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 Dealing with starting anew on the stick 
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Post Dealing with starting anew on the stick
Hi everyone. As I read through recent posts on the forum I can't help but notice how many new stickist there are out there ( a Great thing).
As I enter my sixth year as a stickist I can remember back when I started,It was a weird feeling starting over after already becoming accomplished on another instrument.

So my questions are these,
How do you guys feel about your experiences with starting from square 1?
Do you feel any frustration with anything?

I guess I'm opening a can of worms I just wanted to open a dialogue.

Brett


Thu Apr 17, 2008 11:33 am
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Post Re: Dealing with starting anew on the stick
OK, I'll bite. I think the "beginner syndrome" affects new Stickists a lot. Most of us have played something else first. And we all seem to be avid listeners of all kinds of music. To me this means that I can hear in my head what I want my Stick to sound like. But, I can't make my hands actually play it or even come close to playing it. For many people I suspect that this is extremely uncomfortable. The first time you learn an instrument you are learning the instrument and music at the same time. When you learn the Stick it is tempting to think that you should be able to apply all those years of learning immediately. The first major realization for new Stickists is that it's not going to work that way. This is something new. I see this with my students who have been programming for decades sometimes and now need to learn this newfangled Object-Oriented stuff.

I'm sure there are lots of people who really took to the Stick quickly after years of other instruments. I'm not one of them. I have had to accept and embrace going back to being a beginner. For over a year I have been trying to play music that was really just too hard and advanced for me. I keep trying to simplify and my hands are getting stronger. So, I'm hoping I have finally started working on pieces that I could play at an open mic.

To become a beginner again later in life is hard but really rewarding if you have the right attitude. I hope I'm there now.

-Eric

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Thu Apr 17, 2008 4:18 pm
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Post Re: Dealing with starting anew on the stick
hey Brett, first, hats off to you, your doing a great job on the stick. So heres my trials so far...Its been a little over a year now but getting the mental image of the fret board has been the hardest. When I practice its in the dark when possible. I dont want to look at the neck. I want to play without looking. the inverted side still drives me nuts when trying to play my bass parts the same way I do on my bass. The octave thing you know. the patterns are hardwired in my head so I have been reconstructing my approach. I work on articulating the parts without the right hand . I've been playing over 40 years so theres alot of old habits to disasemble. I understand it and I'm getting better all the time but I want it to be second nature. Interdependence between the hands is comming along but independence is something I'll always strive for. This forum is so helpful and supportive. I also have a brand new BB grand that will not stay in tune. perhaps thats a new thread.....thanx Tony D.


Thu Apr 17, 2008 4:48 pm
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Post Re: Dealing with starting anew on the stick
Well having been a beginner at one time or other on 4 other instruments that I eventually ended up playing professionally I'm not a stranger to starting from scratch and working hard and long enough to beome competent. I have to say though that the Stick (and NS Stick) is the 1st instrument I EXPECTED to master quickly .... and havent! :oops: This unrealistic confidance I think is due to the fact I've played bass and guitar for many many years and expected that experience to relate directly to the Stick. It helped ... but did not relate directly. The Stick is after all it's own instrument, not a bass plus a guitar on one fretboard. (Something many of us had to learn for ourselves.) Being still in (I think) my 1st year I feel I'm STILL a beginner on the Stick. Because of tuning, even though I've only had an NS Stick for a short time I'm much closer to "mastering" it then I am the traditional Stick. But the traditional Stick I believe holds more possibilities in the long run then the NS. (Don't get me wrong ... I LOVE my NS Stick!)

So I guess for me dealing with the Stick and starting new was hard because I expected real quick results ... and haven't seen them. But learning has become a lot easier since I made peace with the FACT that the Stick is NOT a bass plus a guitar. I'm still VERY FAR from being anywhere close to saying I've "mastered" the instrument but I think I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to understand it.

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Thu Apr 17, 2008 5:04 pm
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Post Re: Dealing with starting anew on the stick
I was just talking about this with an acquaintance this evening. He's an orchestra teacher and a bass player. He even just got a 5-string bass, not an electric, but a stand-up, acoustic bass that he plays in the local orchestra. He knows I play Stick and really wants to see it and try it. However, he's a little afraid to touch it because he might like it too much. He said he didn't know if he had the ability to be a beginner again. After hearing me talk about it he quickly understood the implications of the instrument. I was impressed but I guess I shouldn't be. He's a very schooled and experienced musician on lots of instruments.

Well, we are going to meet and he is going to try it out. Maybe we'll get a new member here or maybe I'll just have a fun evening talking shop. Regardless, I think I might have found someone to show me a few bass concepts.

-Eric

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Thu Apr 17, 2008 7:56 pm
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Post Re: Dealing with starting anew on the stick
I love starting over from square one!

I can do it right from the start, and hopefully avoid what I did wrong on bass. I have noticed that I am losing friends over it thought. When I started stick I really found out just who where my friends and who where just full it. One former fellow musician called it a "Faggot Stick" and told me it was a ego trip! I'm surprised how most people I played with has a bassist, don't want to play with me now and have spoken about my abilities in the past tense as well as bad mouthed me behind my back. I think this is good, because I don't really want to surround myself with closed minded egotistical jerks! I love to get up and work on scales and make music, and not needing anybody else, like on bass.

I'm on the path to me!
!@#$ them!

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Fri Apr 18, 2008 9:23 pm
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Post Re: Dealing with starting anew on the stick
giedosst wrote:
I love starting over from square one!

I can do it right from the start, and hopefully avoid what I did wrong on bass. I have noticed that I am losing friends over it thought. When I started stick I really found out just who where my friends and who where just full it. One former fellow musician called it a "Faggot Stick" and told me it was a ego trip! I'm surprised how most people I played with has a bassist, don't want to play with me now and have spoken about my abilities in the past tense as well as bad mouthed me behind my back. I think this is good, because I don't really want to surround myself with closed minded egotistical jerks! I love to get up and work on scales and make music, and not needing anybody else, like on bass.

I'm on the path to me!
!@#$ them!


It can be difficult. I can totally relate to your pain. But like everyone else you have the right to follow your own path. Do what makes YOU happy ... it's your life!

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Fri Apr 18, 2008 11:20 pm
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Post Re: Dealing with starting anew on the stick
Hey Tony thanks for the compliment.

Steve I can relate as well. The jazz world can be very difficult to break into as a stickist. I have found most players come around when they hear you can play, but not everyone. Some guys just want upright bass period. I have a friend who plays bebop piano he really wants me to play bass, I do a Nancy Reagan and "just say no". Many other guys really dig the stick and hear its beauty.

I can't wait to hear what you and the other newer players are doing on the stick. I really think it benefits all of us when someone grows on this instrument. I also think that stick duets are something that will really blossom in the future. I can't wait to play with some of you guys "newer" and "older".

Keep on Playin'
Brett


Sat Apr 19, 2008 8:57 pm
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Post Re: Dealing with starting anew on the stick
"Faggot Stick". That's redundant.

Marty


Sat Apr 19, 2008 10:32 pm
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Post Re: Dealing with starting anew on the stick
exactly how is that redundant?

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Sun Apr 20, 2008 8:17 am
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