My Story, Questions, Instrument Photos

What is the Chapman Stick?

         The  is an instrument that produces sound by touching or tapping the string to a guitar fret board with an electric pickup.  The standard guitar creates sounds pressing the strings down with one hand and strumming/picking/plucking the strings with the other hand.  The Stick allows both hands to produce sound independent of each other.  The result is a harp-like/acoustic sound with a piano-like approach to harmony, chords and melody.  The advantage over the piano is that both hands can play high or low on the fretboard without physically interfering with each other. 

What are your musical background and influences?

         The beginning of my desire to play chords and melody came from my mother’s perplexity at not recognizing the songs I was strumming.  I found it difficult to play chords and melody at the same time.  Early on I was exposed to Joe Pass and Chet Atkins who effortlessly played chords and melodies and sounded like two guitarists playing at the same time. 

        The most important breakthrough occurred when I first heard the Touch Guitar playing of Stanley Jordan who played with both hands on a single electric guitar.  Stanley remains the best Touch Guitarist I’ve ever heard or seen and I am thankful for him paving the way for me and others.  Jordan tunes his guitar in fourths which is easier to tap than the standard guitar tuning. 

        I tried to duplicate Stanley Jordan’s technique but never could.  He himself had to modify his technique because it was creating problems for his wrists due to the playing position he was using.  The biggest difficulty of Stanley’s technique is the limitation of playing both hands on 6 strings.  His melodies are by necessity in the higher register and his chording is often incomplete because the higher fret positions of the same string are the only ones heard.  He overcomes this by playing two separate guitars at once.

        In the mid 90’s I made my first step forward to playing Touch Guitar by purchasing a Chapman Stick.  Emmett Chapman had developed a bass/guitar Touch Guitar which was tuned in ascending fourths on the melody/guitar side and descending fifths on the chord/bass side.  The large bass string is in the middle of the instrument and the higher strings are on the far ends. 

        I am a guitar player and was not interested in playing bass and so I moved to a double guitar tuning.  The first person I saw that played the double guitar tuning was Katsu, a Japanese Stick player.  Upon seeing his video I immediately emailed him for details of what he was doing.  Surprisingly he responded immediately.  I tuned my Stick that same day and started trying to play like Katsu. 

Who makes the Chapman Stick?

Emmett Chapman invented the Stick in 1976 and continues to manufacture the various models of the Stick in Southern California.  Emmett and Juta Chapman have worked hard to promote the Stick and encourage the artists that play it.  www.stick.com is where you want to go to see more.

 How much does it cost?

         The Chapman Stick costs between 1600-2700 depending on the number of strings and options.  It is available in 8, 10 and 12 strings.  

 How do I learn to play it?

         If you want to learn the Stick 4ths and inverted 5ths tuning there are a few books available at www.stick.com by Greg Howard, Emmett Chapman and Bob Culbertson.  For the tuning I use there is currently no method book I know of.  I’m working on that.  I learned to play it with my knowledge of the guitar and music theory.  After a while the fourths tuning is pleasingly repetitive and you can easily see the musical patterns.  I’ll announce my method book on my website:  www.sticktouch.com.  Watch for it.

 Is it tuned like a normal guitar?

         My Grand Stick is tuned in ascending fourths with the low strings on the top side and high strings ascending as you move down the fretboard.  The standard Stick tuning has the ascending fourths and inverted fifths, this is not what I use.

 Who else plays this way?

         Stanley Jordan and Katsu play the two guitar tuning, the following play bass/guitar tunings: Tony Levin, Greg Howard, Bob Culbertson to name a few.  The Stick website is a good place to start to get familiar with what and who is out there.  www.stickist.com  and www.touchstyle.com are also helpful.

 What can it do and what can’t it do?

         The limitations are the inflections you get from a pick or your strumming hand.  You really need to view this as a harp or piano to see the possibilities.  Touch Guitar still has the possibilities of bending strings and harmonics that are electric guitar techniques.

 Why play this way?

         I play this way because I can play solo and make a lot of music easily.

 What are your future plans for developing touch guitar?

         I look forward to playing more types of music, developing more rhythmic and improvisational complexity and just playing better.

Here are a few Gear Photos:

The Grand Stick (12 strings)

The NS Stick (8 strings)