I'm of the violin tape school myself, but only because I come from keyboards and I marked off what are the black keys on a piano. Having said and done that, I know where all the Ds are now on my Stick, and probably don't need it anymore. I doubt I'll put tape on the Railboard whenever it finally comes.

But, I was playing a Harpeji at Oz's Music last Thursday, and it has all the keys marked with little pictograms of what they'd look like if they were actually piano keys instead of frets, with all the Cs marked with a little X. That's the way that the Harpeji is made and sold. Pic here (uses triangles instead of Xs for the Cs): http://musicnotation.org/wp-content/upl ... layout.png

I found I could jam instantly on it, just by using the black and white marks and the Cs. When I did the same to my 10-string and marked the frets, my playing jumped a few levels.

When I'm just playing Stick, I don't care what key I'm in or the exact notes--just the relative distances from each other. But when I'm integrating Stick into my keyboard/orchestra music, I've got to know what notes I'm playing and my ear sucks for just "finding" the "right" notes. Sometimes, I have to use some music theory and harmonize or just build chords, and I need to know what's what note wise.

But like any instrument new to you, you'll get it if you want it. Flashcards are a great idea and so are scales.

Some excellent ideas so far. Here's what I suggest for the classic tuning:

From fret X to fret 7 on the bass strings is the same as from fret 10 to fret 17 on the melody strings.

These are the two most common playing areas for each hand.

So start you practice routine by playing and saying the names of the natural notes on each string with one finger in this region (the last string is only for Grand Sticks).

If you can sing the notes, even better.



do this for a while and you will have these two zones totally memorized, and you can extrapolate from there

You might notice that the pattern of these notes in relation to the inlay markers is identical for the regions specified. This inlay correspondence is one of the coolest things about the Classic tuning, and it is made even more clear by the linear inlays.

OK Greg...I'm 1/2 way on board with what you're saying.

The play name and sing makes sense, and I can do that, and I see the X fret to 7th fret on the bass that you mention....

But here's where I lose you....

"From fret X to fret 7 on the bass strings is the same as from fret 10 to fret 17."

Maybe I'm off here...but on the bass strings the x fret is C, G, D, A, E, B... and then when I look at the 10th fret on the bass side...it's Bb, F, C, G, D, A so are you saying that the best practice method is to learn "First" position being in X to fret 7, then learn "2nd" position being fret 10 to 17, realizing that the lowest 2 strings will be different and then it starts to repeat again?

How about melody side?

All insight is appreciated....and yes...I am working through your book as well.

Thanks

TP

sorry Thomas, I left out a key phrase (bad proofing on my part)

The sentence now reads:

From fret X to fret 7 on the bass strings is the same as from fret 10 to fret 17 on the melody strings.

AHHHH...that makes more sense.

OK...so is it better to do both hands at once or one at a time for this play, sing, exercise?

TP

since you're not practicing any kind of "technique" I recommend just doing one hand at a time. The important piece is seeing the note relationship to the inlays and strings.

Gregs teachings are the most excellent for me,His books are a enormous attribute to learning placement.I also had the opportunity to sit live with Mr. Bob, he said know where the note is before even playing it.If the drill sargent says Eb BAM! Get to it with out hesitation.

Gusset....FrigginBEADGooC? Niiice.
pages. 12-17 in "Stickology" might give just a little insight.

D. Awthor

Yeah, that's exactly my source, Steve...sorry, should have cited it on the spot.

Best memory device I've heard in years.

During personal lessons we use the real derivation of Friggin.
I was shocked that Mel Bay allowed even Friggin.
It makes a point though.

Warren Piece