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The Stick
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The Stick is a tapping instrument. It has a fretboard like a guitar
except that, instead of plucking the strings with a pick or with your
fingers, the notes are sounded simply by tapping or fretting the
desired note. This leaves both hands open to play simultaneously on
the fretboard. With this playing technique in mind, the fretboard of
a Stick is much wider than that of a guitar (making room for both
hands to work) and the Stick has up to twelve strings covering almost
the full range of a piano.
The Stick is an electric instrument with a magnetic pickup. It has frets just like a guitar except that the frets are much larger and the string action is set considerably lower. When a string is tapped at a fret, the string itself hits the large fret at the point where the tap occurred causing the string to vibrate. The low string action along with the sensitivity of the Stick pickup causes the tapping action to produce a nice solid and sustained tone. The playing position for a Stick is to hold the instrument in a near vertical position. The two hands then play in a position where the fingers are parallel to the frets and each hand crosses over to play the strings on the opposite side of the instrument. Emmett Chapman invented this playing technique in the late 1960s on a home made guitar. While other players experimented with tapping a guitar fretboard prior to (and since) that time, it was Chapman who realized that turning the neck to a near vertical position and playing with the fingers parallel to the frets yielded a much more natural playing position. Once this technique for playing was discovered, Chapman began working to design an instrument that was actually made for this method of play. During the early 70s, he continued to refine his instrument adding strings, experimenting with different tunings, and adding a stereo pickup allowing separate processing of bass and melody strings. After building several prototypes, he arrived at the design we see today and, in 1974, built his first production Chapman Stick. Since that time, Chapman has taught his technique to many musicians and today, players of the Stick Method number in the thousands. While many player's histories with the Stick date back well into the 70s, it was Tony Levin during the 80s who delivered a visual of this instrument to a much wider audience using the instrument with both King Crimson and with Peter Gabriel. The instrument also made appearances with groups like Midnight Oil (Peter Gifford), Kajagoogoo (Nick Beggs), and (more recently) the Dave Matthews Band (Greg Howard). With the visibility of the Stick growing each year, the number of players continues to increase. Competing instrument makers have even sprung up making instruments based solely on Chapman's innovations. For more details on the Stick, it's creator, and all of the various models and options, visit the website of Stick Enterprises. There, you can read Emmett's own story about the evolution of his instrument and playing method titled The Evolution of a Musical Art. You can also see some short video clips of how it all works on their Stick Method page. |
 Emmett Chapman shows the proper playing position Photo: John Schubert  Tony Levin Photo: Armando Gallo |