Please excuse this post, but no-one in my world wants to hear me prattle on about this stuff, and the Stick Workshop is still a few months off. My dog listens to me attentively, but I’m not sure he’s picking up what I’m laying down, so YOU FOLKS get to read or ignore as you prefer!
I spent many years learning to play blues lead guitar, but it wasn’t until I started studying theory that I realized how limiting that was. My technique was pretty good, and I would memorize lead solos that I could play quite well over a backing track, but never developed any kind of “repertoire” so I could never sit down and just “play a song” whether by myself or for others. I also picked up the bass a few years ago, which further showed how limiting the blues is, and how important some understanding of theory is.
A year ago December I finally got a Stick, and last June my Railboard finally made its arrival. In the last 18 months I have learned 5 pieces and almost have a sixth under my fingers now. I’ll probably have at least one more learned by the time of the Workshop in August. So not only am I here to share my experiences with The Stick, but also the (for me) completely new experience of developing a repertoire.
For some inexplicable reason, I had the feeling that the Stick was the instrument that I was destined to play. Why I would feel this way, having never touched one, and only been close to one once when Bob Culbertson showed up at a local art fair, is a mystery. But I have to say that nothing has ever so quickly come to feel
so right in my hands. I can’t confess to an obsession, but the most common thought I have upon waking each morning is that I’m going to practice the Stick that day. I consistently practice 1-2 hours a day, and the few days I don’t play it is usually a deliberate decision to give it a rest. I just really REALLY love this instrument.
I’ve started to end my daily practice with some fun noodling. Sometimes I’ll put on a shuffled playlist and try to play something coherent along with the tracks that come up. Other times I’ll add some gnarly effects (I have a plugin that reminds me of a Strymon Big Sky) and just goof around improvising melodies using various scales or different modes and some accompanying harmony.
But the most interesting things I’ve noticed have been surprises. First is how I seem to develop a very intimate relationship with each piece. Sometimes it’s a bit of a love/hate for a while as there is usually some section or phrase that gives me fits. But as those rough spots get practiced more (sometimes 50, 100 times more!!) my relationship with the piece changes. Very strange experience. Also, after playing a particular piece 400 or 500 times, and as I start to be a little less constrained by struggling to simply get all the notes right, it’s been surprising how expression from varying the tempo and dynamics just naturally begins to creep in! I had no idea I could make music like that!!
Lastly (and of course this is very Stick-specific) having learned a bunch of pieces notated with StaffTab, I have learned two pieces that had no fingering information. Thanks to the technique that Greg Howard demonstrates in his transcriptions, I have found it incredibly easy to develop extremely effective fingerings for both pieces. I can’t help but feel I am part of Greg’s legacy.
So anyway, a year-and-a-half into this adventure, I feel like I’m very, VERY well on my way. At my age there can be so many regrets. I’m so happy that I had enough courage and faith in myself that I took this chance. No going back now!