Something he saw led him to this
Cortland resident sharpens his instrumental skills
Trending
CORTLAND -- Boredom led to a new hobby for Joe Stavely who discovered a new passion in his life.
"I had been working at the (Help Network) hotline since 2009 and my schedule was starting to even out and I didn't have to go in for weird shifts. I had some down time and I was looking for stuff to do. I decided to do a Google search of an instrument I was interested in learning to play and saw a video on YouTube of an English saw player, Austin Blackburn, playing 'Ave Maria' on 'Britian's Got Talent,'" Stavely said.
A musical hobby he had been curious about for some time was going to happen because it was the right time.
"In 2012, I saw this guy playing and I started looking. How do I find a saw? Do I just play one out of the garage?" Stavely said.
He learned through his research and even purchased a musical saw from a company in Wisconsin called Mussehl & Westphal Mussehl.
They have been making musical or singing saws for almost 100 years. It uses a special, pliable thin steel on its instruments to make them extend the tone and have more vibrato. Although they have teeth one side, the saws are not good for sawing wood, only playing music.
Acquiring the skills to play musical saws is easy in the 21st Century.
"I watched a lot of YouTube videos to learn the basics," he said.
Using a hand saw as a musical instrument has been around for hundreds of years. It is typically played in rural America and Russia.
Players sit down and place the saw handle between their knees. Typically, the left hand controls the bending of the saw from the top to create the sound when strummed with a violin bow.
Strumming the straight edge of the bent saw creates a very ethereal two-to-two-and-a-half octave range of notes.
Stavely used a wooden dowel rod to create a handle that he placed on the end of the hand saw. It helps him control the bending up and down of the instrument and lessens the chance of being cut by the saw's teeth.
Growing up in Maryland, Stavley came from a musical family.
"My mother was a church organist. She has a master's degree in piano performance. My dad played trombone in school. He sang the hymns at church. He was a fan of music. We were always listening to classical music, a little bit of bluegrass music, old polka music, Glenn Miller type music. Anything, really," he said.
Stavely's musical journey as a player began in fourth grade when he took up the trumpet and learned to read music. When he decided to play the saw, everything he learned in elementary school for playing this instrument did not relate.
"It is totally playing by ear. When I started this, I thought, 'This is worth doing,' because my trumpet, I played a lot by ear. I knew I had a knack for it. I do read music, but there are no notes on this instrument," he said.
He began his journey to become a saw musician and learn new tunes for an audience of one.
"My wife, Sandi, loves to listen to me play. She encouraged my playing from the start. I played every night when I started and Sandi always enjoyed listening. She is my biggest fan," Stavely said
Soon, he found himself performing for larger audiences, including at Fowler Community Day over the summer. He even gained enough confidence in his abilities to participate with a group of experienced bluegrass musicians.
"We went to the Wayne Bluegrass Festival in Wayne Township in Ashtabula County. This is an annual festival that is held every August. I played at the jam session at the Wayne Community Center," he said.
With his musical background, Stavely realized he can play any style of music on the saw from bluegrass to classical and Christmas carols to Italian folk songs. He is now proficient enough on the instrument to even take song suggestions and play them.
"The lady who is the activities director at Park Vista in Youngstown worked at the hotline when I started. She is a friend of my wife and me. On Palm Sunday, I played there. I played hymns, anything I could think of, and someone requested a song and I played it. If it's pretty melodic, I'll try it," Stavely said.
He brought his saw along when he and his wife went to Virginia on a vacation that coincided with Stavely playing with a group of bluegrass musicians.
"I knew that the Floyd Country Store in Floyd, Virginia had a bluegrass jam session on Fridays. I played with a really good banjo player there," he said.
Saw musicians and bluegrass music comes mostly from Appalachia, but the banjo player that he thought was a local player was actually from Long Island.
After 11 years of playing, Stavely plans to continue this hobby.
"What I think of in my head when I am playing is my trumpet teacher, and what he would say, 'Joe make it sing.' So, when I play the saw, I want to make it sing, make it beautiful," he said.
Stavely earned a degree in English with a minor in philosophy from YSU.
He is a legal guardian and crisis worker for the Help Network of Northeast Ohio.
To suggest a Saturday profile, contact Features Editor Burton Cole at bcole@tribtoday.com or Metro Editor Marly Reichert at mreichert@tribtoday.com.