StickNews Digest Issue #282 - 02/22/06
An online digest about The Chapman StickŪ published by Jim Reilly.Please send your posts and responses here: sticknews@stick.com
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CONTENTS:
INSPIRATION
- Let the games begin.
- Vancouver seminar takes shape.
- Live and recorded Stick.
- Steve is on the road yet again.
- Alto tune from Glenn.
- Ron is back.
- The Claw.
- Walk the line.
- Greg Howard introduces and new Dual Bass Tuning.
INSPIRATION ABOUNDS
Hello all,
It's been an odd winter up here in the 'Great White North.' For starters, it hasn't been all that white. After a couple of weeks of cold and snow back in December it has been unseasonable warm - we're talking above freezing - until last week when we had a couple of days well below zero and now have the first really big snowfall of the year.
Even though winter may have been a bit of bust up here, like any good Canadian boy, I've been glued to the TV set for the last week and half watching the Winter Olympics from Torino, Italy. In fact, I'm writing this during the first intermission of the Canada/Russia quarterfinal hockey game (loser goes home!). Speed, grace, heartbreaking losses and unbelievable victories, these Olympic Games have had it all. My favourite moment so far was when the Chinese female in the pairs skating crashed to the ice, could hardly skate, but managed to compose herself, picked up where she left off and won a silver medal! Amazing.
Whenever I watch events like this I'm reminded of an article Emmett wrote for "Musician, Player and Listener" published July 1976. He wrote, "At this time of the 1976 Olympics I'm sure many musicians, myself included, have been watching the televised athletic events at Montreal, and practicing for chops under the inspiration of athletes striving for beauty, strength, speed, and excellence."
As I glance up from my computer screen and watch the Canadian hockey team desperately digging in front of the net trying to force the puck past the Russian goalie I'm inspired by their striving for strength, speed, and excellence. When I saw that little Chinese skater, who picked herself up, obviously broken and skated anyway, I'm inspired by her strength, sacrifice and integrity (she couldn't even walk off the ice, she had to be carried).
So as I'm preparing for Jim Meyer's seminar in Vancouver this May and for the couple of gigs I have coming up before then, I hope to tap into that sense of commitment and dedication that is on my TV screen right now and that Emmett tapped into back in 1976. And while I don't expect to pull a groin or get some teeth knocked out I do expect to be pushed and challenged and hope I can rise to the occasion.
Here's to finding inspiration wherever and whenever you can.
Take care,
Jim Reilly
WHO, WHERE, WHEN, WHAT, MAYBE EVEN WHY
From: Jim Meyer [jmeyer@parallaxinteractive.com]
Subject: May Vancouver seminar website
Date: Wed 01/02/2006
The Vancouver seminar in May is coming together nicely. Here is a link to the web site: www.jimmeyer.ca/stick
There will be lots of chances to play, learn, explore your Stick and we've confirmed 4, that's right 4 top instructors for the event.
Any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to send me an email.
Hope to see you there,
Jim
******************************
Parallax Interactive, Ltd.
39219-3695 W. 10th Ave.
Vancouver, BC V6R 4P1
Canada
******************************
From: Stickist@aol.com
Subject: Nick Beggs concert in Wales Feb 24
Date: Wed 01/02/2006
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to let you know about a concert that Nick Beggs is giving at the Crosskeys Hotel at Crosskeys near Newport in Gwent in Wales on Friday February 24th. Details at the following website:
www.geocities.com/jenks436/nextevent.html
I spoke with Nick a few days ago, and it sounds like it will be a great concert. Worth the trip if you don't live nearby.
Happy Tapping,
Greg
www.greghoward.com
From: Tom Griesgraber [tom@thossounds.com]
Subject: CGT plus Sticks on Myspace
Date: Sun 05/02/2006
Hi all,
I just got an e-mail from my friends in the California Guitar Trio. They just put together a page for the group on MySoace and as luck would have it the first mp3 they came across and put up is a live recording from Milan with myself, Jerry Marotta, and Splendore all sitting in. There's a lot of notes with 3 guitars and 3 Sticks, but it still works. Paul Richards jokingly called it the "We are the World" version of the song.
check out: www.myspace.com/californiaguitartrio
Enjoy!
Tom Griesgraber
www.thossounds.com
From: Stephen Travis Pope [stp@create.ucsb.edu]
Subject: Looking for Bob Culbertson's intro video
Date: Mon 06/02/2006
Hello all,
Does anyone have a copy of the intro-level video by Bob Culbertson that I could borrow to copy? (It's out of print.)
...any reply appreciated...
stp
--
Stephen Travis Pope -- Santa Barbara, California, USA
create.ucsb.edu/~stp
HeavenEverywhere.com
FASTLabInc.com
From: SteveAFran@aol.com
Subject: New Jersey
Date: Tue 14/02/2006
For those in New Jersey, I'll be doing a solo set, opening for a CD release party of a Jersey fusion band.
Sat., Feb 25.9pm start, but call to confirm show time.
The Crossroads
78 North Avenue,
Garwood, New Jersey, 07027
Phone 908-232-5666
Steve Adelson
From: SteveAFran@aol.com
Subject: Seminar survey
Date: Tue 14/02/2006
It looks like a trip to Cleveland this summer may leave time for a short Stick seminar. Anyone interested?
Steve Adelson
From: SteveAFran@aol.com
Subject: Phoenix and Sedona
Date: Fri 17/02/2006
Just booked another return trip to the Phoenix/ Sedona area, end of June.
As usual I will make some lesson time for those interested. Maybe a mini-seminar this time? Email privately.
Steve Adelson
From: Glenn Poorman [glenn.poorman@autodesk.com]
Subject: New Alto Download
Date: Mon 20/02/2006
Hi everybody,
As I promised Zak on last Monday's podcast, I put a version of the first tune I wrote and performed on the Alto Stick up on the web for all to download. The tune is called "1000 Words" and is mostly solo Alto with some delay. There is some loop work that comes in around 2:35 and runs to the end.
Go to www.detroitstick.com/music/downloads/glenn2003 and select the first tune on that page.
Glenn
KEEP THAT NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION AND PLAY!
From: Ron Baggerman [galaxygypsy@gmail.com]
Subject: Rubbish, Hoops & Hurdles
Date: Fri 17/02/2006
Here's a tune called Rubbish, Hoops & Hurdles. The drums are played by Santana Moll. The pdf with the staff & tab is written for the melody side for a Grand Standard Tuned Stick. It's easy to transpose for other tunings & 10string Sticks. And I also marked the Chord Symbols for the left hand.
It's a 2 minute Tune using double stops in the melody. It starts in the key of Eminor Phrygian e-f-g-a-b-c-d-e In bar 4 there's a side step to Bm (b-d-f#) and from halfway bar 5 until var 16 the key/scale implied is mainly F Ionian with exception of the Eb chords in bar 7 & 9. From bar 16 I play in the Gm Phrygian scale (g-ab-bb-c-d-eb-d-eb-f-g) with the exception of the Db in bar 19 & 21. The G major Chord in bar 23 is used as V chord towards Cm.
MORE HERE
From: SteveAFran@aol.com
Subject: Spinal Column # 13
Date: Sun 12/02/2006
"The Claw", so named by a student of mine, many years ago, is an extremely important Stick technique. Basically, it's the use of the right hand thumb in conjunction with the four basic fingers. The action of this movement on the strings, imitates a crab dancing across the sand, hence the name "The Claw". (there was a bad guy on TV's Get Smart called "The Craw not The Craw" but that's another story). Emmett has chosen a different name, commonly alluding to this style as "FingerSticking". Hey "A rose by any name would smell as sweet". (Mo Howard). Call it what you wish. Let's explore the possibilities.
First example: (I use the standard Grand)
Tap the third string at the eighth fret with the index finger of the right hand.
Now tap the 11th string at the eighth fret with the thumb of same hand.
Should be the same tone.
Play rhythms between the two notes.
Move the thumb, up or down two frets and continue rhythmic play.
Move the index up or down two frets and do the rhythm thing.
Move the index finger and/or thumb to different strings
Now we get a little fancier: RIGHT HERE
From: Chris Crain [stickmusic@earthlink.net]
Subject: Walkin' the Line
Date: Tue 31/01/2006
Continuing with my walking bass series, this month we're going to be "Walkin' the Line". I wrote the exercise with two distinct sections and a common bass line throughout. In the first section, the RH plays a rhythmic role and in the second, the RH plays a phrase.
PDF AND MP3 HERE
Practice only the first section (measures 2-11) as you work on developing your walking bass. When you are comfortable with the first section, practice the second.
Measure 1 starts off with some "pick-up" notes (also in mm. 11 & 21). Pay attention to your LH fingering as you come into the 2nd measure. Measures 2 & 3 represent the bass line that's used throughout. Open your LH out and get use to the fingering/pattern.
A POWERFUL TWO-HANDED NEW VOICE
From: Stickist@aol.com
Suject: new Dual Bass Reciprocal tuning for Stick-playing bassists
Date: Tue 21/02/2006
The new Dual Bass Reciprocal(TM) tuning
Bass 4ths meet Stick 5ths on one fretboard
Bass players are often fiercely dedicated to their role of defining the groove and harmony from the bottom up. That doesn't mean that a ten-string Stick, and all of the possibilities it allows, shouldn't be among the bassist's favorite instruments.
With some excellent feedback from Emmett, I've been working on a new tuning that bass players would find familiar, and that wouldn't force them to choose between the role they already know and the magic of the Stick's two-handed bass in inverted 5ths that Tony Levin and so many other players have come to love, myself included.
The Dual Bass Reciprocal(TM) tuning combines a standard bass 4ths arrangement with a Stick (inverted bass 5ths) tuning to provide myriad ways to fill the bass player's role. A 6-string bass tuning covers the first 6 strings, overlapping onto the 5-string inverted 5ths Stick tuning. Conceptually, it's a set of 11 strings using only ten, with both sets sharing the common low B.
Here's how it looks (these are the notes at the playable X fret, which corresponds to the nut on regular 34" scale electric bass):
1 - C
2 - G
3 - D
4 - A
5 - E (standard bass low E)
6 - B (5-string bass low B)
7 - F# (going back up in pitch)
8 - C#
9 - G#
10 - D#
Strings 6-10 are only a half-step below the Classic Stick tuning. For testing, I just tuned my heavy-gauge Classic bass set down. For strings 1-5 Emmett sent me a set that starts out fairly light but gets relatively heavier as the pitch drops to make the transition from the 5th to 6th string feel consistent. I'm loving the sound and feel, and think I'm going to have to get another Stick just to have one always available in this tuning.
Several different playing techniques can work on this tuning:
1. Two-handed interdependent parts on strings 6-10. I love taking advantage of the increased real estate available along the frets for each hand, a huge range of pitches and timbres is available right under your fingertips. This is the classic two-handed Stick bass technique popularized by Tony Levin.
2. The left hand can tap on strings 1-6 near the nut, with the right hand adding notes in at higher frets in the same string group, or double-stops on strings 9 and 10 or chords on strings 8-10. Players who have been tapping on a bass will immediately be able to translate their music to the Dual Bass Reciprocal tuned Stick.
3. Play like a conventional bass, fretting strings 1-6 near the nut and plucking with the right hand. Lots of different timbres depending on where you articulate the string, even plucking way up around the 7th fret. You may not be able to really lay into the strings without getting a bit of buzzing from the low action, but I've been plucking solos on the Stick's bass strings for years. It just takes a bit of practice. I'm sure it will be easier for seasoned bassist than it was for me. You can dig in more by plucking near the bridge, despite The Stick's very low tapping action, and here the tone is very funky.
4. Incredibly fast and lyrical soloing capability with the right hand on strings 1-6 from about the 5th fret on up. Slightly lighter strings than you might normally use for a given gauge gives a warm, clear tone that's not thuddy like it would be when tapping on a conventional bass. This is the magic of Emmett's three-fingered melody technique applied to a lower pitched set of strings. The left hand can simultaneously play accompaniment chords, bass lines or pedal tones and drones. The result is a powerful percussive and driving instrument.
Because there's lots of overlap between the string sets, the possibilities for two-handed interactive tapping are truly endless. This overlap allows for more timbral consistency within a close pitch range than 5ths alone, lots of doubling of notes, stereo unison lines and octaves. I could go on and on, but I'm sure you'll be able to discover more in a few minutes of playing than I can put into words here.
I think bass players who are expecting to work in a group setting with guitarists and keyboardists will particularly like this tuning, as it provides so many ways to occupy the low end. Bass tappers who want more possibilities than their current instrument has to offer will enjoy the freedom of having so many strings and timbrally varried locations to play each note. It's all about expanding possibilities for the Stick-playing bassist.
Sound samples going online soon.
Happy Tapping,
Greg
Dual Bass Reciprocal is a new trademark of Stick Enterprises, Inc.
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End of StickNews #282.