A Gift This Day For All Tappers

Hi all,

Today's the day back in '69 when Emmett's Free Hands two-handed tapping method began.

Here's a tune I wrote envisioning that moment in 1969 when he created his two handed-tapping technique. I think it turned out fairly nice. The link follows and the lyric after that.

stirling.mp3

I came all the way (down) here from the Great Northwest
To tell you that I like this instrument the best
- out of all the things
I've plucked and poked and pounded.

Well, they tell me it all started back in '69
When a bright, bearded bard settling down to dine
Leaned back in his chair and laid his hands upon his large guitar
(...it had lots of strings...)

He?d been carefully crafting this magnificent thing
And he touched it gently - you could hear the strings sing
His fingers glided on the frets both near and far. ( It was a BIG guitar...)

He?d been checking out the jazz cats trying new ways
to elevate their improvs above the haze
of the worn out solos they had played from year to year
( searching for fresh frontier )

They would thump and bump and strike their strings
And they?d start this tap, tap, tap and their phrasings
would soar from the heart and arrive at new destinations

But their elbows would jerk and jump and dance
That horizontal tapping was such an awkward stance
Their flailing fingers would clump and twist and fall

Tapping was good - a pure, sweet sound -
But the jazz cats? horizontal crawl never found
that effortless ecstasy .....that was about to be discov?ard
( by our bearded bard. )

He held high his incredible, many stringed thing
and unconciously - he let his fingers sing
from the deep down low notes
to the sweet, soft baritone

His eyes were closed and his fingers were busy
Counterpoint and chords were now marvelously dizzy
from the few sparse notes he?d begun to these soaring tones

He played from his heart and couldn?t stop what he?d started
An orchestra of sound had been magically charted
From the two handed tappings he had spontaneously began

< SOLO >

He hadn't been thinking of any particular objective
He was lost in the music .....The sounds kept him captive
Then a note touched a chord he had never heard before

(That must have been that Tone Eleven)

He was genuinely relaxed in this guitar embrace
And he continued to tap - a large smile on his face
Cause he opened his eyes and saw what he had done.

Two hands were tapping in a parallel dance
Someone else was playing this - He thought - in a trance
Arpeggio on the left - sweet melody on the right
A huge percusive tap seemed to emit a bright light

His many stringed thing now pointed high - to the ceiling
Both hands were in sync and he knew what he was feeling
...a feeling that felt...you know
THIS REALLY TAPS JUST RIGHT!
and LEFT and RIGHT and LEFT......

PARALLEL!!!

Thank you, Emmett for this wonderful instrument.

Sean Stirling, Musician Under Construction
seanstirling.stickist.com