Jazz Music Instruments

Jazz piano has been a part of jazz since its beginnings. Piano is one of the rare instruments in a jazz combo which can play chords, unlike saxophone or trumpet which can only play single notes. There can be no history of the jazz piano without the mention of New Orleans, Harlem, Chicago, Jelly Roll Morton, and James P. Johnson - the men, the music, and the piano all combine throughout time to create a sound unlike any other. Stop for moment, listen to those old recordings, and then ask yourself whether or not you can hear that good old piano truly roll.

Jazz snare drums are made of wood or brass and are usually played with brushes, not sticks. They have light to moderate drumhead texture that reduce muffling, and measure six inches deep and 14 inches wide.


Jazz is an excellent language of communication for discerning guitarists. Jazz guitar has its own unique style and form of guitar playing. It is also a very popular form of music that you can play. If you are absolutely fresh on jazz guitar, the first thing you've got to wrap your fingers around is the major scale and its modes. It's the reference against which all other scales are defined. Learn them in position as well as up and down single strings. The recently made jazz guitars are about 17” in size with a depth of 3”. They are light, without decorative fingerboards.


Saxophones are generally associated with jazz music, but they are also suitable for classical music. The saxophone often complements the French horn since both of them have a similar range and timbre. Jazz saxophones use high-baffled mouthpieces. Their configuration allows the baffle, or ceiling, to be closer to the reed for a brighter sound.