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Topic: Lovin the Leavitt - long |
Bill McCloskey
From:
Nanuet, NY
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Posted 27 Mar 2005 7:26 am |
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Roy Thompson's tab for the Leavitt tuning has really opened my eyes. Last night I put the tuning on a spead sheet, so I could quickly visualize the neck, opened my copy of "The New Real Book" and started working on an arrangement of Someday My Prince Will Come. What a joy.
I've been going through a real process the last couple of years starting with moving first from guitar to dobro. The dobro was great in that it got me into playing steel, but there was always something missing that I couldn't put my finger on. While I liked playing Bluegrass, no matter how hard I tried the music just wasn't me. I began playing a lot of celtic music, but was always the rhythm instrument, not the lead which led me to pick up the Uillenn pipes for a while last summer.
Then I started moving towards lap steel. Electric instruments were new to me and it has taken me awile to be comfortable. Started listening and trying out various styles to find the one for me, and I've made some interesting discoverys. One is that after giving it a try and buying various books and tapes, Country and Western Swing are just not my things. I've tried, I appreciate the music. But it is not something I like to play and not something I really like to listen to.
Sacred Steel caught my interest but without a band who can play that stuff, it is difficult to practice enjoyably. And besides it is not my background.
The two revelations I've had recently are that, although I never listened to much hawiaan music, I've been going through the Jerry Byrd book and LOVING playing hawiaan music: this was a shock and unexpected.
The other revelation is the Leavitt tuning and playing Jazz. I've always loved jazz but never played it. Playing these standards on a lap steel with all those very cool chords has awoken something in me. I feel like at the end of a journey that has lasted two years: a search for my musical identity. Hawaiian and Jazz. Who would have thought. Not me.
Being able to share these steps along the way with this forum has been a blessing. The combined wisdom here has acceleratorated my journey no end. I want to thank everyone here for all your posts and the insight you have provided me in my musical education. |
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James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 27 Mar 2005 7:44 am
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Bill,
It's a great feeling to have a " revelation" like this... I remember when I loved listenning to swing, but couldn't get the jist of playing C6....Then I bought the Jeff Newman tape on the Universal Steel, and it changed my playing tremendously ...It's a great feeling when you find your way, especially when you didn't know exactly where you would be taken .....Congrat's !!......Jim |
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Roy Thomson
From:
Wolfville, Nova Scotia,Canada
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Posted 27 Mar 2005 7:54 am
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Bill,
Sounds like you're "hooked".
Check your email,,I just sent you
an uptempo Jazz for Easter Solo. 
Roy |
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Jim Jasutis
From:
Tampa, Florida, USA
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Posted 27 Mar 2005 2:25 pm
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| Bill, I went through something similar and was just as shocked. I'm not the musicaian you are, but I have been looking for what to get involved with. My first exposure to lap steel, was the Cashdollar videos. In my case, I think I like the western swing a little more than you do, but then I went on the the Jerry Byrd video. I was so surprised to find that I really love the Hawaiian music. I have been trying to listen to as much as I can find. I remember reading a post on this forum where someone tried to introduce a friend to Hawaiian music, and they couldn't get past the falsetto singning. They said that it must be an acquired taste, but I liked it from the beginning. This just opens up a whole new world of tunes that I never even new about. |
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Mike Ihde
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 27 Mar 2005 7:59 pm
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Bill,
It makes me so happy to hear some one discovering Bill's tuning and getting some enjoyment from it. I'm sure Bill is just as happy. Thanks to all of you who have purchased my CD and TAB book and kept The Leavitt Tuning alive and well.
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Bill McCloskey
From:
Nanuet, NY
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Posted 27 Mar 2005 8:50 pm
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Mike,
Check's on its way tomorrow for you tab book and CD. Can't wait to see it. |
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Ian McLatchie
From:
Sechelt, British Columbia
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Posted 27 Mar 2005 9:02 pm
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| Certainly one of the beauties of steel guitar is that there are so many tunings, each with its own particular qualities. I've recently begun revisiting some of the 'simple' tunings, particularly E major, and am really delighted to discover again what gorgeous sounds can be produced with just those three notes. Ever since I discovered the Leavitt tuning, oh, maybe six or seven years ago, it's been the one I've spent far the most time with, however, and the one I never tire of. It allows many, many chord voicings and transitions that are simply not available in any other tuning, and it always amazes me how easily one can create full-voiced arrangements of harmonically complex songs. To hear what the tuning can do in the hands of a great player, one need only listen to any of Roy Thompson's beautiful mp3s. I've just spent a couple of hours transcribing more classic pop tunes for the Leavitt. By the way, Mike, I'll have 12 or 15 of those transcriptions in the mail for you tomorrow. |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 27 Mar 2005 9:47 pm
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| The Leavitt tuning is just so cool for jazz stuff. I worked out an arrangement on "How Insensitive" using some behind the bar single string pulls. Amazing how many chords you can find on just a 6 string guitar. I need to get a 7 or 8 string and learn some things on an expanded version of this tuning using some lower strings for bass notes. |
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