
s used in jazz, such as the II-V-I progression, the jazz-style blues progression, the minor jazz-style blues form, the "rhythm changes
" progression, and the variety of chord progressions used in jazz ballads, and jazz standard
s. Guitarists may also learn to use the chord types, strumming styles, and effects pedals (e.g., chorus effect
or fuzzbox) used in 1970s-era jazz-Latin, jazz-funk, and jazz-rock fusion music.
s, popular during the 30s and 40s, the guitarist is considered an integral part of the rhythm section (guitar, drum
s and bass
). They usually played a regular four chords to the bar, although an amount of harmonic improvisation is possible. Freddie Green
, guitarist in the Count Basie
orchestra, was a noted exponent this style. The harmonies are often minimal; for instance, the root note
is often omitted on the assumption that it will be supplied by the bassist.
", short for "accompanying" The accompanying style in most jazz styles differs from the way chordal instruments accompany in many popular styles of music. In many popular styles of music, such as rock and pop, the rhythm guitarist usually performs the chords in rhythmic fashion which sets out the beat or groove of a tune. In contrast, in many modern jazz styles within smaller, the guitarist plays much more sparsely, intermingling periodic chords and delicate voicings into pauses in the melody or solo, and using periods of silence. Jazz guitarists commonly use a wide variety of inversions
when comping, rather than only using standard voicings.
is acoustic music which usually played without a drummer. Rhythm guitar in gypsy jazz
uses a special form of strumming known as "la pompe", ie "the pump". This form of percussive rhythm is similar to the "boom-chick" in bluegrass styles; it is what gives the music its fast swinging feeling. The strumming hand, which never touches the top of the guitar, must make a quick up-down strum followed by a down strum. The up-down part of la pompe must be done extremely fast, regardless of the tempo of the music. It is very similar to a grace note in classical music, albeit the fact that an entire chord is used. This pattern is usually played in unison by two or more guitarists in the rhythm section.
was noted for playing successive choruses in single notes, octaves and finally a chord solo. This technique differs from chord-melody soloing in that it is not intended to be used unaccompanied
jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths, or dominant seventh chords with altered ninths. However, unlike bebop jazz, with its complex, rapid-fire chord changes, funk virtually abandoned chord changes, creating static single chord vamps with little harmonic movement, but with a complex and driving rhythmic feel. Some of the best known and most skilful soloists in funk have jazz
backgrounds. The chords used in funk songs typically imply a dorian
or mixolydian
mode
, as opposed to the major or natural minor tonalities of most popular music. Melodic content was derived by mixing these modes with the blues scale
. .
In funk bands, guitarists typically play in a percussive style, often using the wah-wah
sound effect and muting the notes in their riffs to create a percussive sound. Guitarist Ernie Isley
of The Isley Brothers
and Eddie Hazel
of Funkadelic
were notably influenced by Jimi Hendrix
's improvised solos. Eddie Hazel, who worked with George Clinton, is one of the most notable guitar soloists in funk. Ernie Isley was tutored at an early age by Jimi Hendrix himself, when he was a part of The Isley Brothers backing band and lived in the attic temporarily at the Isleys' household. Jimmy Nolen
and Phelps Collins are famous funk rhythm guitarists who both worked with James Brown
.
in reggae usually plays the chords on beats two and four, a musical figure known as skank or the 'bang'. It has a very dampened, short and scratchy chop sound, almost like a percussion instrument. Sometimes a double chop is used when the guitar still plays the off beats, but also plays the following 8th beats on the up-stroke. An example is the intro to "Stir It Up
" by The Wailers. Artist and producer Derrick Harriott
says, “What happened was the musical thing was real widespread, but only among a certain sort of people. It was always a down-town thing, but more than just hearing the music. The equipment was so powerful and the vibe so strong that we feel it.”
Role
A role or a social role is a set of connected behaviours, rights and obligations as conceptualised by actors in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behaviour and may have a given individual social status or social position...
that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
ic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
, ie. the chords
Guitar chord
In music, a guitar chord is a chord, or collection of tones usually sounded together at once, played on a guitar. It can be composed of notes played on adjacent or separate strings or all the strings together...
, where a chord is a group of notes played together. Therefore, the basic technique of rhythm guitar is to hold down a series of chords with the fretting
Fretting
Fretting refers to wear and sometimes corrosion damage at the asperities of contact surfaces. This damage is induced under load and in the presence of repeated relative surface motion, as induced for example by vibration...
hand while strumming rhythmically with the other hand. More developed rhythm techniques include arpeggios, damping, riffs, chord solos and complex strum
Strum
In music, a strum or stroke is an action where a single surface touches several strings of a string instrument, such as a guitar, in order to set them all into motion and thereby play a chord...
s.
In ensembles or "bands" playing within the acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, blues, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
or metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
genres (among others), a guitarist playing the rhythm part of a composition plays the rôle of supporting the melodic lines and solos played on the lead instrument or instruments, be they string, brass, wind, keyboard or even percussion instruments, or simply the human voice, in the sense of playing steadily throughout the piece, whereas lead instruments and singers switch between carrying the main melody and falling silent. In big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
music, the guitarist is considered part of the rhythm section
Rhythm section
A rhythm section is a collection of musicians who make up a section of instruments which provides the accompaniment section of the music, giving the music its rhythmic texture and pulse, also serving as a rhythmic reference for the rest of the band...
, alongside bass and drums.
In some musical situations, such as a solo singer-guitarist, the guitar accompaniment provides all the rhythmic drive; in large ensembles it may be only a small part (perhaps one element in a polyrhythm
Polyrhythm
Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms.Polyrhythm in general is a nonspecific term for the simultaneous occurrence of two or more conflicting rhythms, of which cross-rhythm is a specific and definable subset.—Novotney Polyrhythms can be distinguished from...
). Likewise, rhythm guitar can supply all of the harmonic input to a singer-guitarist or small band, but in ensembles that have other harmony instruments (such as keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
s) or vocal harmonists, its harmonic input will be less important
In the most commercially available and consumed genres, electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
s tend to dominate their acoustic
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
cousins in both the recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
and the live venue. However the acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
remains a popular choice in country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, western
Western music (North America)
Western music originated as a form of American folk music. Originally composed by and about the people who settled and worked throughout the Western United States and Western Canada. Directly related musically to old English, Scottish, and Irish folk ballads, Western music celebrates the life of...
and especially bluegrass music
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
, and is used almost exclusively in folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
.
Rock and pop rhythms
Most rhythms in rock and blues are based on 4/4 time with a backbeatBackbeat
Backbeat is a term applied to a rhythmic accentuation on even beats.Backbeat may also refer to:*Backbeat , of pioneer rock and roll drummer Earl Palmer...
; however,many variations are possible.
A backbeat, is a syncopated
Syncopation
In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter . These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be...
accentuation
Accent (music)
In music, an accent is an emphasis placed on a particular note,either as a result of its context or specifically indicated by an accent mark.Accents contribute to the articulation and prosody of a performance of a musical phrase....
on the "off" beat. In a simple 4/4 rhythm these are beats 2 and 4. Emphasized back beat, a feature of some African styles, defined rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
recordings in the late 1940s and so became one of the defining characteristics of rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
and much of contemporary popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
.
Rock and pop harmony
Harmonically, in rock music, the most common way to construct chord progressions is to play "triadsTriad (music)
In music and music theory, a triad is a three-note chord that can be stacked in thirds. Its members, when actually stacked in thirds, from lowest pitched tone to highest, are called:* the Root...
", each comprising a root, third and fifth note of a given scale, interspersed four-note chords, which include the sixth, seventh or ninth note of the scale. Three-chord progressions are common in earlier pop and rock, using various combinations of the I, IV and V chords, with the 12-bar blues being particularly common. Minor and modal chord progressions feature in later popular music.
Arpeggios
One departure from the basic strummed chord technique is to play arpeggioArpeggio
An arpeggio is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously...
s, ie. to play individual notes in a chord separately. If this is done rapidly enough, listeners will still hear the sequence as harmony rather than melody. Arpeggiation is often used in folk and country, sometimes in imitation of older banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
technique. It is also prominent in 1960s pop, such as The Animal
The Animal
The Animal is a 2001 comedy film, directed by Luke Greenfield. It stars Rob Schneider, Colleen Haskell, Edward Asner, and John C. McGinley....
's House of the Rising Sun, and jangle pop
Jangle pop
Jangle pop is a genre of alternative rock from the mid-1980s that "marked a return to the chiming or jangly guitars and pop melodies of the '60s" bands such as The Byrds, with their electric twelve-string guitars and power pop song structures. Mid-1980s jangle pop was a non-mainstream "pop-based...
from the 1980s onwards. Rhythm guiarists who use apreggio often favour semi-acoustic guitars and twelve string guitar
Twelve string guitar
The twelve-string guitar is an acoustic or electric guitar with 12 strings in 6 courses, which produces a richer, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar...
s to get bright, undistorted "jangly" sound.
Riffs
In some cases, the chord progression is implied with a simplified sequence of two or three notes, sometimes called a "riffRIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
", that is repeated throughout the composition. In heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
(or just "metal") music, this is typically expanded to more complex sequences comprising a combination of chords, single notes and palm muting. The rhythm guitar part in compositions performed by more technically oriented bands often include riffs employing complex lead guitar techniques. In some genres, especially metal, the audio signal from the rhythm guitar's output is often subsequently heavily distorted by overdriving the guitar's amplifier
Guitar amplifier
A guitar amplifier is an electronic amplifier designed to make the signal of an electric or acoustic guitar louder so that it will produce sound through a loudspeaker...
to create a thicker, "crunchier" sound for the palm-muted rhythms.
Interaction with other guitarists
In bands with two or more guitarists, the guitarists may exchange or even duplicate roles for different songs or different sectionsSection (music)
In music, a section is "a complete, but not independent musical idea". Types of sections include the introduction or intro, exposition, recapitulation, verse, chorus or refrain, conclusion, coda or outro, fadeout, bridge or interlude...
within a song. In those with a single guitarist, the guitarist may play lead and rhythm at different times or simultaneously, by overlaying the rhythm sequence with a lead line.
Replacing lead guitar
Some rhythm techniques cross over into lead guitarLead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
playing.
In guitar-bass-and-drums power trio
Power trio
A power trio is a rock and roll band format where the traditional power trio has a lineup of guitar, bass and drums, leaving out the rhythm guitar or keyboard that are used in other rock music to fill out the sound with chords...
s guitarists must double up between rhythm and lead. For instance Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
combined full chords with solo lick
Lick (music)
In popular music genres such as rock or jazz music, a lick is "a stock pattern or phrase" consisting of a short series of notes that is used in solos and melodic lines...
s, double stop
Double stop
A double stop, in music terminology, is the act of playing two notes simultaneously on a melodic percussion instrument or stringed instrument...
s and arpeggio
Arpeggio
An arpeggio is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously...
s.
The Pirates, when they established themselves in 1962-64 and again from 1976 onwards as a separate, power trio entity from Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, were pioneers of the technique of playing guitar solos with a thick chordal rhythm-guitar-like style, which was later popularised by Wilko Johnson
Wilko Johnson
Wilko Johnson is an English guitarist and songwriter, particularly associated with the UK rhythm and blues band Dr. Feelgood in the 1970s.-Career:...
of Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Feelgood may refer to:In music:*Dr. Feelgood , an album by American band Mötley Crüe**"Dr. Feelgood" , a single and the title track from that album*"Dr. Feel Good", a song by Travie McCoy on the album Lazarus...
in the 1970s.
A recent innovation is the use of a "looping pedal" to record a chord sequence or riff over which the lead line can then be played, simulating the sound achieved by having two guitarists.
Equipment
Rhythm guitarists usually aim to generate a stronger rhythmic and chordal sound, in contrast to the lead guitarists' goal of producing a sustained, high-pitched melody line that can be heard over top of the band. As a result, rhythm and lead players may use different guitars and amplifiers. Rhythm guitarists may employ an electric acousticSemi-acoustic guitar
A semi-acoustic guitar or hollow-body electric is a type of electric guitar with both a sound box and one or more electric pickups. This is not the same as an electric acoustic guitar, which is an acoustic guitar with the addition of pickups or other means of amplification, either added by the...
guitar or a humbucker
Humbucker
A humbucker is a type of electric guitar pickup, first patented by Seth Lover and the Gibson company, that uses two coils, both generating string signal. Humbuckers have higher output than a single coil pickup since both coils are connected in series...
-equipped electric guitar for a richer and fatter output. Also, rhythm guitarists may use strings of a larger gauge than those used by lead guitarists. However, while these may be practices, they are not necessarily the rule and is subject to the style of the song and the preference of the individual guitarist.
While rhythm guitarists in metal bands use distortion effects, they tend to use less of the modulation effects such as flangers
Flanging
Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, with one signal delayed by a small and gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and notches are produced in the resultant frequency spectrum,...
used by lead guitar players. Whereas the lead guitarist in a metal band is trying to make their solo tone more prominent, and thus uses a range of colorful effects, the rhythm guitarist is typically trying to provide a thick, solid supporting sound that blends in with the overall sound of the group. In alternative rock and post punk bands, though, where the band is trying to create an ambient soundscape rather than an aggressive Motörhead-style "Wall of Sound
Wall of Sound
The Wall of Sound is a music production technique for pop and rock music recordings developed by record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, California, during the early 1960s...
", the rhythm guitarist may use flanging and delay effects to create a shimmering background.
Jazz
The rhythmic aspect of rhythm guitar is generally much less important in jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
than in, for instance, rock or pop. On the other hand, jazz guitarists are expected to have deep knowledge of harmony.
Jazz harmony
Jazz guitarJazz guitar
The term jazz guitar may refer to either a type of guitar or to the variety of guitar playing styles used in the various genres which are commonly termed "jazz"...
ists use their knowledge of harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
and jazz theory to create jazz chord "voicings," which emphasize the 3rd and 7th notes of the chord. Some more sophisticated chord voicings also include the 9th, 11th, and 13th notes of the chord. In some modern jazz styles, dominant 7th chords in a tune may contain altered 9ths (either flattened by a semitone, which is called a "flat 9th", or sharpened by a semitone, which is called a "sharp 9th"); 11ths (sharpened by a semitone, which is called a "sharp 11th"); 13ths (typically flattened by a semitone, which is called a "flat 13th").
Jazz guitarists need to learn about a range of different chords, including major 7th, major 6th, minor 7th
Minor 7th
Minor 7th is an online magazine that reviews non-mainstream acoustic guitar music. It was founded in November 1999 by Alan Fark, who claims to have created the magazine with the goal of "enabling independent or under-recognized acoustic guitarists to receive more wide-spread publicity." The website...
, minor/major 7th, dominant 7th, diminished
Diminished seventh chord
A diminished seventh chord is a four note chord that comprises a diminished triad plus the interval of a diminished seventh above the root. Thus it is , or enharmonically , of any major scale; for example, C diminished-seventh would be , or enharmonically...
, half-diminished
Half-diminished seventh chord
In music theory, the half-diminished seventh chord is created by taking the root, minor third, diminished fifth and minor seventh of any major scale; for example, C half-diminished is . Its consecutive intervals are minor 3rd, minor 3rd, major 3rd...
, and augmented chords. As well, they need to learn about chord transformations (e.g., altered chords, such as "alt dominant chords" described above), chord substitution
Chord substitution
In music theory, chord substitution is the use of a chord in the place of another related chord in a chord progression. Jazz musicians often substitute chords in the original progression to create variety and add interest to a piece. The substitute chord must have some harmonic quality and degree...
s, and re-harmonization techniques. Some jazz guitarists use their knowledge of jazz scales and chords to provide a walking bass-style accompaniment.
Jazz guitarists learn to perform these chords over the range of different chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
s used in jazz, such as the II-V-I progression, the jazz-style blues progression, the minor jazz-style blues form, the "rhythm changes
Rhythm changes
In jazz and jazz harmony, "rhythm changes" refers to the chord progression occurring in George Gershwin's song "I Got Rhythm". This pattern, which forms the basis of countless jazz compositions, was popular with swing-era musicians: It is found in "Shoeshine Boy" and "Cotton Tail" written by...
" progression, and the variety of chord progressions used in jazz ballads, and jazz standard
Jazz standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions which are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be...
s. Guitarists may also learn to use the chord types, strumming styles, and effects pedals (e.g., chorus effect
Chorus effect
In music, a chorus effect occurs when individual sounds with roughly the same timbre and nearly the same pitch converge and are perceived as one...
or fuzzbox) used in 1970s-era jazz-Latin, jazz-funk, and jazz-rock fusion music.
Big band rhythm
In jazz big bandBig band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
s, popular during the 30s and 40s, the guitarist is considered an integral part of the rhythm section (guitar, drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s and bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
). They usually played a regular four chords to the bar, although an amount of harmonic improvisation is possible. Freddie Green
Freddie Green
Frederick William "Freddie" Green was an American swing jazz guitarist. He was especially noted for his sophisticated rhythm guitar in big band settings, particularly for the Count Basie orchestra, where he was part of the "All-American Rhythm Section" with Basie on piano, Jo Jones on drums, and...
, guitarist in the Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
orchestra, was a noted exponent this style. The harmonies are often minimal; for instance, the root note
Root (chord)
In music theory, the root of a chord is the note or pitch upon which a triadic chord is built. For example, the root of the major triad C-E-G is C....
is often omitted on the assumption that it will be supplied by the bassist.
Small group comping
When jazz guitarists play chords underneath a song's melody or another musician's solo improvisations, it is called "compingComping
Comping is a term used in jazz music to describe the chords, rhythms, and countermelodies that keyboard players or guitar players use to support a jazz musician's improvised solo or melody lines....
", short for "accompanying" The accompanying style in most jazz styles differs from the way chordal instruments accompany in many popular styles of music. In many popular styles of music, such as rock and pop, the rhythm guitarist usually performs the chords in rhythmic fashion which sets out the beat or groove of a tune. In contrast, in many modern jazz styles within smaller, the guitarist plays much more sparsely, intermingling periodic chords and delicate voicings into pauses in the melody or solo, and using periods of silence. Jazz guitarists commonly use a wide variety of inversions
Inversion (music)
In music theory, the word inversion has several meanings. There are inverted chords, inverted melodies, inverted intervals, and inverted voices...
when comping, rather than only using standard voicings.
Gypsy pumping
Gypsy jazzGypsy jazz
Gypsy jazz is an idiom often said to have been started by guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt in the 1930s. Because its origins are largely in France it is often called by the French name, "Jazz manouche," or alternatively, "manouche jazz," even in English language sources...
is acoustic music which usually played without a drummer. Rhythm guitar in gypsy jazz
Gypsy jazz
Gypsy jazz is an idiom often said to have been started by guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt in the 1930s. Because its origins are largely in France it is often called by the French name, "Jazz manouche," or alternatively, "manouche jazz," even in English language sources...
uses a special form of strumming known as "la pompe", ie "the pump". This form of percussive rhythm is similar to the "boom-chick" in bluegrass styles; it is what gives the music its fast swinging feeling. The strumming hand, which never touches the top of the guitar, must make a quick up-down strum followed by a down strum. The up-down part of la pompe must be done extremely fast, regardless of the tempo of the music. It is very similar to a grace note in classical music, albeit the fact that an entire chord is used. This pattern is usually played in unison by two or more guitarists in the rhythm section.
Jazz chord soloing
Jazz guitar soloists are not limited to playing single notes by their instrument. This allows them to create "chord solos" by adding the song's melody on top of the chord voicings. Wes MontgomeryWes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
was noted for playing successive choruses in single notes, octaves and finally a chord solo. This technique differs from chord-melody soloing in that it is not intended to be used unaccompanied
Funk
Funk utilized the same extended chords found in bebopBebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
jazz, such as minor chords with added sevenths and elevenths, or dominant seventh chords with altered ninths. However, unlike bebop jazz, with its complex, rapid-fire chord changes, funk virtually abandoned chord changes, creating static single chord vamps with little harmonic movement, but with a complex and driving rhythmic feel. Some of the best known and most skilful soloists in funk have jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
backgrounds. The chords used in funk songs typically imply a dorian
Dorian mode
Due to historical confusion, Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different musical modes or diatonic scales, the Greek, the medieval, and the modern.- Greek Dorian mode :...
or mixolydian
Mixolydian mode
Mixolydian mode may refer to one of three things: the name applied to one of the ancient Greek harmoniai or tonoi, based on a particular octave species or scale; one of the medieval church modes; a modern musical mode or diatonic scale, related to the medieval mode.-Greek Mixolydian:The idea of a...
mode
Musical mode
In the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...
, as opposed to the major or natural minor tonalities of most popular music. Melodic content was derived by mixing these modes with the blues scale
Blues scale
The term blues scale is used to describe a few scales with differing numbers of pitches and related characteristics. See: blues.The hexatonic, or six note, blues scale consists of the minor pentatonic scale plus the 4th or 5th degree...
. .
In funk bands, guitarists typically play in a percussive style, often using the wah-wah
Wah-wah pedal
A wah-wah pedal is a type of guitar effects pedal that alters the tone of the signal to create a distinctive effect, mimicking the human voice...
sound effect and muting the notes in their riffs to create a percussive sound. Guitarist Ernie Isley
Ernie Isley
Ernest "Ernie" Isley is a member of the iconic American musical ensemble, The Isley Brothers.-Life and career:Ernie was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, where his older brothers formed The Isley Brothers, first as a gospel group, then as a secular-singing group. In 1960 his family moved to Englewood and...
of The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers are a highly influential, successful and long-running American music group consisting of different line-ups of six brothers, and a brother-in-law, Chris Jasper...
and Eddie Hazel
Eddie Hazel
Edward Earl "Eddie" Hazel was a guitarist in early funk music in the United States who played lead guitar with Parliament-Funkadelic...
of Funkadelic
Funkadelic
Funkadelic was an American band most prominent during the 1970s. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:...
were notably influenced by Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
's improvised solos. Eddie Hazel, who worked with George Clinton, is one of the most notable guitar soloists in funk. Ernie Isley was tutored at an early age by Jimi Hendrix himself, when he was a part of The Isley Brothers backing band and lived in the attic temporarily at the Isleys' household. Jimmy Nolen
Jimmy Nolen
Jimmy Nolen was an American guitarist, known for his distinctive "chicken scratch" lead guitar playing in James Brown's bands.-Early life and career:...
and Phelps Collins are famous funk rhythm guitarists who both worked with James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
.
Reggae
The guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
in reggae usually plays the chords on beats two and four, a musical figure known as skank or the 'bang'. It has a very dampened, short and scratchy chop sound, almost like a percussion instrument. Sometimes a double chop is used when the guitar still plays the off beats, but also plays the following 8th beats on the up-stroke. An example is the intro to "Stir It Up
Stir It Up
"Stir It Up" is a song composed by Bob Marley in 1967, written for his wife Rita, and first made popular by Johnny Nash. Nash's recording hit the top 15 in both Britain and America in 1972....
" by The Wailers. Artist and producer Derrick Harriott
Derrick Harriott
Derrick Harriott is a singer and record producer. He has produced recordings by Big Youth, Chariot Riders, The Chosen Few, Dennis Brown, The Ethiopians, Keith & Tex, The Kingstonians, Rudy Mills, Scotty, Sly & Revolutionaries, and Winston McAnuff.-Biography:As a student at Excelsior High School,...
says, “What happened was the musical thing was real widespread, but only among a certain sort of people. It was always a down-town thing, but more than just hearing the music. The equipment was so powerful and the vibe so strong that we feel it.”