I was on Stickwire and one of the members was "talking" about Zen and their belief that being able to approach the Stick with "The Beginners Mind" might be better then coming to the instrument from another instrument. This probably over simplifies the point he was making but the idea was he seems to believe that coming to a new instrument like the Stick with NO prior musical background on a different instrument, with no preset ideas or expectations is perhaps better then coming to it from Bass guitar / Guitar / Keys, etc.

Personally I think the idea of "The Beginners Mind" makes a lot of sense however I believe having a bass/guitar/keyboard/drum background didn't really hurt me. Especially having a bass / guitar back ground I was able to learn the right hand melody strings very quickly. Then again I think in the inverted 5ths bass the "beginners mind" could have been a plus.

So for me ... Prior experence helped me with the right hand and may have made it harder for me with the left. Still I voted Yes. What do you think?

I can't believe that it is easier with no musical experience. I think that all instruments become easier if you play something else first. You get the right mindset and your fingers get an element of coordination. We all love the stick, but it isn't magic, it's just another instrument.

If 'Beginners Mind' means that you approach the stick as a new instrument and not as a bass+ / guitar+ / stringed keyboard / whatever combination, I agree.
But any other instrument experience will help with rhythm, harmony, music theory, reading and ear training, so it is an advantage for me.

People comming from different backgrounds might apply or 'transpose' techniques / ideas from other instruments to the stick enriching its vocabulary (T.Lev 2 handed bass lines, Bob C. 2 region arpegios etc)


Cheers, Daniel

Actually I think there IS magic in the Stick, in inverted 5ths tuning. I think the "beginners mind" idea does have it's merits even though I started the poll and voted that I believe experience helps. I came to the Stick as an experienced musician. I think I perhaps had a harder time accepting the idea of the inverted 5ths bass set up because of my "normal" accending 4ths mind set. If I had NO mind set maybe I wouldn't have FOUGHT the concept as much? And I DID fight it. I went as far as tuning my Stick as an SB10 before deciding I had lost something beautiful by getting rid of the inverted 5ths bass. If i had "a beginners mind" I wouldn't have known the difference and would have simply accepted the inverted 5ths bass tuning.

Soooooo I vote experience helps but see value in having a FRESH outlook, a beginners mind.

I'll have to start another poll ... color thingie VS no color thingie! ...... Just kidding!

Hey hey, don't highjack the thread!
And tell me you didn't enjoy reading that gradient post!

Seriously now, a bit of colour here and there really improve readability after going through two or three forums and my whole set of feeds!

I'll let you know in June....

Since Beginner's Mind is - it is said - an achievable state for any aspirant, I'm hopeful that I can approach the instrument in that way in spite of my years of experience.

I'm gonna go with no on this one. I've been really struggling to shake the bassist and guitarist mentality, and have a Stick mentality. On contrare, my girlfriend who hasn't played any instrument since 6th grade clarinet, picked up the Stick and learned some things really quickly.

I think if you have a blank slate, you don't have to shake the mentality a lot of us have. IMHO.

Maybe everyone should learn piano while they wait for the Stick to arrive.
It opens up a lot of new perspectives -- poliphony, arrangements, chords, -- and it seems more adaptive to the new Stick environment.

The familiarity with a fretboard for guitarrists/bassists is what makes it so hard to shake off the mentality, it seems.
You just stare at the frets "well, I know this" and you're instantly trapped!

Break out of the box!