Hi everyone! I'm brand new here, and I've got no idea where to start. I was inspired to give this instrument a try after watching Bob Culbertson on a TV show over here. I've played a number of instruments in my time so far, but the Chapman Stick is something that has grabbed my intention and inspired me to play unlike almost any other.

My problem? I have no idea where to start. With the average price of a Stick being in excess of $1000, it's not exactly an instrument you can just go and pick up and see if you like. It's quite an investment. So how would you/did you start out? I'm really interested to hear stories or any ideas.

Start by telling us where you're from. There may be someone local who can let you take a test drive.

Brett

Sure thing. I'm a local of Melbourne, Australia.

Hi Adrian,

I'm in Cairns, Far North Queensland, was it Spicks and Specks that you saw Bob on, that's where I first saw the Stick and after a bit of research on the web I fell in love with the sound and uniqueness of the stick and just had to have one. I bought a grand stick from Stick Enterprises in March, 2011.
I'm not much help to you up here, but there are a few of Stickists in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide and I'm sure they will be more than happy to give you any assistance you might need to get started.
There are Australian Stick facebook sites that might help you, and you can connect with some of the other Oz Stickists. If you go to stick.com you can check out all the different models of the stick, there are heaps of utube vids of different sticks and styles of playing, see which models interest you and then you might be able to contact Stickists with those models to try them.
Good luck, you have just started a wonderful adventure.
you can contact me on email or pm if you want more info.

Ross

Hi Ross,

It certainly was Spicks and Specks. Great show, and that performance was just astounding. From the look of it, I was tempted to try it out by getting an electric guitar, chopping chunks out of the body to lower the weight and get the right balance, then rigging the strapping so it stood in the proper Stick position. With a little retuning and perhaps a boost to the gain I figured I could get something to practice with.

Then I slept on it and realised I could also get a guitar that would collapse under the tension of its own strings if I did it wrong, and started looking for alternatives.

You don't have to modify the guitar, except to lower the action, I practiced a bit on an electric guitar. It is not the same as a stick, obviously you only have six strings, but also the action and ease of playing is very different to the stick. But it is good for learning cord shapes and scales, tune it to the type of tuning you want on your stick and see how you go.

I practiced a little today on my cousin's bass, and it was an awful lot of fun. I think I may be investing in a Stick when I can afford it. Just a basic 10-string. What I wonder about playing -- because of course I've not really read that much about it thus far, and certainly no real lessons -- is if you are only using 'correct' technique if you play with hands crossing. Mostly because I'm left-handed, I would like to play my treble melody strings with my left hand, while still having the Stick rigged to sit over my left shoulder. Is this even viable?

Hi Adrian, do a search, there are lots of threads here about playing left handed, one of the best players is Greg Howard, he is left handed but plays a standard stick. left handed sticks are available.
It is possible to play "uncrossed".
For lessons there are a number of players who do internet/skype lessons, so do a search for lessons.
There are hundreds of utube videos showing different ways/styles of playing the stick, left, right, crossed and uncrossed.

Adrian,

Your left hand is the strongest, meaning it's also the most adequate tool to lay down solid rythms on the bass side of the Stick. I'm a lefty and it really helped me. It's a bonus!

Good luck

Hi Adrian,

Because bass strings need a longer scale length to sound good, you want to play them generally closer to the nut and the melody strings generally closer to the bridge anyway.

I see people advocate for "uncrossed" playing sometimes, saying that each hand has access to its own whole set of strings. When you "cross," however, the hand opens up over both sets of strings and there are lots of new possibilities presented by this. I rarely see "uncrossed" players on long-scale instruments playing the melody strings at the lower frets anyway, so I think your best bet, if you wanted the left hand to play the melody strings, would be a lefty-tuned Stick.

But...you might really enjoy having your string left hand playing the groove with your left hand on the bass strings. This makes it easier to put your mind on your phrasing hand, as your string hand is more capable of going on auto-pilot.

And, Ross, thanks for the props!