Jazz Instruments

A music genre that sprang up in the early 20th century in the African-American community came to be known as jazz. The slaves brought from Africa, brought along with them their rich musical culture. In America, these slaves learned to play European instruments like the violin and incorporated them in their style of playing. Many African-Americans played pianos in bars to earn their livelihoods after the abolition of slavery. Places like New Orleans were a hot bed for musicians playing their jazz instruments to create new sounds. The most common jazz instruments are the saxophone and the piano.

Jazz music has evolved over the ages and has seen the inclusion of many instruments in this genre of music. There are different styles of playing jazz, and the instruments used depends on the style. Jazz music is played with a combination of musical instruments, and some of these jazz instruments are:

Trumpet
A brass instrument with three valves, it is played by blowing air into the mouth piece. The player can press the valves to change the pitch. Some of the famous jazz trumpet players include Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong.

Double Bass
A double bass is large stringed instrument, resembling a big violin, which has a hollow wooden body with four metal strings. Many bass players use a wooden bow threaded with horse hair to play melodies, but some prefer to use their fingers to pluck the strings.

Saxophone
Popularly known as the 'Sax,' the saxophone is a brass instrument which is played by blowing air into a reed fitted in the mouthpiece. It is quite similar to the clarinet, and Charlie Parker is one of the most famous saxophone players of all time.

Drum Set
Drums have been an integral part of African music influence, and also play a vital role in a Jazz band. In jazz, the percussion is played in a different style and the drum set has the snare drum, the bass drum, and the cymbal. One of the great exponents of jazz drumming was Arthur Blakey, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Trombone
Known as a descendant of the trumpet, this brass instrument is played by vibrating the lips on the mouthpiece and pushing the slide to make music. The history of the trombone can be traced back to the renaissance era in the 16th century. It is usually played in the bass clef though some accomplished musicians play high notes in the treble clef as well.

Clarinet
A member of the woodwind family of musical instruments, the clarinet is a hollow cylindrical instrument, made of either plastic, ivory, wood, or metal. The reed is made of synthetic material and is attached to the mouthpiece, which the player blows on to make music. There are many famous clarinet players, and one of them was Benny Goodman.

Piano
In jazz, the piano is the most popular instrument. The piano keyboard's 188 keys allow it to adapt to different styles of playing piano music. It can be played as accompaniment or as a solo instrument. The piano was used by African-American jazz musicians to create ragtime. Thelonious Monk was a jazz pianist who was known for his innovative style of playing this instrument.

Although this is not a conclusive list, these are the most common instruments that are used. Traditional jazz ensembles were played using the bass, the brass, and the keyboard instruments, however the modern style has seen the inclusion of almost all the modern European musical instruments.