Chester Burton Atkins, also known as "Mister Guitar" and "the Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music style which expanded its appeal to adult pop music fans. He was primarily a guitarist, but he also played the mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and ukulele, and occasionally sang.
Joe Pass was an American jazz guitarist. Although Pass collaborated with pianist Oscar Peterson and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, his status as one of the most notable jazz guitarists of the 20th century is generally attributed to his work on his solo albums, such as Virtuoso.
Slapping and popping are ways to produce percussive sounds on a stringed instrument. They are primarily used on the double bass or bass guitar. Slapping on bass guitar involves using the edge of one's knuckle, where it is particularly bony, to quickly strike the string against the fretboard. On bass guitars, this is commonly done with the thumb, while on double bass, the edge of the hand or index finger may be used. Popping refers to pulling the string away from the fretboard and quickly releasing it so it snaps back against the fretboard. On bass guitar, the two techniques are commonly used together in alternation, though either may be used separately.
Clawhammer, sometimes called down-picking, overhand, or most commonly known as frailing, is a distinctive banjo playing style and a common component of American old-time music. The style likely descends from that of West African lutes, such as the akonting which are also the direct ancestors of the banjo.
Tapping is a playing technique that can be used on any stringed instrument, but which is most commonly used on guitar. The technique involves a string being fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion. This is in contrast to standard techniques that involve fretting with one hand and picking with the other. Tapping is the primary technique intended for instruments such as the Chapman Stick.
Lead guitar is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featured guitar, which usually plays single-note-based lines or double-stops. In rock, heavy metal, blues, jazz, punk, fusion, some pop, and other music styles, lead guitar lines are often supported by a second guitarist who plays rhythm guitar, which consists of accompaniment chords and riffs.
A keytar is a keyboard instrument similar to a synthesizer or MIDI controller that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is held.
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking. The term "fingerstyle" is something of a misnomer, since it is present in several different genres and styles of music—but mostly, because it involves a completely different technique, not just a "style" of playing, especially for the guitarist's picking/plucking hand. The term is often used synonymously with fingerpicking except in classical guitar circles, although fingerpicking can also refer to a specific tradition of folk, blues and country guitar playing in the US. The terms "fingerstyle" and "fingerpicking" are also applied to similar string instruments such as the banjo.
Jason Marsalis is an American jazz drummer, vibraphone player, composer, producer, band leader, and member of the Marsalis family of musicians. He is the youngest son of Dolores Ferdinand Marsalis and the late Ellis Marsalis, Jr.
Emily Remler was an American jazz guitarist, active from the late 1970s until her death in 1990.
Ellis Louis Marsalis Jr. was an American jazz pianist and educator. Active since the late 1940s, Marsalis came to greater attention in the 1980s and 1990s as the patriarch of the musical Marsalis family, when sons Branford and Wynton became popular jazz musicians.
James Singleton is an American acoustic bassist, composer, and producer. He is a member of the New Orleans–based jazz group Astral Project with Johnny Vidacovich, Tony Dagradi, and Steve Masakowski. He has been described as one of the best and most sought-after bassists in New Orleans.
John Joseph Vidacovich Jr. is an American jazz drummer and a member of the band Astral Project with James Singleton, Tony Dagradi, and Steve Masakowski.
Astral Project is a modern jazz quartet from New Orleans, Louisiana. It was founded by saxophonist Tony Dagradi in 1978 and includes drummer Johnny Vidacovich, bassist James Singleton and 7-string guitarist Steve Masakowski. The band originally included pianist David Torkanowsky who left in 2001. Astral Project blends jazz, funk, rock, and world music and has been called one of New Orleans' premier jazz groups.
Guitar picking is a group of hand and finger techniques a guitarist uses to set guitar strings in motion to produce audible notes. These techniques involve plucking, strumming, brushing, etc. Picking can be done with:
Shannon Powell is an American jazz and ragtime drummer. He has toured internationally and played with Ellis Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr., Danny Barker, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Diana Krall, Earl King, Dr. John, Preservation Hall, Marcus Roberts, John Scofield, Jason Marsalis, Leroy Jones, Nicholas Payton, and Donald Harrison Jr. Powell toured and recorded with fellow New Orleans native, Harry Connick Jr.
Lionel Victor Chamberland was an American jazz guitarist born and based in Norwalk, Connecticut. After playing with The Orchids in the 1960s, he stopped touring, became a private teacher, and performed regionally.
Kipori Jermaine Woods, also known by stage name Kipori 'Baby Wolf' Woods, is an American actor, singer, songwriter and guitarist raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. He has played gospel, blues, jazz, funk and rap music and plays a blend of these music genres. Woods is the grandson of band-leader and blues bass player 'Luscious' Lloyd Lambert. Woods began singing gospel and playing guitar as a young child, he has played professionally since the 1990s.
Sasha Masakowski is an American jazz singer. She was born in New Orleans and is the daughter of jazz guitarist Steve Masakowski and concert pianist Ulrike Antonie Sprenger. She heard jazz at an early age due to her father's association with Ellis Marsalis Jr.
Kyle Roussel is an American musician, producer, composer, arranger, engineer, bandleader, educator, and actor from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is known as one of New Orleans’ most prominent pianists and has worked with a number of high-profile New Orleans acts.
