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. Some
thoughts…..
Hi,
David Tipton here, I live in a small town in the Rocky Mountains in
Colorado, USA. After
years of playing guitar and bass I took the leap
and started playing
the Chapman Stick in 2001. Now all these years
later I continue
to be inspired by this unique musical instrument. I perform
regularly playing
a mix of popular cover tunes I've arranged for the Stick
and original compositions.
I am often asked
how I learned how to play the Chapman Stick. When I
started in 2001
there were some instructional materials available, but
not too many. This
was before YouTube, and there was only limited
resources online,
I lurked around the old Stickwire forum trying to
assimilate what
I could. I decided that I would learn the instrument by
teaching myself
to play songs on it. To begin with I selected simple folk
songs with just
a few chords and a simple melody. Coming from a guitar
/ bass background,
I had some knowledge of music theory, which helped.
Shortly after I
obtained my first instrument I was fortunate enough to
attend a Stick Seminar
with Bob Culbertson. In a short amount of time
he introduced me
to the rudiments of the 4th and 5ths tuning and playing
technique. I saw
that there was a logic to the tuning that supported the two
handed tapping technique
Emmett Chapman calls "Free Hands". That first
seminar and others
always energized me in my efforts to learn to play.
The spirit of friendship
and community among Stick players is truly an
amazing thing!
I highly recommend attending a Stick Seminar if you can.
One of the things
I love about the Chapman Stick community is that players
are all contributing
their unique approaches to playing this challenging
instrument. You
can find videos online of people playing just about any
style of music you
can imagine. Some like to play rich sounding solo
arrangements, or
use the instrument to accompany a singer or another
instrument, or in
the context of a group. There are different tunings, playing
with crossed hands,
un-crossed hands, using violin bows, slides.
Some Stickists like
to create lush sonic soundscapes, using electronic
effects, or play
complete improvisations. The only limit is your imagination!
People have told
me that I have a very “smooth” style of playing. I do try to
sustain notes as
long as possible, which physically involves holding the
strings down while
still tapping new notes. I also love interleaving notes
between the melody
and bass side.
Before I began to
play Stick I played a lot of fingerstyle acoustic guitar, in
all kinds of alternate
turnings. Since the strings on the Stick are dampened,
there really are
no open strings to ring out. I think a lot of my style comes
from trying to recreate
the sound and feel of open strings. I also try to pay
attention to the
inner voicing and harmonies that happen in between the
melody and bass
lines. I think as a musician if there is a sound that you
really love, you'll
find a way to make it happen.
I still advocate
learning songs as a method of learning to play the instrument.
Every song has it's
unique challenges, and the effect of learning tunes is
cumulative.
The more tunes you learn, the easier it is to learn tunes.
You begin to understand
the building blocks of music.. harmony, melody,
rhythms. It can
be a rewarding experience to play a song from start to
finish for family,
friends, or total strangers. A good place to start is to pick
a few simple tunes
and commit to memorizing them and being able to
play them from start
to finish. Then perform them in front of people, it’s
practically guaranteed
that you’ll make mistakes, but keep going!
.
.
Thank you David
for sharing your experiences with this instrument
Epakta
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