I just - over the past two weeks over 3 nights - just finished watching both volume 1 and volume 2 of Bob Culbertson's instructional video series, and wow... he is not kidding when it comes from covering everything from the basics for a real beginner - to all the way up to someone who is truly advanced and skilled in Stick playing - it was truly incredible !!

*I watched all of Volume 2 last night, what a mistake that was - it was just so much info, but at the same time Bob does alot of examples with Joe the drummer, and it was really amazing to watch them both play.

At one point I swear Bob was playing three seperate patterns at once, I believe with the Weather Report tune he was using as an example of how a popular song could be played - I broke out in a cold sweat after that one - literally !! - it was so incredibly beautiful the way Bob can just be so in tune with his instrument, and that's my point: Volume 1 has these very simple lessons of real basic rudiments - which I will probably spend a very long time just working on - before I decide it is ok to advance further.

Over the winter, I will really break down this video series - maybe watch volume 1 again over a couple of weeks, then a couple of months later - watch volume 2 but this time over a couple of months, because the lessons there are so indepth - not too mention way beyond anything I could ever be possibly doing myself.

So, that's my answer - watch/play and learn from Bob.

Also - and this to me is huge - just plug in the instrument and have fun, preferrably with a couple of other musicians and kind of just clown around, to get a real good feel of the instrument - or in my case - with my old wooden metronome.

I studied other Stick players (and still do) to find pathways and fingerings thru commonly used intervallic sequences, chord progressions and cadences on the bass side 5ths tuning. That was really terra incognita for me until I started looking at it like a left handed cello flipped over and played upside down. The melody side is easier because it's so much like a guitar - albeit played overhand with the wrong hand..... After that it's just attending the minute particulars and building repertoire and musical instincts. The devil is in the details. The other thing is I don't try to copy other Stick players. I look elsewhere for material - R&B/gospel piano, bluegrass, Celtic harp, Italian mandolin, surf guitar, Django, jazz vocalists, Hawaiian steel guitar, bebop horn players, Hendrix and whatever else is banging around my skull. I've sat down and had Emmett critique my playing a few times and that always bore fruit. I got a long way to go.

I studied other Stick players (and still do) to find pathways and fingerings thru commonly used intervallic sequences, chord progressions and cadences on the bass side 5ths tuning. That was really terra incognita for me until I started looking at it like a left handed cello flipped over and played upside down. The melody side is easier because it's so much like a guitar - albeit played overhand with the wrong hand..... After that it's just attending the minute particulars and building repertoire and musical instincts. The devil is in the details. The other thing is I don't try to copy other Stick players. I look elsewhere for material - R&B/gospel piano, bluegrass, Celtic harp, Italian mandolin, surf guitar, Django, jazz vocalists, Hawaiian steel guitar, bebop horn players, Hendrix and whatever else is banging around my skull. I've sat down and had Emmett critique my playing a few times and that always bore fruit. I got a long way to go.

When I get "stuck" (playing ruts) I open up the "fake books" - Vince Guaraldi The Charlie Brown Collection, The Henry Mancini Collection, and the Thelonious Monk Fake Book. They hurt my brain and really force my creative juices. The T.M.F.B. is especially recommended because it shows a lot Monks voicings...if you're into that sort of thing.