how hard is it?

[atdi 900]

seriously, coming from playing mainly bass, but a little piano and guitar, how hard is the transaction to a tapping instrument. on bass im an average tapper, nothing special.

[traktor]

In my opinion and experience, it's easier than you might imagine.

1) All those years you thought you were training your left hand to fret the notes on the bass, actually you were not training your left hand.

What you were training was your *head*. And you're really in luck here, because it just so happens that you have your other hand wired into the same head.

What that means -- as you'll find when you experiment -- is that what your left hand knows, your right hand almost knows already. What I mean is that your right hand can rather quickly do what your left hand can do.

Of course, to really take advantage of this fact, I'd suggest that you use a tuning which allows your right hand to finger the *same shapes* as your left hand. For example, if you'll tune both sides in "normal" ascending fourths, then the patterns you already know in your left hand will be true in your right hand, thus speeding learning.

Any such tuning arrangement will also permit you to train both hands *simultaneously* which basically means half the training time.

2) You have already learned a number of things from the other instruments which will transfer and be supportive to a tapping instrument, including --

* Your left fingers have already developed more strength than will be required on the (easier to fret than a standard bass) tapping instrument.

* Your piano work has already rewired your brain to begin the task of separating out using *different* moves in the two hands, and in coordinating the rhythmic movement of the fingers on both hands.

* Your guitar work has already trained your ear for the sound and tuning of the melody strings.

Of course, you'll still have to practice -- nothing is free -- but in my opinion playing a tapping instrument with a sane tuning is faster to learn than learning either guitar or piano was (due to the absolutely identical finger movements of the two hands) and most of what you already know will transfer.

This was my experience anyway. Coming from drums, guitar, and keyboard, I found the experience of two-handed tapping really fun. I had to train my ear to *hear* the bass strings, and I started on a tuning which now seems silly to me, but it was fun from the get-go. And when I began to experiment with a tuning which made simple viewing identical patterns for both hands, well I've never looked back.

Now I make tapping instruments, so of course there's some self-interest in my recommending two-handed tapping. After all, you might buy one of the instruments which I make! But whether you got one of mine or one of the other several excellent tapping instruments, I'll say the same -- it's lots of fun, and especially if you'll use a smart tuning, I believe you'll find it surprisingly easy to learn.

[MatthewL329]

the way I see it (as a totally uneducated, hardly experienced, young, naive touchstylist), beginning to play a touchstyle instrument requires no more coordination than playing basic piano.

one of my favorite things as a beginner tapping a 6 string is to bang out whole, or almost whole chords on the bottom 4 strings, and keep the melody on the top 3 strings. Playing chords is a little easier than walking a bassline while trying to play a melody, I think, and many of the beginning songs you can learn (which are SO much fun) use the same chords or chord shapes, so you'll find patters to latch onto and build on in no time.

another thing I recommend is to just use your right hand alone and play melodies with it, without the left. as soon as you start to become accustomed to it, you'll realize how graspable it is, because you're already familiar with a fretboard. it just requires a little muscle familiarity for the new position.

The point is, just do it. ;) Just start. Pick a song you want to learn, figure out a super simple way to hold down the bass, then learn the melody, and then figure out how the two fit together. It's great fun, like a little puzzle, and sounds awesome, and blows peoples minds because most people haven't seen touchstyle before.

if I were you, I'd start with all along the watchtower. The bass / chords is just a repeating Am-G-F-G the whole way and the melody is really easy, with lots of room for reinterpretation. just stick with it through the hard beginning.

good luck, all your efforts are well worth it...

[traktor]

Originally posted by MatthewL329
The point is, just do it. ;) Just start. Pick a song you want to learn, figure out a super simple way to hold down the bass, then learn the melody, and then figure out how the two fit together.
I'd also agree with Matt regarding the "super simple way to hold down the bass."

I find that playing a simple melody from a leadsheet, while playing nothing more complicated than the root of the chords, actually sounds quite good. (My preferred music to play is jazz, standards and such.)

[atdi 900]

thanks for the advise guys. I think when a gather the money I'll buy one. probably a megatar ;) traktor

[rjgoos]

How hard is it?? It's not easy, but it's so much fun, you won't notice.

I recorded my 1, 2, and 6 months' progress on the Stick:

http://members.ifmcs.net/rjgoos/Public/Music/Stick-Music/


But please don't be impressed. I recorded each clip 4-5 times, and took the best one, so I cheated. But still, less than a year after getting a Stick, I am doing some limited public performance.

What kind of music do you want to do? Perhaps that is the most important question.


R Jay Goos

[atdi 900]

Originally posted by rjgoos
How hard is it?? It's not easy, but it's so much fun, you won't notice.

I recorded my 1, 2, and 6 months' progress on the Stick:

http://members.ifmcs.net/rjgoos/Public/Music/Stick-Music/


But please don't be impressed. I recorded each clip 4-5 times, and took the best one, so I cheated. But still, less than a year after getting a Stick, I am doing some limited public performance.

What kind of music do you want to do? Perhaps that is the most important question.


R Jay Goos

I play in a band that plays many styles of music. my fortay is funk music, however thats only when I play bass. I just want something that sounds good and plays nicely and then the type of music I play on it will be discovered once I learn