Guitar as a Common Denominator

Photo montage from the National Guitar Museum, www.nationalguitarmuseum.com.

Both Chuck Anderson and I recently posted about the wide range of music that is categorized as jazz. Many people who think they don’t like jazz, do, in fact, like certain forms of jazz that they don’t associate with the genre.

Today, Chuck writes about the guitar as a bridge to jazz. Chuck has thousands of fans, many of whom are not jazz lovers.

But they like his music – which is 100% jazz guitar. What many of his non-jazz-loving fans like is guitar itself - and they are inadvertantly led to jazz through their love of the guitar.

The guitar is a powerful instrument that bridges music for many people. I don’t think of myself as a huge rock fan, but I love to listen to Jeff Beck and Joe Satriani. I’m not a huge classical music fan, but I could listen to Segovia for hours. And I don’t think of myself as a die-hard country music fan, but I love Chet Atkins and Earl Scruggs.

The common denominator through all these genres is – the guitar. If you want to learn about jazz through the guitar, check out Chuck’s upcoming CD, “Freefall,” (we’ll have a link here soon), and spend some time with Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, and Jim Hall.

Who are your favorite guitarists and why? Tell me in the comments below. I’m always looking to expand my musical horizons.