I just ordered my stick today and I'm understandably pumped. It’s a natural dark bamboo 12-string Grand Stick with PASV-4, linear black pearl markers, and chrome & black tuners. I ordered classic tuning but I admit that I'm not sure MR wouldn’t have been a better choice for me.

My question is what can I (new to stick) do to get ready while a wait? Aside from learning the fretboard on paper I don't have any ideas. I've got 3-4 months... any suggestions?

You may save up some quality Stick time later on by starting now to rewire your brain into dual-independent-hands-multi-tasking mode. Wherever you may be, at cafes, restaurants or generic public areas, keep practicing poly rhythmic drumming with nine fingers against any plain surface. Left hand's thumb may be left out, but all the others need new synapses for the Stick to thrive.

Hey great idea. Finger independence would be a tremendous asset. I know from piano that my 3 against 2 certainly needs some attention. I also have some finger exercises for hand drums that could be useful. I think I'll give'em a look and see if I can't come up with a little exercise routine.

Babaghanoush... It is soooo wonderful that your questions and concerns (newbie here too) is what I need to ask as well. Thanks Per for your input and suggestions.

What generous information Per.....awaiting more stellar insights.

You guys are the greatest!!

Michiko

The Stick's interval layout is ingeniously logical. If you understand music theory, chemistry, and language, the applications will be simple. Some math use in fret marker application and such will open secret paths. Once you understand how easy the notes are presented, it's only a matter of practicing the physicality. Mental knowledge will give you a great foundation for this journey.

You mentioned piano, but not any other instruments. So I'll answer the question more broadly.

If coming from the bass or guitar, I find most of my students have a strong right-hand dominance, which can make it hard to develop independence skills.

One thing you can do to balance things out is to work on tapping your left foot to keep time rather than the right. Something you see jazz pianists doing all the time, a they use the right for working the pedals.

This gives some reinforcement to the left hand, which is more often involved in a time-keeping role. And you can practice this any time you're listening to music.

The other thing I would suggest is that rather than working on "finger" independence that you work on "hand" independence.

Think about how your arms and hands move when you're playing very rhythmic parts on the piano. Think about how most instruments generate the rhythm of the phrase, and you'll note that the energy comes from arm movement in support of what the fingers are doing.

Thinking about Stick playing as sequences of fingerings can be a technique trap that doesn't help build independence skills (and may slow that development down, even).

So tapping different rhythms in the hands simultaneously is a good idea, but don't focus on the fingers too much. Real rhythmic independence comes from hand movement, not from finger movement.

Just don't forget practicing hand independence! Much more important in order to prepare the brain to not hurt as much as you start multitasking on the STick. If you're not already a trained trap set drummer, piano player or harpist that is., because then you already should have developed the brains capacity for multitasking between two independent hands in action. "Split vision" is what the ice hockey coaches calls it, this technique or keeping your attention on two simultaneous arenas (puck on ice right before you vs players all around you)

Between my 4th grade writing style and my need to mix bleach with other household cleaners It would seem that I'm massively under qualified to play the stick.


Complete disclosure would require that I tell you I'm a former instrumental music teacher. This only means I'm a jack of many instruments, possible master of 1. I'm a classically taught brass player with a strong percussion background. I've been playing bass guitar & acoustic guitar for years but have only gotten serious (read acceptable) on the bass in the last year or so. I’m really drawn to the Stick and hope my other experiences will aid me in taming this beast. I know the success rate for new stick players is somewhat of a brutal reality.

When I taught, I always had my students isolate the specific skills they needed, develop a set of exercises for that skill and then reapply what they gained to their music. Sometimes these skills could be learned or improved away from their instrument... sometimes not. I was hoping to get a head start on the stick by doing the same.


Thanks Greg. I think I understand your point. It’s not called the “Free Fingers” method for a reason. Developing hand and arm independence away from an instrument seems challenging but I’ll give it some thought. Possibly you just made my daughter happy as I’ll be a more willing rock band partner… so long as I get the drums!

I did try something last night that I found interesting and may be helpful to others. After working on different finger patterns on a flat surface for a bit, I suspected that what I was doing probably wasn’t very stick like at all so I crossed my arms and played with my fingers on the opposite bicep. After I got done laughing at myself for my complete loss of control I realized that the act of crossing my hands was not something that my brain was pre-wired for. It took 15-20 minutes to get my brain around the concept. I’m going to revisit that experiment some more today.

Thanks for the suggestions and keep them coming!

Hey Babaghanoush..!

A hearty Stickist welcome to ya.

This thread is really interesting, and for me kinda points to what can I do if I want to practice and don't have my Stick handy. The long wait for the instrument to arrive is definitely something we share.

You mentioned feeling "under qualified" to play the Stick, albeit with a sense of humour I'm sure.

One thing is for sure, whatever discoveries you make, according to any lack of knowledge, you can be SURE they'll be your own. This type learning tends to stay with you more easily, yes?!
I'm gonna try my drumming paradiddles between each finger, everytime I sit at a cafe now. Thanks guys.

Hello Babaghanoush, I have been reading through the thread and our fellow forum friends have given a lot of good advice. With your musical background you have a great advantage, as by now you have most probably grasped the efforts that are required to master any instrument. Hand independence is a must on pretty much any instrument, so whatever motor skills you require to build to improve will probably keep your brain challenged. Specifically about rhythm, the three volumes by Georges Dandelot are simple, very interesting and total neuron-connection-makers.

If I could add something to all of this: the main thing that feeds your will to keep playing an instrument is the music that you generate with it, and once you produce a particular sequence of sounds that you like (a song, a riff) you will most probably keep reproducing it, practicing and thus gaining the skills you require. A song/riff/pattern will make you set the bar at some level of difficulty, and by repeating it you will actually gain skills to play an instrument. This will probably not be the case by doing rhythmic exercises against the table, as there is no point of reference you can measure yourself against (other than going against your metronome with written music). Since you had some exposure to the guitar and bass (both stringed instruments) I would go right ahead and start tapping on them. There are infinite combinations of things you can do, but trying your rhythmic exercises by tapping the bass/guitar and eventually come up with a repeatable patter will help you get ready pretty fast. Just a thought, best regards,