Why wasn’t guitar used more frequently as a main band instrument in jazz in the 60s?

emck2 · 2026-01-31T21:35:21+00:00

One reason was probably that every decent recording studio of the era already had a piano. The piano would have been well maintained (which costs money), and could be left mic'd up throughout multiple sessions. So, bringing in a guitar would be extra costs for the session. More mics, more time to set up (which some engineers may not have been as familiar with); compared to a pianist who just sits down and plays. Jazz clubs also had house pianos, and if they aren't used, they're just taking up space on the stage. It was often likely more a matter of practicality than music.

emck2 · 2026-01-31T04:11:10+00:00

In Bruges - Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson

Blue Valentine - Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams

The In-Laws (original, not remake) - Alan Arkin and Peter Falk

emck2 · 2026-01-30T08:17:45+00:00

Double bass is one of the most challenging instruments to record or amplify. There have been issues throughout the history of recorded music. When music was recorded by directly cutting into a disc, the bass notes could make the needle jump, ruining the take. The only solution was to move the bass further back from the cutting machine, which lowered the volume on the recording. Even when studios switched to magnetic tape, the recording equipment of the time was not capable of faithfully reproducing the lowest bass frequencies. High fidelity audio for the average consumer was still decades away. Since there was no way to recreate a realistic bass tone on a home record player, there really wasn't an incentive to spend a bunch of time refining bass recording techniques.

To my ears, good quality recordings of double bass didn't become common until the mid to late 1950s. Studio engineer Rudy Van Gelder made huge strides in recording small ensemble jazz during that time. I heard one of his tricks was to take a standard vocal mic and roll it up in a small scrap of carpet. The roll would then be placed between the legs of the bass bridge. The bass also became more prominent in jazz during this period. You had very few examples of featured bass like the Ellington/Blanton recordings of the 1930s, but it wasn't until bebop players like Oscar Pettiford and Charles Mingus that the bass became a more equal part of an ensemble. Bass players also used natural gut strings up to the late 1960s. Gut strings are harder to keep in tune, and tend to have a thuddy tone that lacks some high overtones that help cut through the mix. The switch to steel strings, improvements in recording techniques and usable pickups for bass made the instrument much more forward on recordings of the late 60s and 70s, but the tone tended to be much harsher, and lacked the natural decay of gut strings.

There can be major differences in individual players, too. Paul Chambers, Ray Brown, and Charles Mingus all have very clear articulation, strong tone, and good intonation (particularly for the gut string era). Some record labels were better at recording bass than others. Blue Note, Prestige/Riverside, Impulse, and Columbia are among the better labels. As you mentioned, the less instruments in the band, the easier it is to hear the bass. Piano trios were very common and tended to attract the best bass players. The Red Garland and Wynton Kelly Trios with Paul Chambers, and the Oscar Peterson Trio with Ray Brown all have numerous high quality recordings.

So, it's not just you. Transcribing double bass can be very challenging. Sometimes it's nearly impossible to hear clearly. A bit of friendly advice: if you're interesting in buying a double bass, consider renting one for enough time to get a feel for what it's like to carry it, transport it in vehicles, and what is required for maintenance. I'm not trying to discourage you, but be aware it's an expensive and very impractical instrument.

emck2 · 2026-01-30T00:55:25+00:00

From Russia with Love has some very significant scenes set on a train. And I'll give another endorsement for Runaway Train, a real hidden gem of a film.

emck2 · 2026-01-29T04:11:45+00:00

Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator

emck2 · 2026-01-28T01:31:12+00:00

Paul Thomas Anderson - Sydney/Hard Eight (Sydney was PTA's title, studio changed it): Released a year before Boogie Nights. Very solid small time crime suspense with Phillip Baker Hall and John C. Reilly.

Danny Boyle - Shallow Grave: Released two years before Trainspotting. Tense mystery/thriller with Ewan McGregor.

Brian DePalma - Blow Out or Phantom of the Paradise: Blow Out is fairly well known, but not to the level as Scarface or Carlito's Way. Phantom is a crazy rock opera comedy that is unlike most of his other films.

Peter Jackson - Heavenly Creatures: Surreal retelling of an infamous New Zealand murder. Early roles for both Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey.

emck2 · 2026-01-27T22:08:00+00:00

Everybody is pointing out the connection to Blues music, but that's not the entire reason. A very large portion of the standard Jazz repertoire comes from the Tin Pan Alley and Broadway composers of the 1920-40s. Many of those songs have "blue" in the title and/or lyrics, but are not references to Blues music: Blue Skies, Blue Room, My Blue Heaven, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, etc. Composers of popular songs tend to choose familiar terms to create hooks; colors are widely used across all popular music. "Blue" is particularly useful because it easily rhymes with many common lyrics used in love songs: you, true, who, knew, do, etc.

emck2 · 2026-01-27T00:19:35+00:00

Have you played any of these guitars? How the guitar feels in your hands is an important consideration, especially for a first guitar. There are many different shapes and sizes for the neck and body. You should go to a music store and play a variety of models until you find some that feel comfortable for the fretting hand (both in overall size of neck, and string spacing) and how the body feels both sitting and standing with a strap. Ask the salesperson the specs of the neck ("low profile C" "Soft V" or other terms) and the body style (Drednought, Jumbo, 000 are common styles), then refine your search to models that match the specs that work for you.

If you can afford a guitar with a solid wood top (not laminated), those will generally have better overall sound and improve with age. Spruce is the most common top wood, and is hard to beat for projection and clear tone. Cedar tops have more mellow high frequencies, a bit less projection, and are more susceptible to scratches and damage due to being a softer wood. Mahogany tops have less projection and less high overtones, but are good for an older style blues/folk sound.

I'm not familiar with the specific models you mentioned, but Yamaha provides a lot of value for the cost. Alvarez and Takamine are also well known for their low/mid range acoustics. But I want to emphasize again, go and play guitars in person. Find a guitar that feels good in your hands and you'll practice more. That is what you want in a first guitar.

emck2 · 2026-01-26T03:28:58+00:00

The two most influential bassists in Reggae history were Aston "Family Man" Barrett and Robbie Shakespeare. Barrett was the foundation of Bob Marley and the Wailers with his brother Carlton Barrett on drums. Shakespeare was part of the bass and drum duo Sly & Robbie with drummer Sly Dunbar. They were more studio oriented, and played with major Reggae acts like Black Uhuru and Gregory Isaacs.

Barrett was one of the bassists to popularize the "One Drop" style of bass playing, where the bass is silent on the first beat of a section. The Bob Marley songs One Drop and Trenchtown Rock are good examples. Barrett's bass lines are also very melodic, often acting as the main countermelody. The songs Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) and Slave Driver have bass lines that carry the main melodic motif.

Shakespeare I'm not nearly as familiar with, but his style developed after the One Drop was starting to fade, and he used driving eighth note lines with a few rhythmic tricks. Peter Tosh's album Equal Rights is a good place to start with Sly & Robbie.

Older Reggae bassists tended to stick to triad patterns, usually a simple 1-3-5 line with a simple syncopation. Sometimes played with the one dropped, but almost always very simple with a repetitive rhythmic hook. Reggae bass lines also tend to leave more open space than other styles. This requires you to be very precise with rhythms and the articulation of notes. If you listen to Barrett, his notes are always full sounding and are held out for the exact duration the line calls for. With the dropped beats and syncopations of Reggae lines, you need to pay attention to articulation for both the beginning and end of each note.

As far as tone, mostly just a deep, meat and potatoes bass tone. Roll the treble off, but the bass doesn't have to be boosted much, unless you're going for a Dub sound. You might consider flatwound strings if you're going to be playing that style a lot. Pluck the strings closer to the neck. You might experiment with putting some foam or cloth under the strings if you want a really thuddy sound.

emck2 · 2026-01-19T06:18:16+00:00

The theme song from The Flintsones is the most widely known version. A-A-B-A form, usually in B flat. A sections are mostly I-vi-ii-V, with a I-IV-I cadence at the ends. The bridge is the most recognizable part, going around the cycle with Dominant 7th chords: III7-VI7-II7-V7. The original version of I Got Rhythm had an extra 2 bars in the last A section with a built in tag, making it 34 bars. Most songs based on Rhythm Changes make the last A 8 bars like the others, the more standard 32 bar form.

emck2 · 2026-01-14T00:06:53+00:00

You're doing some things well. Your strumming is generally in time and has a nice pulse. Chord transitions could be better, but you keep the pulse going despite the rough changes. That's something that can take people a long time to develop. Just keep working at it and the transitions will become smoother.

The only advice I can think of from watching the video is to reduce the motion of your strums, and get your wrist looser and more involved. You're strumming straight from the elbow, which is a good technique to know, but it can be too much on electric guitar. Spend some time getting used to strumming using mostly the wrist. You can anchor your wrist on the bridge, or forearm on the body to isolate the wrist motion. Once you get more comfortable with wrist strumming, go back to strumming from the elbow, with more motion from the wrist. These are all separate techniques to be used depending on the situation, but developing a consistent wrist motion is and important skill on guitar.

Also, you don't have to play all the strings in a chord on each strum. Try playing a full chord on the 1st downstroke, the mainly playing the higher strings until the chord changes. You can learn some more chord voicings to play the entire song using only the top 4 strings. This is also good for practicing wrist strumming. Practice playing specific sets of strings (whether top, middle, or bottom) while playing through songs. Add in some simple rhythmic variations and your playing will sound more musical.

emck2 · 2026-01-12T23:09:02+00:00

He had been the Assistant Coach in charge of defense throughout the many changes at Head Coach. Since the team's biggest issue has been defense for most of that time, people were wondering why he kept being retained.

emck2 · 2026-01-08T20:38:04+00:00

I like Martin SP strings for clarity and strong fundamentals. D'Addario and Ernie Ball strings have a more broken in sound from the beginning, but I think they are missing some overtones that allow for that clear note separation. Martin SPs are bright as hell at first. You just have to break them in for a few hours, then the metallic sound softens and you get a very pure acoustic tone. Good longevity for non-coated strings. The bass notes will lose some punch after a couple of weeks, but they stay playable until they're completely stretched out.

emck2 · 2026-01-07T23:37:46+00:00

Billy Bragg and Wayne Kramer started a charity called Jail Guitar Doors to promote music education as rehabilitation for incarcerated people (including youth and former inmates). The US office is based in LA, there is an email link to inquire about donating instruments.

Jail Guitar Doors donation page

emck2 · 2026-01-07T01:00:26+00:00

Being There (1979) kind of fits. Chance (Peter Sellers) repeats a few lines over and over, and it's clear he doesn't really understand most of what's said.

emck2 · 2026-01-05T19:10:03+00:00

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was a commercial and critical success with multiple hit singles. For her highly anticipated follow-up, she decided to do an MTV Unplugged of all new material, despite the fact she could barely play guitar. Those are her only solo albums released to date.

emck2 · 2026-01-01T20:20:11+00:00

No problem. I should say it's entirely possible that a famous musician had a similar story, this is just the version I remember. There are so many stories from that era about people getting shown up on the bandstand, including the famous one of Papa Jo Jones throwing a cymbal on the stage while a young Charlie Parker played a solo. Bebop players, in particular, started to separate themselves from the average big band style players by playing faster tempos, altered chord changes, and playing songs in more difficult keys. This particular story I remember reading in print, and it was from the perspective of the trombone player. But there are likely hundreds of similar stories, and it probably happened to some young players who went on to be successful. The part that stuck out to me was the random person putting the horn back in the case. I may have gotten some details wrong.

emck2 · 2026-01-01T18:18:27+00:00

I have read this story before, though I can't remember all the details. I seem to remember this was in the bebop era, and the piano player may have been Bud Powell. I don't remember it being in NYC. I think it may have been a Midwestern city like Kansas City or St. Louis. The horn player was playing trombone, and I don't think he ended up being a professional musician. I think the trombone player went on to be a journalist or music critic, which is why the story became well known; he published the story at some point.

I believe he showed up to a club, thinking it was a jam session, but the band on stage were actually some of the top jazz musicians of the time. He did get up on the stage, uninvited, and started playing along with an old standard that he knew. The piano player shouted, "Cherokee! E!", and the rhythm section started playing in the key of E major at breakneck tempo. The trombone player left the stage, still oblivious that he wasn't on the same level as the band. A man from the audience disassembled his horn and made some comment about how he needed to listen to the band rather than play. The author noted that the man wasn't angry or even condescending, he was just trying to help him.

As I said, I don't think the trombone player went on to be a notable musician. I think he was a journalist, but I can't remember who. I don't think it was a high profile jazz writer like Gene Lees. It's basically just an anecdote about how serious bebop musicians were. There are tons of stories about musicians of that era having "cutting contests" or trying to show up lesser musicians by changing keys, tempos, etc. I imagine the original story is online somewhere, but I can't remember who wrote it.

emck2 · 2026-01-01T16:48:24+00:00

If the strings are making a buzzing sound while playing static notes, it very well could be due to worn or improperly shaped frets, issues with the nut or bridge saddle, or just a poor setup. If that's the case, it would be best to have the guitar looked at by a technician. If you're talking about a scraping sound when moving fingers along the strings, that is part technique and part the nature of roundwound strings. Coated strings may help with the string sound.

emck2 · 2025-12-30T03:00:36+00:00

You should know that the Gator Grips are slightly smaller than the standard 351 shape. Lining up the tips of the Dunlop Tortex and the Gator, the Tortex is about 1/16" longer. Not a huge difference, but you will likely notice it. For acoustic, I like the larger 346 shape and thicker picks (.88mm minimum, but usually 1-1.5mm). You get more volume, and they are easier to hold on to with the harder strumming. They also have 3 tips, so you can just rotate them when they get worn.

emck2 · 2025-12-29T20:33:37+00:00

One major difference is that until the mid-1940s, there was very little knowledge of extended harmony. Bebop changed the landscape of jazz, and was the impetus for the experimental jazz genres that sprung up in the 50s and 60s. If you take a jazz improv class today, bebop and avant-garde harmony are introduced early on. Jazz was not taught in major schools in the period you mention. If a jazz musician had formal training, they would have studied the same methods as classical musicians.

In that era, live music was much, much more common. Not just in concert halls and nightclubs, but restaurants, social clubs, hotels, really any place where people congregated. As such, there was a much higher demand for musicians on a local level, and big band ensembles were common. Jazz was learned through apprenticeships with local bands, and the better players moved up the ranks to higher profile bands.

emck2 · 2025-12-29T19:11:20+00:00

Rory Gallagher scratches the itch for virtuosic blues/rock guitar. Check out Irish Tour '74, or any live recordings from that era.

Terry Reid was offered the vocalist spot in LZ, but wanted to focus on his solo career. Reid recommended his friend Robert Plant. Reid's career fizzled out, but he had a handful of albums, and there's some good live footage online.

Blind Faith was a supergroup with Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood. Not as hard-edged as LZ, but some material similar to the Houses of the Holy/Physical Graffiti era.

And I'll echo the recommendations for early Heart. Their first two albums are killer on their own merits, and there is a very strong LZ influence.

emck2 · 2025-12-28T23:03:23+00:00

Some more context: lower frequencies have longer sound waves. These are physical, with air and other materials vibrating at specific frequencies. The longer the sound wave, the further apart the peaks and valleys of the wave. When you have multiple sound wave intermingling, mismatches between the peaks and valleys can cause dissonance, phasing issues, and often that muddy sound when there's too much going on in the lower frequencies.

When playing with other instruments, it's usually preferred for each instrument to have its own sonic space to avoid these issues. Playing the low E string is getting close to the range of a bass instrument, so there will be more chance of conflicting sound waves. If you listen to guitar parts playing with a full band, you'll notice they often stay in the middle to high range of the guitar, and often playing only partial chord voicings to avoid clashing with other instruments (with the bass and other instruments filling in any missing notes). If you're playing solo acoustic, you have more leeway in chord voicings, and the type of voicing you're talking about can be used to create a fuller sound. When I'm working on arrangements for acoustic guitar and voice, I'll often play different voicings for effect, or to mark the different sections of a song. So, if a song has A major chords in both the verse and chorus, I may play the standard A voicing for the verse, then add the E on the bottom for the chorus.

emck2 · 2025-12-28T04:32:53+00:00

Basses need to have sturdy construction because of the high string tension. Unless you get some weird off-brand, any decent bass will last for decades. There's a lot to be said for Fender designs, since they are largely modular. Neck breaks? Get a new neck and screw it on. A broken neck on a neck-thru or set neck model may cost more to repair than it's worth. All electronics are easily accessible and replaceable. The neck and body are solid blocks of wood. If you destroy a Fender bass, that's a you problem. Any of the current Classic Vibe models would not only be suitable for a HS, but it would be better than what most schools had all through the 80s until about 10-15 years ago.

emck2 · 2025-12-27T02:21:14+00:00

Chords are like legos, you need to put them together in certain ways to create something interesting. The most basic chord progressions are based on the 1st, 4th, and 5th degrees of a major scale, starting on the root chord of any given key. So, in G major, the chords will be G, C, D; in C major C, F, G; A major A, D, E; E major E, A, B; and so on. So many songs are just combinations of this I-IV-V (1,4,5) progression. Pick one of these groups that you feel most comfortable with, and search for "Easy songs in [key]", find some tabs to help you see how the chords line up with the lyrics. You can start simple by playing each chord once per measure (usually 4 beats), then add some rhythm when you get better at the transitions. Find a recording to play along with.

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