Five Questions With Multi-Instrumentalist Chuck Wilson

Chuck Wilson, Online Music Lessons Trombone

When you look up the word “multi-instrumentalist” in the dictionary, you ought to see the name Chuck Wilson. Chuck is proficient in nearly 10 (!) instruments, ranging from the trombone and trumpet to the drums, guitar, and ukulele. He’s also a successful teacher and musician, having performed with rock greats like Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots), and Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), as well as a host of jazz legends, including "Blue" Lou Marini, Jeff Coffin (Flecktones), and Maynard Ferguson, to name a few. Chuck is a current doctoral of music candidate at Rutgers, and wants to help you transition from simply enjoying music to having fun making music.

Lessonface: You're a serious multi-instrumentalist, can you tell us which instruments you started off with and what kind of music were you listening to at the time/growing up? How did you reach the point where you can play nearly 10 instruments with proficiency?

Chuck Wilson: I started on trombone in sixth grade band class. I chose it because it looks different and I've always liked being a little different. Music was a new world to me when I started going to band, so I listened to just about everything I could get my hands on. Top five CDs in 1998, in no particular order:

  • Beethoven piano sonatas
  • Cake - Prolonging the Magic 
  • Weezer - Blue album
  • RHCP - One Hot Minute 
  • Various - some disco CD collection

I got to know my trombone well and learned how to play all the kinds of music I enjoyed, then branched out to euphonium, tuba, horn, and trumpet to round out the brass family. In my 20s I joined a band called Quilty playing bass lines on an amplified, distorted trombone we called trombass, which inspired me to pick up the electric bass, guitar, drums, and ukulele. If you know your own instrument well enough to do anything you want with it, it's not too difficult to branch out and do some basic things with other instruments. Music is music!

Lf: Did you have any particularly influential mentors early on, or later as you progressed?

CW: My school band directors Mr. Barker and Mr. Stuckey always encouraged me and gave feedback when needed. My trombone teachers at University of North Texas were all world-class, and the atmosphere with so many trombonists was amazing. There were close to 80 trombonists while I was at school there.

Lf: What got you interested in teaching online? How long have you been teaching?

CW: I've been teaching for close to 15 years now, and I've always been interested in using technology to make things easier. Audacity and Garageband can give visual feedback in a very important way, because you can see the actual waveform you produced! Teaching online is really just the next step in musical/technological innovation.

Lf: If you had to recommend one video or performance for prospective students to check out in order to understand you and your style, what would it be?

CW: One video? That's tough with so many instruments and styles! My favorite is probably this Quilty vid from SXSW 2011. The songs are “Supernova” and “Siiya.” I play trombass on this one.

Lf: Can you tell us a bit about what's going on with any musical projects you're working on, and any latest news about them?

CW: Currently my primary project is a New Orleans-style brass band that covers songs by Nirvana called the Nevermind Orchestra. We recently played at NYC's Sullivan Hall and we've got a lot of shows coming up, including opening for Rebirth Brass Band this summer at BB King's.

Related:

Click here to book a lesson with Chuck or here to learn more about how LessonFace works. You can also check out our blog here to read more about LessonFace and our teachers.

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