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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfdWK8mtBWo[/youtube]

Here's my first Chapman Stick and keyboards creation, PainStickingly, where I use the studio to suck a lot less than I do in this video "live" as it were.

There's a lot of amazing players here in Stick World, but I'd put Brett's ability to get his hand around on those bass lines up against anybody. His left hand is a beauty to watch as it travels all over the fretboard with the greatest of ease. I take all of his suggestions as Gospel (but take me as a poor disciple).

I liked your Inspector Gadget analogy. I suspect that a Mr. Miyagi would make me wax-on and wax-off like a mad-dog to teach me better arm movement (I hear that fits Steve A's MO as an awesome teacher--and others, of course!).

I'm really wrestling with the lessons thing. I'm a very bad teacher of music (but a pretty good one of creative writing--go figure), and I'm an excellent student of everything...except music. I'm fairly sure I'll make myself eat my vegetables here soon and commit to one of the many excellent instructors around here. And that's another conundrum: which of the many excellent instructors would be a good fit for me? (I'm not sure who would be, since I've been my own teacher for so long.)

I'm fairly certain--please correct me if I'm wrong--lesson one is going to be knock off all that horizontal crap. And they would probably be right!

I'll keep wrestling with it. But I'll also keep stealing from you all whenever I see awesomeness--which is all around me.

Oh that left elbow... I was thinking of both Greg and Brett while I was playing last night at Viva Vino - it doesn't get any easier. It needs to be practiced until it becomes second nature.

BTW - great work on the video, I enjoyed hearing you explore the instrument.

Thanks, Gene! I must admit that I feel strange trying to show anyone anything at only 5 months, particularly, something non-traditional. I'm just figuring stuff out for myself and sometimes it aligns with what others are doing and sometimes it doesn't. I'm too ignorant to know if what I'm doing is different or "worthwhile," but my rubric and measuring stick is simple: Does it rock? Is it musical?

I reached that point years ago on piano when I just stopped worrying about what everyone else was doing or what had already been done. And when I try to imitate something else, it comes out sounding like me anyway, so I just embraced that and have been making music all along without a care or regard to if it's clever, or groundbreaking, or "proper" (what does that even mean?) or progressive, or "selling out." Everything I do by definition (to me!) is clever and new and groundbreaking, and I'd love to sell out--who's buying? LOL.

Does it rock/is it musical? That's the low bar I'm always aiming for.

I appreciate you taking the time and patience to take a look! And I'll keep working on it (not that anyone has been able to stop me yet!)