So, I am still waiting patiently for my railboard! Haha I am starting to have dreams about That thing, no Joke!

At any rate, I have been practicing a lot and definitely making headway with what I guess Is more of a Stanley Jordan Touch thing, and I'm playing a 9 str Ibanez RG. Lol no matter.

Anyways, I have always found That practicing things in Small and simple fragments has always been the quickest way to learn new stuff. You know, an approach of learn It, refine It, and then perfect It sort of thing...

Anyways, for two hand sort of stuff, I find that breaking things down rhythmically seems to Be the key, You know... Kind of like looking at it from the way a drummer might. Anyone else approach This stuff from a perspective of how the notes line up rhythmically?

Being a recovering drummer, I started to learn stuff on Stick that way (figuring out the points where things intersect between the hands/fingers), but after taking some lessons with Greg I dropped that method in favor of learning each hand individually while tapping quarters with a non-dominant foot (left, in my case). The idea is to learn each hand's part so well that you can play it in your sleep, so that when you put the two together you have to think much less about it. It also means you're not learning to play the tune dependent upon the interactions of the hands and fingers - key for so-called "independence" and being able to (eventually) solo over changes.
I'll be the first to admit I'm not 100% there yet, but in using this method, I DO find that learning tunes is easier than trying to take the whole 2-handed thing on at once.

Luc - Thanks for the reply! I wasn't sure if anyone would be able to understand my horrible explanation, but I like how you put it, perfectly put! I've been working on a lot of different stuff, trying to see what clicks... hahaha I'll try anything! I can give that a go also! Thanks, man!

No problem! And one of the nice things about the Stick is that you CAN try a whole lot of stuff on it; it begs to be messed with.

I like what Luc is saying here ...

This is essentially the thing and then being able to solo over the changes , well there in (as
they say) lies the rubadubdub .

It is one thing to try and piece together a pre-existing composition and another to do
the experimentation to discover a new one . If you are working on a cover then
what ever the next note is, is already there, prepackaged so to speak. Maybe you could
change the arrangement and you most likely would but the fundamental thing, as best as one can, is to reproduce the piece as accurately as you can with a little of your own fair.

Making an 'original' is easier and harder at the same time. There is no net, nothing to
fall back on. But nothing to loose either. What you are creating does not really exist so there
is nothing to compare it to .

The reason why I brought all this up was because Luc's
description of learning two hand independence is so clear that I can feel it, taste it, see
it in my minds eye. I just wanted to add my usual plug for a looper as an extension
of that learning process because if you can take the pressure off one hand or the other
then you can explore with the "free" hand.

*j*
.~

Thanks, but it isn't mine, really. Credit goes to Greg for it.

Your new stick does come with the original Free Hands book.
By Emmett himself. This is a great book.
Also have you thought of getting any other materials with your new stick?
these would really set you on the rigt path with stick chord and scale basics and playing form.
One really good website with alot of videos for beginners is Bob Culbertsons site.
These you can find in youtube as well.

I must have watched 1000 videos over the 5 months i was waiting for my Alto.
But that just made it all the sweeter once it came. canadian customs actually lost it twice for about 2 months befor it was "found" lol
Talk about stressing out.

I tried practising on my Takamine acoustic before mine came but got really frustrated. I was wondering why is this so hard. All these guys make it look soooo easy. But there are countles hours of pain and frustration and practise to become proficient.

Once it comes and you slap it on yourself and plug a few fingers on the fretboard...you will be instantly hooked. It is not a guitar..... That becomes immediately apperant.
This is a precision instrument on a whole nother level.

Welcome to your new obsession.

Cheers

hahah I have ordered EVERYTHING instructional that I can get my hands on! Emmett's book, Greg Howard's books and DVD's and Steve Adelson's stuff. Should shut me up, and keep me busy for a bit! hahah I am now just awaiting the instrument. Emmett posted in another thread that he has a run of 100 Railboards he's doing right now, I can only assume that if mine isn't in that run (oooo I hope it is! lol) then it will be in the next.

Yes, I realize it is not going to be like guitar, but I have a 9 string guitar that I can work on RH dexterity, and get familiar with in a Stanley Jordan "touch" sort of context. If nothing else, it helps carve out another facet of my guitar playing, which I do love and intend to keep up. However, If my obsession with this damn thing is any indication so far (I don't even have one yet! lol) I may end up devoting quite a bit more time to stick than guitar... Initially that will definitely be true! hahaha All I can do is play as much 8 finger touch style as possible, and watch and listen to as many stickists as I can find... (Greg Howard, Steve Adelson, Emmett Chapman, Bob Culbertson... etc etc...)

One other really, really dumb question; How do you get a muted sound on the stick? You know like how guitarists put their palm down on the bridge and the strings kind of make a more percussive "th-th-th" sound?

Is that standard? Like Jay, I plan on buying as much educational material as I can afford.

To get that muted sound you asked about, you have to do it the same way as on a guitar and that takes 2 hands. I do that briefly in this video starting at 1:50. Although you can't see my right hand, it is laying on top of the strings very close to the bridge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtXyfykWHn0#t=1m49s