Hi Folks,

My name is Matthew and I am a newbie (am I ever!). I just ordered a used stick from Emmett yesterday and it should arrive in a few weeks- Grand Stick, Padauk, Classic Tuning, MIDI on the melody side.

So I wasn't kidding when I said I was a newbie. I've no formal music training and the stick will be my first instrument. Nothing like diving into the deep end, eh?

My musical tastes are pretty varied (pop, rock, metal, grunge, punk, funk, folk, flamenco, classical, world music, new age, and whatever else gets my attention).

Anyway, I look forward to many virtual meetings and who knows, maybe I'll be able to swing by a Stick seminar sometime.

Happy Friday,

-m.

Hello, Matthew, and welcome!

I have also started my musical training with the Stick (played guitar a little before, but without any music theory knowledge), sooo.. "diving the deep end" is not impossible

Welcome, Matthew!

I've been playing Stick for 4 years and I still feel like a newbie sometimes. If you can make it to a seminar you would love it and it would help immensely. The Interlochen workshop this summer with Bob Culbertson, Greg Howard, and Glenn Poorman would be fantastic. Don't think that you have to know something to attend, there will be beginner sessions that will set you in the right direction and you will avoid bad habits that would have to be unlearned. It's also great to meet other Stick players.

Hope to meet you at a seminar someday.

-Eric

Hey Guys,

Thanks for chiming in. It's very nice to connect with a community of supportive people, virtual or otherwise (virtual people or virtual community? hmm.... ).

I hope to soon be working on my 5337D - diving parlance for a reverse one and a half somersaults with three and a half twists, in the Free position. But perhaps I should master my scales first. I'm sure a trip to Interlochen would help, but i'm not sure it's in the cards this year- I keep dealing myself the hanged man.

Anyway . . .


Happy Saturday to All, and to all a good night.



-m.


(exit stage right)

Welcome to Stick world Matthew. Judging from your post, you seem to be a creative sort of fellow and so it is with pleasant anticipation that I (we) look forward to your development on this marvelous instrument. Getting started with a seminar (or Skype lessons) right away, will do wonders for not only your immediate growth, but will serve to eliminate future habits that impede your growth. Good luck...

I welcome thee, Matthew James, unto our bosom.

There's nothing like diligent practice and a fresh mind to get some Sticking up in this joint
I think you even have an advantage to most of us, you have no instrument bias to worry about and aren't needlessly boxed in by boring theory ;P

Feel free to ping me and visit us at irc://irc.freenode.org/#chapmanstick

Ah, Locks,

But what is boring about theory? As a matter of fact I hear that trolls like to feed on music theory-- that as well as linguica and malasadas. I've also hear that too many malasadas make for slow trolls.

Thanks for the invite to irc. I may have to stop in.

-m.

Just my opinion, but this theory thing can really elevate your learning experience with The Stick. The instrument is extremely logical in string spacing (intervals) and the 5 fret differential in the inlays makes the whole fretboard science come together.
Simple things to explore in "theory":
1-Intervals-distance between notes
2-scale construction
3-chord construction
4-application and chemistry of these elements
Technique will come with time and practice. Understanding the instrument and the goal of expressing yourself can happen so much quicker by understanding and applying basic music fundamentals.
We should amend the name from "Music theory" to "music facts"
It's the basis of all my teaching.
Good luck
Tex Apport

"Take what you need and leave the rest..." Music Theory (FACTS) is important. youll go "ahaa" more often. And while you're exploring on your own and are thoroughly convinced you've just come up w something totally new, youll stumble upon some cat named Emmett doing it already and calling it 'fingersticking". grrrr....oh, and it's ALL world music.

Congratulations, Matthew, on picking a really cool instrument! I got my first Stick a year ago and even though I've been playing many instruments before and know chords n scales n stuff I'm still after a year discovering new cool ways to play things on the Stick. I just love to explore how you can do chords and duplicate certain notes i unison on both hands to play "finger picking" arpeggio. When you get the hang of how to phrase rhythm on both hand's fingers the big fun begins! (took me about a year to get the hang of that) My son plays the drums and he use to comment that "playing that Stick is exactly like playing the drum kit - it's all about coordinating a sequence of hits to different drums/fingers and placing the accents at he right places".

I recently found a lot of inspiration for Stick playing by listening to African kora music, since that music typically draws on two lines that dance around each other ("contrapunct" for those theoretically inclined).