Lot's of people seem to wonder what it is about this tuning that makes it so well-suited to tapping, so I thought it would be helpful to have a general video that shows some examples of left hand accompaniment styles using the inverted 5ths tuning.

I tried to cover how playing technique, tuning, and instrument ergonomics are related to each other. Hopefully it will help de-mystify the tuning a bit.

I look forward to your comments on the content and to any suggestions about making future videos better.

Happy Viewing:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TZi0qKzKCM[/youtube]

RSS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TZi0qKzKCM

Great content, informative and very well produced.

Nicely done, Greg.

Greg,

what an excellent overview and exposition ( and explanation) for hand and arm positioning,
and for the true brilliance of Emmett and the Inverted 5ths Chords and bass tuning. Plus great multi camera angles to emphasize the points.

really superb job and a great teaching tool! thanks for your tireless efforts in supporting the playing of the Stick and constantly reassessing, reinventing and raising the bar on education on the Stick.

take care,
Dave Brosky

Greg,

I have a lot of respect for you and your awesome music. You are for more talented than I could ever hope to be. I ask the following question truly hoping to understand rather than start an argument.

Why do you, Stick Enterprises and the Stick community as a whole stress playing, holding and tuning in the traditional manner? It seems to me more people would be interested in playing this awesome instrument and unlocking all of its potential if experimentation was encouraged.

Take the bass guitar for example an instrument that has been around for about 100 years. yet slap bass was only made popular in the last 40. Now slap bass is taught as a legitimate playing style.

I hope my question is understood and no disrespect was taken, as none was intended.

Do you really think that eight alternate tunings suggested for a Grand is "traditional"? That's rather "experimental" to me

Your questions is totally taken with respect, and I think you phrase it very well. Let me just start of by saying that for the past several years the very first line of the tunings page at stick.com says this:

"All current models of our Touchboard® line of Stick® fretboard tapping instruments are fully adjustable at the bridge and nut to accommodate any desired tuning..."

I'm only trying to show an explanation of how the method works for me in the tuning that I (and many other professional players) use, and to do it in a way that is consistent with the other educational materials I've written (this is very important to me, as all my lesson materials are based on practical experience, not theoretical concepts).

If you look at what many people are doing, even players more skilled than me, there are lots of differences in approach.

Bob has made some great videos, and he uses an entirely different melody technique than I do (4-fingers). Steve has made some great videos, and he holds his instrument at a much lower angle than I do, and uses an entirely different melody technique than I do (4-fingers). Rob has made some great videos, and he's using mirrored 4ths in the bass. Don plays one group of all 4ths, at a pretty low angle. Emmett is a bit of a maverick, always experimenting with placement and techniques. He never stops inventing. You'll find videos by all of us and many other players on the SE site and the http://www.youtube.com/stickplayers page.

So I don't really see that any of us is advocating an exclusive way of doing things. There are definitely variations on the theme. What we all have in common is that we all play Free Hands, where both hands' fingers are lined up essentially parallel with the frets. Many of us happen to use "crossed" tunings, but not all (check out Hettory's video on the SG12 page, for example).

I can only demonstrate what I know. I'm not an actor (or a huckster), so I'm admittedly not the most engaging on-camera personality, but if I can help others see inside my own technique, then I will have succeeded in doing what I set out to do.

If it comes across that I'm saying "this is the only way to do it," then I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention, and I think upon reflection you'll see that that is not what I'm doing at all.

There are really three key points to the video, and they all have to do with my own interest in teaching Free Hands as a physical technique rather than focusing on fingering:

1. The instrument's positioning on the body influences the
ergonomics of tapping on the strings.
2. The inverted 5ths tuning creates certain unique musical possibilities,
especially on a long scale and with only 5 bass strings, and the way
it lays out the notes influences the ergonomics of tapping on strings.
3. Reaching over the strings (playing crossed) opens up the hand,
which also influences the ergonomics of tapping on strings.

I'm not telling anyone else how to play, I'm just just telling them how I play. If you have another idea, go for it!

Thanks for asking your question. Always good to have a chance to clear the air.

If there's anything in the video that isn't clear to any of you, please ask. That's why I've posted it here. And thanks to you, Dave, Steve, and Rich for your kind comments.

Nice video Greg! I really enjoyed it.

Hi Greg,

well done, big compliment! It's always a pleasure to watch a video that's not only very informative, but also looks and sounds great. Multiple cameras and chord symbols really make it stand out. I also like the speed of it all. I once had to follow video instructions for a software program that was made way too slow - terrible!. It's better to have some speed in the story, because people can always choose to press the pause button.
Kind regards,
Jaap

This is really great, Greg. I'm going to link to this whenever anyone asks about arm movement and wrist or hand position. I totally agree that on a 10-string Stick, inverted 5ths is the way to go. If I still had one, that's what I would do. The 12-string made inverted 4ths possible and the kind of music I'm playing lends itself to that tuning a bit better. But, inverted 5ths made the Stick possible and has great magic and power.

-Eric