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Any piano players have any advice for the Stick?
https://stickist.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12696
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Author:  greg [ Sun Dec 10, 2017 12:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Any piano players have any advice for the Stick?

mcgrahamhk wrote:
I get you. Just had another look at the tuning layouts on stick.com to visualise how that will "feel". Without having a stick to do this on of course it's hard to say for certain and you are FAR more experienced than I, but thinking ahead with your advice in mind I may prefer to put common low notes more in proximity to one another rather than prioritise just the note names.
...

For example, the lowest two melody strings D and G notes are located at the 8th fret on the melody side, and these are always going to be three frets higher than the lowest D and G notes located at the 5th position on the bass side. That way I can always locate common roots and fifths as I dance around the board. I trust that makes sense? Though only time will tell!

Also, just watched your Free Hands Friday interview (#23?) and really enjoyed your input on good tone through fuller hand and finger movement. I think this ties in beautifully with your comment about the more percussive nature of the Stick as opposed to other stringed instruments.

I'm pretty sure that the 3 fret proximity you mentioned is one of the things Emmett really likes about the Matched Reciprocal tunings.

I guess it never really mattered to me that much. I just "know" the key at every position (all keys exist in all positions on the board, they just don't have the tonic as the lowest note)

As long as your hands are opening up away from each other, then the three fret span is a very handy reference. But if they are not, then what? Anyway, I'll not try to dissuade you (though I love my low C and I love my high D ;)) It's very easy to change the tuning if you decide you want to try something else.

I will say the linear inlays make it much easier to know where you are... They may not be "as petty", but being able to see each string exactly as it relates to the inlays in an instant is really helpful.

Author:  mcgrahamhk [ Sun Dec 10, 2017 1:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Any piano players have any advice for the Stick?

greg wrote:
I'm pretty sure that the 3 fret proximity you mentioned is one of the things Emmett really likes about the Matched Reciprocal tunings.

I guess it never really mattered to me that much. I just "know" the key at every position (all keys exist in all positions on the board, they just don't have the tonic as the lowest note)

As long as your hands are opening up away from each other, then the three fret span is a very handy reference. But if they are not, then what? Anyway, I'll not try to dissuade you (though I love my low C and I love my high D ;)) It's very easy to change the tuning if you decide you want to try something else.

I will say the linear inlays make it much easier to know where you are... They may not be "as petty", but being able to see each string exactly as it relates to the inlays in an instant is really helpful.


Thanks for the advice sir! It's true, I can always change the tuning pretty easily. It'll either work out in the direction I've expected, in which case I'll probably end up with a second stick anyway, or it won't, and I'll convert it to DBR for dedicated bass stuff - whatever happens it'll be fine!

Author:  mcgrahamhk [ Sat Sep 15, 2018 4:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Any piano players have any advice for the Stick?

greg wrote:
Well, here's something to consider. The Matched Reciprocal tunings make a lot of sense if you are used to thinking about the instruments layout in relation to the nut. For me, I like to think about it in terms of the relationship to the inlays. With the Classic tuning, you have the same lettered note names at the first inlay marker on the bass strings as you do on the third inlay marker on the melody strings, (DAEBF#C# for both).same for the 2nd marker on the bass strings/4th marker on the melody strings (GDAEBF#)

This makes it MUCH easier to identify where the notes are in the most common playing regions of the board for each hand, and since we don't have black and white keys to guide us, this inlay correspondence is very helpful. Just my 2 cents, and I played MR on a Grand for about three years, so...


Just following up on this now I’ve had a raised matched reciprocal rail board for a month or so.

I’m finding that with RMR, the reference points I’ve got are whatever bass note I play on the lowest two bass strings, I can find a corresponding octave (and fifth below) for the same key five frets higher and four strings over, I.e. the same notes are at adjacent markers, just over a few strings.

This means that I can get a nice piano-like, full board chord across the two sides, so E at first fret marker on lowest bass string (6th string) —> E (and B as the fifth below) at 2nd fret marker on 2nd (and 3rd) strings on melody side. I’ve found this a very natural way to navigate the instrument, lots of space between the hands, visually helpful, and all defining notes relative to one another rather than relative to the nut.

Or if you want even more space, shift up the right hand to the 3rd marker and one string closer to the bass side. Again, markers display everything neatly.

I was going to discuss/mention this at my next lesson with Greg, but figured it was worth mentioning on the forum more generally in case anyone else uses this system or others are looking for a way to develop a system.

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