By Jaclyn Breeze –
The guitar is part of the string family. It has six strings that are strummed or plucked with the right hand to make sound. The pitch is changed by pressing down at different points on the strings with the left hand. Acoustic guitars are hollow, with a sound hole near the strings that lets the sound into the instrument’s body and back out at a higher volume. Electric guitars are thinner, with no sound hole, and are plugged into an amplifier. The guitar is an important part of the rhythm section in jazz, along with the piano, bass, and drums, to provide chords and a groove for instruments playing melodies or soloing. But, like any instrument, it can also play melodies and solos. A slide is an accessory that can go with a guitar. It is a small tube, coming in many different materials, that goes on one of the players’ fingers to allow them to slide up and down through the notes more easily.
Muddy Waters was a blues guitarist born in Mississippi. He played harmonica as a child and took up guitar when he was 17 years old. He was drawn to the blues, learning how to play similarly to the artists he liked and developing his own style. He worked on a plantation during the week and played his music on the weekends for parties. He moved to Chicago during the Great Migration and bought his first electric guitar. He stood out with his electric guitar and slide, quickly landing a contract with a record company and recording a string of hits that led to tours around the world. Most of his songs were pieces he wrote himself, and he both played and sang them. Toward the end of his career, he leaned more into singing and played his guitar only occasionally. He was a major influence both in jazz and in rock. He was in the inaugural class of the Blues Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame shortly after.
Listen to some of Muddy Water’s work here:
Book: Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters by Michael James Mahin
Find it at these Monroe County Public Libraries, or have it delivered to a library near you! (Hold/delivery fee is $0.25 per book)
Brighton
Central
Fairport
Monroe
Penfield
Sully
Webster
Winton Road
