Welcome to the encyclopedia of instruments used in rock and jazz. Each entry tells the story of an instrument, explains how it works and points to musicians worth listening to.
This encyclopedia is created together with its readers: comment on the entries, share your experience and describe your own instrument using the form at the bottom of the page.
String instruments
Acoustic guitarThe most popular instrument in the world – from campfires and flamenco to Django Reinhardt’s gypsy jazz.Read the entry →
Bass guitarThe foundation of the band: it links the drums’ rhythm with the harmony. The invention that freed bassists from the…Read the entry →
Double bassThe largest bowed string instrument – in jazz it is plucked with the fingers and plays the walking bass the…Read the entry →
Electric guitarThe instrument that built rock and roll – from the jazz big bands of the 1930s to stadium guitar solos.Read the entry →Keyboard instruments
Hammond organIt was meant to be a cheap alternative to church organs – and became the voice of soul jazz and…Read the entry →
PianoAn instrument that can play both softly and with power – from Komeda and Monk to Elton John and Freddie…Read the entry →
Rhodes electric pianoThe warm, bell-like sound of the electric piano that defined 1970s jazz fusion.Read the entry →
SynthesizerAn instrument that does not imitate sounds but creates them – from progressive rock to jazz fusion.Read the entry →Percussion instruments
Wind instruments
ClarinetThe warm, flexible voice of early jazz and swing – it is the clarinet that opens Gershwin’s „Rhapsody in Blue”.Read the entry →
HarmonicaIt fits in your pocket yet can wail like a guitar – the voice of blues, rock and Toots Thielemans’…Read the entry →
SaxophoneMade of brass, yet a woodwind. The voice of jazz – from Charlie Parker to Coltrane.Read the entry →
TromboneThe only popular wind instrument with a slide instead of valves – the master of glissando and swing.Read the entry →
TrumpetThe loudest voice in the band – Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis and Tomasz Stańko showed it can whisper too.Read the entry →Describe your instrument
Do you play an instrument that is missing from the encyclopedia, or own a special one? Describe it – after review we will publish your description as a new entry.