Giving it up

Bill McCloskey · Posted 6 Jun 2007 12:17 pm

After years now of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, I've decided to give up steel guitar (well not completely, I'll be hanging on to my dobro's but will probably pare those down as well).

Over the last 6 weeks I've been having a renewed love affair: I picked up the trumpet again after 30 some years and started playing jazz like it should be played: on a brass instrument (only half serious here, so no flames, but actually 100% serious for me personally).

I've been trying to play jazz on a dobro, jazz on a steel, and while I'm sure it can be done and there are a lot of great players out there doing it, it wasn't the jazz that I wanted to play.

6 weeks ago I rented a trumpet and after a few weeks of pretty frustrating playing - the first 2 weeks nothing but air came out - the old muscle memory is coming back. I spent the day in the trumpet shop today playing all the cool horns, and I didn't sound half bad.

I've got a bunch of stuff for sale in the for sale section those looking for a great deal.

I don't know how much I'll be back here, but will pipe in I'm sure from time to time. It has been a fun ride, but I'm loving playing a horn again. Like coming home.

Mark Eaton · Posted 6 Jun 2007 12:28 pm

Well, Bill, good for you - if you have truly found your musical muse, and it speaks to you through a trumpet - then that is really great!

But I have to say, in the last few years of reading a lot of your posts - and I'm not giving you a hard time - though you may perceive it otherwise - when it comes to playing music and choosing instruments - you seem to change with the wind, brother! Smile

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Mark

Bill McCloskey · Posted 6 Jun 2007 12:47 pm

That's what my wife says.

Actually it hasn't changed as much as it seems. Started on Dobro. Went to steel. Tried Pedal steel for while. Went back to dobro. I actually played out on dobro that whole time and still do and will continue to do so. On steel, I was pretty consistant on the 12 string, even on the pedal steel. But I always played 8 and 6 string dobro with others, in jams, and when I played live. I never got good enough on electric steel to play out on it. I guess I'm an acoustic guy at heart.

So not too bad.

David Doggett · Posted 6 Jun 2007 3:14 pm

We'll miss you, Bill. I enjoyed your posts and your knowledge of jazz. But I do understand what you are going through. I had an early interest in jazz in jr. high and high school, and chose the sax in band because of that. I played rockabilly and a little jazz on the side. Then in the '60s with the folk craze I took up guitar and learned some folk and blues. Later I took up Dobro and pedal steel to play bluegrass and country, my cultural roots. Then I quit everything and went back to school and got a career and a family.

A few years back I took up pedal steel again and got a tenor sax to play in a blues band. I am now learning some blues/jazz/fusion on sax and steel (E9/B6 S12U). I am going to keep at steel to see how far I can go with it, but when I listen to jazz, it is the horns that appeal most to me in terms of just pure listening pleasure. There are a number of steelers who can play technically impressive jazz, but somehow for me the tone just does not fit jazz as well as the horns do. I also am not big on regular guitar jazz, or even piano jazz, even though I play a little piano. But I love to hear vibes.

Of all the jazz steelers I have heard, Bill Stafford has the most listenable tone, I think partly because he really uses the low strings well on his 14-string universal and gets vibe-like tone. The one thing steel has over horns is the chords and harmony you can play. This makes a huge difference when you are playing alone. But once you get into a group setting, the ensemble provides the chords and harmony, and you can really fly with a horn in a carefree way that I don't know if I will ever get to on steel. One thing that intrigues me is the idea of a lower pitched instrument with a longer neck. I'm thinking of something like a 30" 12-string C9/F6 universal. That would put you playing in the same tonal range as vibes, which I dearly love in jazz.

Well, good luck in your horn journey. I'm sure there will be a lot of Miles in your trip. Wink

Brad Bechtel · From: San Francisco, CA

Sometimes we spend a lot of time trying to find the right instrument with which to express ourselves. Sometimes, as Bill has found, the right instrument isn't the one we feature on this forum.

Best of luck, Bill. I hope you'll enjoy playing the trumpet again. I also hope you don't disappear from this forum!
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Bill Hatcher · From: Atlanta Ga. USA

I played trumpet in high school. I started college on a trumpet scholarship. Did not last long. I hated playing the trumpet. I was making good money playing guitars and bass and such so I decided never to play that thing again. Sold it in 1969 and NEVER touched one since.

There is a massive wealth of material out there for jazz trumpet if you are into that.

Saw on the Buy/Sell forum that you were looking for a Martin Committee trumpet. I found one in a dumpster outside a local music store where I get boxes and packing material from when I need to ship things. It was missing a valve. Sold it on Ebay for $100 for parts as some players are looking for those to try to get the vibe of the classic jazz players who used them.

Wish I could afford that D12 MSA lap.

Les Anderson · From: The Great White North

I have always maintained that music comes from your heart and the level that you play at depends on what genre of music is actually living in your heart.

If you play your instrument mechanically then your music sounds much the same and you will not enjoy it. Bill, by the sounds of it, you have a heart felt feeling for jazz that is living inside you and you are once again bringing out its soul that is living inside you.

I say go for it and play it for all it's worth. Jazz has tons and tons of personal expression built within it and it really make a musician what he or she is.

Bill McCloskey · Posted 7 Jun 2007 8:14 am

Of course another aspect to this whole thing is community and resources. As a dobro player living in the New York area, there are a few Bluegrass jams around, but it is hardly like living in Tennessee. I'm pretty much the only dobro player I know. With jazz trumpet however, different ballgame. I'm starting lessons with Duane Eubanks on Saturday (brother of Robin Eubanks leader of the tonight show band). He's a great trumpet player (played with the Mingus Big band and the dave holland big band) and lives less than a mile from my house. Heard him play at a local weekly jam in my little town of Nyack last week. That is one of many jazz jams in Nyack alone. then there is new york with the greatest jazz scene on the face of the planet.

Yesterday, I had the wonderful experience of playing my first high end trumpets at a store(I've always played on clinkers). WOW, even I sounded pretty good. The nice thing about trumpets is that even the high end ones are pretty reasonable.

Of course the other cool thing is: there is only one way to play each note. If I'm playing an E, I don't have to learn 12 different places to play the same note. Sure makes practicing scales a heck of a lot easier.

Tom Zielinski · From: Buffalo, New York, USA

Bill,

That takes a lot of guts to admit that you are going to hang it up. Being objective and realistic is what we all need to do at times.

I can totally sympathize. I live in Buffalo, NY. There are a handful of country bands, most either do the new tunes or bastardize the old (please don't be offended, I did say "most"!). No one really wants to hear steel guitar. All they want are jam bands or classic rock.

I still try to play steel only because I enjoy it and I like the way it sounds. 100% of my gigs are upright bass in a rockabilly band and a Jazz duo/trio. Type in Buffalo, NY on youtube and all you wil find are 80s hair band crap and classic rock cover bands. It is pathetic.

Buffalo has a rich jazz history that most people have forgotten about. Al Tinney (look at your live Charlie Christian/Dizzy CD!) and Dodo Greene who sang with Ike Quebec are prime examples. Not to mention the trad guys don't hang with the bop guys, etc.

Good Luck with that horn----just don't blast it!
Tom

P Gleespen · From: Toledo, OH USA

Good for you Bill! I'm glad you're digging the trumpet again.

As deep as I try to get on steel, I'm still a bass player at heart. I guess I might always be.

I hope you stick around on the forum though, I always enjoy your posts...it's nice to have a few jazzers on board.

...plus, who else is going to explain my BBW jokes? Laughing

(...uh, you did know that was a joke, right? Wink

)

Best of luck to you, in all your endev... endive... hors d'oeuvres, no that's not it...endeav... in all the things you do!
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Patrick

Edward Meisse · From: Santa Rosa, California, USA

I played trumpet in school also. I've considered getting another one lately. But an electric steel guitar can be played with a headset and/or at a low volume......

Bill McCloskey · Posted 8 Jun 2007 3:30 am

So can the trumpet. I bought the Yamaha Silent Brass system. A mute goes in the trumpet which connects to a little device to hook headphones and you can even connect your ipod to jam with. It is really quiet. The trumpet can barely be heard.

Bill Hatcher · From: Atlanta Ga. USA

"Silent System". That sounds like a very neat outfit.

Do they make one for banjos! Smile

Bill McCloskey · Posted 8 Jun 2007 4:53 am

Actually they make a silent guitar, cello, violin...but for some reason, no banjo yet. Smile

David Cook · From: Florida, USA

I am sure you have heard of people regretting selling some of their instruments from the past. You might just want them back some day. Just a thought.

Mat Rhodes · From: Lexington, KY, USA

What a relief! Smile

I was worried that you'd take up the clarinet... Wink

Stephen Dorocke · From: Tres Piedras, New Mexico

It doesn't matter what you play, as long as you're playing> Personally, I've been making the switch from pedal to violin and lap steel. Needless to say, the travel issues have become non issues, and I'm creating much less wear and tear on my back. Very Happy

Edward Meisse · From: Santa Rosa, California, USA

Instrument regret is a common theme right here on the forum. Every time I read about it I think of all the Stringmasters and Rickys and etc., that I've bought and sold over the years. If I still had them all I'd have a beteer collection than Rick A. Crying or Very sad

John Kavanagh · From: Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada * R.I.P.

I sure hear you. I've played and even gigged on a lot of instruments, but you do find your voice and there's a lot to be said for sticking with it.

At some point, you realise you can't do everything as well as you'd like, and that some things really feel more like home anyway. It's time to simplify. For yourself, you've decided trumpet, with a little dobro on the side, is what makes you happy, and that's what you should be doing. (I'm sure you find that your years on steel make you a different and better trumpet player.)

Yours may be an unusual doubling, but mine's weirder, I think: I've wound up playing almost entirely viola da gamba and ukulele. Makes me stand out in the union book...

Bill Leff · From: Santa Cruz, CA, USA

As of several months ago I've pretty much stopped playing everything except for the Turkish saz, except for the occasional steel and guitar gig.

Unlike Bill McCloskey though, I never officially quit playing any instrument. I put them on the back burner and overtime will find my way back to intensive practice and playing on them.

George Piburn · From: The Land of Enchantment New Mexico

steve takacs · From: beijing, china via pittsburgh (deceased)

Will miss you Bill, but glad you are deciding to go for it in the best way you know how. Far too little time. steve t

HowardR · From: N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville

Ah.....that Bill......always blowin' his horn!..... Laughing

Bill McCloskey · Posted 10 Jun 2007 4:02 pm

Not giving up my friendship with you Howard.

In fact it's time we got together, you old dog.

HowardR · From: N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville

Any time my friend........ Very Happy

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