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 Having troubles learning this thing? Tell us... 
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Post Re: Having troubles learning this thing? Tell us...
Oh, good. :D

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Tue Oct 10, 2017 4:06 pm
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Post Re: Having troubles learning this thing? Tell us...
My point is this; having the ability to assimilate music quickly (by whatever means necessary) is a huge advantage. Being able to do this frees up a lot of time to work on other equally important things... (Elephant devoured)


https://soundcloud.com/jayesskerr/stick-del-mar


https://soundcloud.com/jayesskerr/stick-requiem-for-persephone


https://soundcloud.com/jayesskerr/stick-adrift


https://soundcloud.com/jayesskerr/stick-sangre-de-cristo

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Last edited by Jayesskerr on Wed Oct 11, 2017 4:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Wed Oct 11, 2017 9:56 am
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Post Re: Having troubles learning this thing? Tell us...
Chordally arpeggiated LH harmony with RH themes expressed in chords and single note lines, all done live with discipline and at the same time - abandon (not afraid to make mistakes). This approach leads the way to live performance and a lot of it.

I say, insist on this kind of autonomy and play the game for the game's sake. You'll strike out but your batting average will steadily improve.

Such triadic arpeggios from deep bass on up into the chordal register are limiting but both "Ave Marias" were composed that way as well as many pop songs. Scott can always choose other LH intervals as alternative thematic accompaniment according to the song. This leads to versatility, an open ended style.


Wed Oct 11, 2017 12:14 pm
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Post Re: Having troubles learning this thing? Tell us...
Hey, Scott! The Greg Howard tunes are coming along nicely. I have tried all these at one time or another, along with Blues for Ayman(sp?) and I think you are representing them very well.

Mike

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Wed Oct 11, 2017 3:15 pm
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Post Re: Having troubles learning this thing? Tell us...
mike kemp wrote:
Hey, Scott! The Greg Howard tunes are coming along nicely. I have tried all these at one time or another, along with Blues for Ayman(sp?) and I think you are representing them very well.
Mike


Not too bad for a couple of hours each, eh? Thanks for checking them out, I literally just opened the book and went after them one after another. I knew I wanted to try Sangre de Cristo for sure...

For me;
Hand Independence Problem = playing notes simultaneously with both hands. A big problem, a challenge that will always be there I suspect. My solution; play notes simultaneously with both hands with a lot of rhythmic, and harmonic variation. Simplify, simplify, simplify. If it's still too difficult, simplify again. Pay attention to my mistakes, try not to make the same ones twice. I don't really think of it as hand independence per se... I get to play notes together, or notes one after another. That sort of mindset...

By simplify, I mean down to the fucking note if I have to. Get a big chalkboard and focus on literally just that "one thing". Once it's down, move on to the next. But until it's down, worry about NOTHING else, free your mind. No facebook, no clash of clans, no pesky wives, no bills, no work.

Timeframes I clocked it out, it took me on average, probably 9 hours to learn a 16 measure tune (Del Mar, All Of Me, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Europa, Jesu Joy, Greensleeves, Scarborough Fair) Now that's JUST to be able to remember it. Un-fucking-cool. I can learn 40 new tunes in a day if I have to on guitar, and that includes tricky solos and stuff, so you can perhaps understand why I was frustrated; On Stick I have 9 hours to basically learn it, another 9-40 hours to get the execution a bit smoother, and then after 6 months of practice it's STILL super shaky and prone to error. And then you ask the dudes why, and nobody can/will give a tangible answer.

All good, I solved it. The Stick is a multitasking instrument, there is a LOT going on by default. On any thing one is working on there are a lot, I mean a LOT of things the player has to be conscious of; Pick one thing. One. Succeed at defeating that "one thing" and it will explode throughout your playing. Keep on defeating those pesky "one things" and a few months later you will have some stuff... I don't care how I look, don't care about tempo, don't care about sig series Yngwie donuts, Frank Gambale wigs, just whatever one issue I am working on... (the notes usually)

For me, that one thing is just the notes. Then once the notes are there, add the rhythm and timing. After that, tempo. After that, maybe I think about addressing articulation things. One thing at a time. One minute intervals. Listen, practice, listen, practice, identify errors, choose an error to deal with, live with the rest of it. I have a wicked ear, and a deadly practice ethic, but I needed to recognize that that might not be enough. Sight-reading as a learning tool has come in very, very handy on this instrument. And no, your Stick doesn't have to be in Mirr 4ths to sightread, that's a tuning I chose to further simplify. Tuning is almost irrelevant; Pick one, and get to work. Anyways, I get more out of 5-10 minutes than I did from 8 hours.

That thinking may be vertical or horizontal, I don't know - but really, my attitude boils down to "simplify, simplify, simplify". It works.

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Wed Oct 11, 2017 5:42 pm
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Post Re: Having troubles learning this thing? Tell us...
BSharp wrote:
Chordally arpeggiated LH harmony with RH themes expressed in chords and single note lines, all done live with discipline and at the same time - abandon (not afraid to make mistakes). This approach leads the way to live performance and a lot of it.

I say, insist on this kind of autonomy and play the game for the game's sake. You'll strike out but your batting average will steadily improve.

Such triadic arpeggios from deep bass on up into the chordal register are limiting but both "Ave Marias" were composed that way as well as many pop songs. Scott can always choose other LH intervals as alternative thematic accompaniment according to the song. This leads to versatility, an open ended style.


Yes.

Yes, yes, yes. Good info, I'm working on it.

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Wed Oct 11, 2017 5:43 pm
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Post Re: Having troubles learning this thing? Tell us...
Mr David Tipton has some really, really excellent points. Informative and reassuring at the same time.

Watch this, listen to David...

http://www.stickist.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=12577

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Sat Oct 14, 2017 9:17 am
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Post Re: Having troubles learning this thing? Tell us...
Keep the issues "coming" guys, they are highly informative I think... :D

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Sat Oct 21, 2017 9:40 am
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Post Re: Having troubles learning this thing? Tell us...
Hey Scotty.

I definitely have trouble remembering where the hell I am with note choices, over the repertoire that I currently have. I think you really hit the nail on the head when you were talking about just knowing the notes. I've been really checking myself out against my recollection of the key and the notes that belong to any arrangement, which has been a big part of my lack of confidence during any performance.

You know that brain freeze that happens mid set, "where the hell am I and how do I keep going." :lol:

Visualising the touchboard away from the instrument is an awesome tool to develop and then some, if I can get my relative pitch together. I can do that on two of my tracks only, but it's all helpful.

Another big issue for me has been learning to lighten up on my touch during a gig.

Now this may not be news to some folk, but it could be a game changer for some as it has been for me. Take any song, now when I'm in mid flight two things can tend to happen.

1. I start playing too heavily.
2. I play the wrong notes because of that heaviness or I've just distracted myself into a corner.

My solution has been to hover over the stick and learn to just not play notes if I'm stuck for either of the reasons mentioned above. Kinda like playing ghost notes, just really dropping the dynamic down so I can reset. It's almost like self editing on the fly, but essentially it frees up my hands to relax and connect with note accuracy a whole more.

The other major benefit for me is that, through lightening up, I somehow start seeing the touchboard much more clearly.

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Sun Oct 22, 2017 12:38 am
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Post Re: Having troubles learning this thing? Tell us...
Stickrad wrote:
Hey Scotty.

I definitely have trouble remembering where the hell I am with note choices, over the repertoire that I currently have. I think you really hit the nail on the head when you were talking about just knowing the notes. I've been really checking myself out against my recollection of the key and the notes that belong to any arrangement, which has been a big part of my lack of confidence during any performance.

You know that brain freeze that happens mid set, "where the hell am I and how do I keep going." :lol:

Visualising the touchboard away from the instrument is an awesome tool to develop and then some, if I can get my relative pitch together. I can do that on two of my tracks only, but it's all helpful.

Another big issue for me has been learning to lighten up on my touch during a gig.

Now this may not be news to some folk, but it could be a game changer for some as it has been for me. Take any song, now when I'm in mid flight two things can tend to happen.

1. I start playing too heavily.
2. I play the wrong notes because of that heaviness or I've just distracted myself into a corner.

My solution has been to hover over the stick and learn to just not play notes if I'm stuck for either of the reasons mentioned above. Kinda like playing ghost notes, just really dropping the dynamic down so I can reset. It's almost like self editing on the fly, but essentially it frees up my hands to relax and connect with note accuracy a whole more.

The other major benefit for me is that, through lightening up, I somehow start seeing the touchboard much more clearly.


:D Interesting stuff; I beat the living crap out all of my instruments... I kind of had to get a lot lighter with my touch on the Stick, and I should lighten up on every other instrument I play. It does make a difference I think...

"I've just distracted myself into a corner"

Now that's a heavy statement... Very true for me. Once I realized that I was trying to stuff everything into my very, very short working memory and that I was literally overloading my puny little mind with too much stuff, and then the slightest wavering in my concentration would lead to a brutal trainwreck...

Don't laugh, but I literally measured how much I could focus before I got distracted by videotaping a big/long "learning" session. It's funny, because when I was doing it, it felt like "nose to the grindstone" but the reality was that I could work on learning a thing for about 30 seconds, and then I would spend about another minute and a half getting refocused. Ouch!

It's why I sightread so much; It cuts down on wasted time and forces me to focus. I can sightread for a good 30 minutes straight, no problem. That ends up being a vast difference between focused/unfocused practice time... Now, as a side effect my concentration on "non reading" musical activities on the Stick has drastically improved. Mileage may vary, but it's working out well for me so far I feel!

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Sun Oct 22, 2017 11:12 am
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