Hi all.

I learned piano (and some clarinet) in high school, getting up to grade 7 in both practice and theory. Then my main interest switched to computer programming until getting a job in it thoroughly destroyed my passion for it as a hobby.

My interests switched to other things and I have thoroughly become a consumer instead of a creator (in particular, Vocaloid music is taking up a ton of my time and funds.) But I feel like I want to start creating again. It has been about 15 years but I remember some theory still and thought I would get into music again and see what I can do. Since I'm heavily involved in computers, computer-aided composition seemed interesting but I didn't want to become one of those guys who can compose music but not play his own work, which leads into getting an instrument.

The other day I took the first step by placing an order for a 12-string grand stick (although I haven't received a confirmation yet, I'm sure it will come soon.) The stick intrigues me as an instrument. People have said it feels a bit like a keyboard with more... freedom? despite essentially being a guitar.

I should get back on the music theory rails but I'm not sure where to start and I'm not sure how much I really remember. I think I remember keys, intervals and and chords (at least some) but common key progressions for composing are quite fuzzy in my head. I'd be curious to know if there are opportunities for lessons in my area for the stick as well (although I am not optimistic about this since it's such a niche instrument.)

I can be quite an unreasonable guy with a bad temper at times, but I hope I can learn from people here.

TX

i already love you. honest people are getting harder to find these days.

not sure if greg's skype lessons are available in your location.. but if they are, that's the way to go.

i wouldn't let your past knowledge (or lack of recall) worry you at all. the stick will teach you what you need the more you explore with it.

one last thought.. call S.E. directly about your order. it's the best way to jump on board.

welcome!

jimi

... forgot to mention greg's new DVD.

ORDER IT IMMEDIATELY! (not kidding)

=o)

Yes, I absolutely will. A lot of people say a lot of good things about it.

I have a shopping list of books and DVDs to pick up to start out and it's definitely on it.

Welcome!
- What did you order?
- Skype lessons are really good, the only thing that you can't do is to play together, so get in touch with Greg as soon as you receive your instrument. Different timezones might be a pain to coordinate a proper spot for a lesson; but it will be one of those funny settings where one of you will be having the first coffee of the day and the other will be having the last beer


Cheers, Daniel.

Hi from Melbourne , call STICK on the phone, ring in the morning our time, there are always helpful I find. I've not tried Skype lessons but I can also recommend Steve Adelsons DVD, really great ! Heaps of inspirational stuff on YouTube to watch. Just start playing it and enjoy
Cheers
B


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the vote of confidence! My approach is certainly not for everyone, but it's been getting a good reception, so nice to know my efforts aren't in vain! It's available from SE, my website, and amazon.com

Thanks, Daniel,

I've had several students in Australia, in Perth and in the East (some even come back for more than one lesson ) , so its possible to work out the time zone issues without too much difficulty.

There's more info about that, including the outrageously reasonable rates, here:
http://www.greghoward.com/free_hands/video_lessons.html

If you're on Facebook, there's also an Australian Stick group on there:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/347810532244/

Hi Trekaz.

Morning coffee and Stick, that's all you need right..!? Have you caught up with Evil Gus and Bizon, yet? There's also Mr. Heath I believe, he's still in Sydney. There's quite a few of us in AU now, you can always type in the search bar of course.


Looking forward to your sounds, new 12 string, lucky bugger.

Stickist regards.

Morning energy drink and Stick in my case, but otherwise you're right. The times might line up better than I imagined.

I ran with the advice of calling SE to check up on it and yeah, the order has been received. I made a minor change to the order and they also dissuaded me from using red inlays on graphite because there wouldn't be enough contrast. (That's fine, I switched to "turquoise", but now that I have had time to get caffeine into me, I wonder if that will be interpreted as the flat colour or the recon stone... probably the latter, I bet. The former would probably have better contrast. The confirmation email is supposedly coming today though, plenty of time for me to check.)

My pay cheque is just around the corner, so things are pretty well timed, really.

I'm sure it will be quite a while until I get up to speed though.