July 2007
1 post
Still not much
The new job is going well but I’m still not Sticking. It appears that I have compartment syndrome in my left forearm and further testing will happen on August 27th as a precursor to possible surgery. Since I don’t want to aggravate things further, unnecessary playing has been abandoned until further notice. Yes, it sucks.
June 2007
4 posts
Truss Rod Follies
So last night I learned the subtle art of truss rod adjustement for the Stick. For those not in the know, the truss rod is a metal bar that lives in most guitar necks (as well as bass and Sticks). It’s purpose is to stop the wooden neck bending due to changes in temperature or humidity. It usually has a nut on the end that can be loosened or tightened depending on whether the neck is concave...
May 2007
3 posts
Successes
I just realised that I haven’t really updated much on the Stick. So, I’ve physically raised the Stick about as high as I can so I can push it as far forward as I can, with the aim to keep my left arm as open as I can. Even better, I have managed to get through the following tunes: El Nathan (in the Hymn book as “I know not why God’s wonderous grace” Ein fest Burg (in...
Set phasers for ...
So, the other night I was trying out one of these that a workmate had lent me. Not being confident enough on Stick right now, I plugged my guitar in and proceeded to give my wife about an hour’s worth of ballads, chord progressions, melodies and so forth. All technically competent and well received by my adoring audience but it felt … well, I felt nothing. There was no excitement, no...
It takes love over gold, and mind over matter*
I’m not sure if growing is learning, or learning is growing. At the moment I seem to be doing lots of learning but there is little discernable growing. And none of this is Stick related. Life has a remarkable way of intruding when it’s not really wanted, and imposing itself in a way that is not welcome. Certain things, important things, have needed to be dealt with and the result is...
April 2007
2 posts
Progress so far
An update of sorts: My subconscious has re-affirmed it’s hate of scales. It will fight me subconscious tooth and subconscious nail to do anything else BUT scales. When I first started learning guitar, there was no body of musical knowledge in my, er, body - it developed alongside my technique. Now, however, I have a fair bit of knowledge and lack the means to express it. I find the plug on...
March 2007
7 posts
“At God’s footstool to confess, A poor soul knelt and bowed his head....”
– An antidote for the crappy practice session
Top 5 list of all time favourite songs (that...
1. Private Conversations - Lyle Lovett 2. Hallelujah - Chris Rice 3. Bad (Live) - U2 4. Aces High - Arch Enemy 5. Next Lover - James
Me: I have Stick! err, ummm ... I have MY Stick. No wait ... the Chapman Stick is here. Yeah. That's better.
Him: !
This is not the beginning of the end...
Welcome to a Stick Blog. I took delivery of my Chapman Stick today after a journey of about 17 years and about 23,000 kilometers. 17 years from first seeing the advertisement in Guitar Player and thinking ‘Wow’. 23,000 kilometres from Los Angeles to Ontario to Anchorage to Hong Kong to Singapore to Australia to me. … but this is the end of the beginning.