I am still surprised that most people still arent aware of the chapman stick. I've been INTO it since about 1984, and am not surprised that i find myself continually inspired by my new and firmiliar friends in the stick family who are scattered all over the globe. You guys are great .I think what i admire the most about people who play the chapman stick is how open minded ,patient and optimistic "we" are. I believe that stick players are very courageous. i dont know very many other musicians who would not bat an eyelash at retuning their instrument at an given time. or not think it strange ,but a blessing that the bass side of their sticks were tuned in ascending fifths. but instead of grumbling about it , we just made our minds up that ,eventually ,we'd figure it out; and we did. i think the same goes with hoping we'd someday grow another brain, and be able to play bass and melody side independently.bu then we realized thatit realy wasnt that hard after all ,even though i never cease to be inspired by those of us like " GREG HOWARD" who do it so effortlessly. I dont mind that there are only around 5 or 6 thousand players(last i heard) on the planet , i also dont mind that We, as stick players my be looked at as strange or weird because what we do my seem strange or different to the average person. What i get excited about is that beautiful sound of strings being struck onto a fetboard. accompanying myself with a new song. getting more understanding about music in general ,every time i pick up that instrument
. Here's another funny thing i notice; tell me if you feel this way : i used to only play the bass. But the more i play the stick the more i feel like an unbiased 3rd party. like im not a bassist or a guitarrist or pianist or anything but a MUSICIAN. I a also amazed at how light the tapping action is to sound a note on the stick, i try to tell other musicians how easy it is to play, but they usually just look at m with bewilderment and act like i'm being over the top overtly modest to the point of insult . maybe we are more advanced than we realize (or maybe having an open mind just has it's rewards and we are reaping the benifits, like a good harvest. i would love to hear from any one else on this topic I feel a special kinship to stick players I AM JUST SO BLESSED TO PLAY THIS WONDERFUL INSTRUMENT! just wanted to share thse thoughts OKAY NO I GOTA GO PRACTICE SOME MORE, WOOOT!

+1

Those are some really nice observations. I love how this community has an unashamed tendency to gush like kids at times.
There was a realization that I had a little while back, and you reminded me of it: I don't know if I could have taken up the Stick and had any success with it earlier in my life. They say that you're meant to be in the moment you're in, and that is exactly where and when you're supposed to be there. I believe it because earlier in my life, I didn't have the mindset that I have now, which came after over 25 years as a drumming professional, and 8 years of owning a business and being too low on capital to hire others to do things for me. I had to become an electrician, a carpenter, a plumber, a landscaper, a bookkeeper, and knowledgeable on animal care. After these 8 years, I've lost most of the sense of fear and self-doubt that plagued me for the first three and a half decades of my life.
In short, while some people may indeed have been born with that dauntless, pioneering spirit that you see in Stickists, I'm sure there are also a lot of them out there like me who had to grow into that mindset.
Thanks for sharing, MT!

i can see that you get it. I guess ,subliminally, that what i was trying to figure out myself. thats kind of funny . i think you summarized it perfectly . my story is fairly similar , I played bass since 1980, wanted to be much more creative than i allowed myself to be ; maybe i should have started on the piano, instead of the bass. But i did become a really good bassist; gt reall good on the fretless bass ,which was all i played for around 15 years or so , i had seen steve "oz" when i lived in ann arbor, michigan, playing his chapman stick, and i kew that i wanted one, but imade every excuse in the book as to why i couldnt have one ,or rather didnt get motivated enough to buy one. i did purcahse a used ironwood model ( one with the cut wood slots and brass set screws for bridge saddles)in late 95. I couldnt do much on it but i did completely fall in love with it , i did notice that i liked the chords that i could make with the bass side but i could not make hide nor hare of it because my knowledge of music theory was so bad. I ended up selling it because i had a really tough situation with a bad room mate that skated out on their responsibility to pay for a 2 bedroom apartment, and left me holding the bag. it was only last year that i finally got my brand new tarrara 10 string mr tuning model it seemed lik murder trying to get enough cash up to get one ,but i will say that since i had the memory of my first stick model ,i had never forgot that sound , that intimate feeling of sounding chords in both hands and being with that intrument; never forgot how i had grown so much in such a short time . fromte time tat i got my first model till last year when i got my new one ,if i saw any info on the stick i would read it any time i thought of it, i meditated on the fifths tuning, tried to learn as much music theory as i could ,because i knew that someday i would finally get one because i did find my instrument AND I KNEW IT. yOU WERE TALKING abouthow you had to learn things on yourown ,trade type skills, life skills. funny thing ,me too. been self employed mostly as a painter ,butbeing in the trades usually has youlearn more tha just one ,to the which i am thankful for, drawing and painting, airbrushing portraits. i do believe ,as you do, that our life experiences if we allow them have us on a path that will crescendo to more complete developement and enrichment to quote a famous scripture romans 8:28 that all things work together for the good t them that love god and are "the called"........... THANKS FOR YOUR THOUGHTS!

The Stick is the most exciting instrument I've learned so far. Before I managed to buy one I played guitar, tenor sax, alto flute and EWI. It was the option to do solo concerts that attracted me to the Stick, especially improvising with instant harmonisation but also the poly rhythmic aspect of using both hands. I doubt I will ever get the urge to pick up another instrument now, just want to play the Stick all the time.

I love to play this instrument. Looks elegant but not fragile. You cant hide behind it.(Well, I cant hide behind it!) The audience sees and hears YOU.
I also come from a bass background via acoustic guitar. For years I strived to perfect my bass playing but could hear more in my head than I or my instrument was able to play. Now my fingers can play more than I hear in my head. Somehow that is the best ratio for me.

I think I need to think more on this before making a comprehensive statement about what the Stick means to me. Just a few thoughts.

Mike

Hear, Hear, i totally agree! Luc, to paraphrase your quote, im exactly where im supposed to be. i've had a Stick since '85, but i was a bass player and a business owner and, lets say i was distracted for 21 years. in '08, after hip replacements, i got my second Stick. ran into problems w carpal tunnel when i finally got SERIOUS. another seeming setback. surgeries done, basses sold, amp bought, and im playing more than ever in my life. (still not enough, there's this thing called a job that gets in the way) so basicly at 55yrs old im becoming the musician i've allways wanted to be w the coolest instrument in the world thanks to Emmetts vision, all you guys for inspiration, and my Higher Power's unwillingness to be done with me yet. i've got work to do...

MAYBE SOMEDAY EMMETT CHAPMAN WILL GET THE CREDIT THAT HE SHOULD FOR CREATING A NEW INSTRUMENT THAT "HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME" HOPEFULLY IN HIS LIFETIME. AS LEAST FR NOW WE HAVE THE PRIVELEDGE OF KNOWING HIM NAD BEING ABLE TO BE CLOSE TO HIM AND HIS GENIUS

Yeah man I really hear what you're saying. Prior to playing the Stick, I was a guitarist. Man, that was so limiting. I really feel like my brain has been blown wide open, stuffed with new ideas and concepts and then sewn back together. I find myself thinking orchestrally, melodically and harmonically. I can hold two or three parts in my mind at the same time now, and understand the individual parts of a group, and the impact as a whole, both at once. In just a few years I've become so much stronger a musician than I ever thought I could be, and I know that I'm no where close to finished growing.

My favorite musicians all say the same thing: that the music comes from inside, and that the instrument is just the tool to bring it out. I agree with this wholeheartedly, but damn I'm glad I found the right tool for the job.

Josh you definitely have the proper tool.

This is a great thread, gotta love the Chapman stick community.

Brett