DON SCHIFF : NS/STICK TECH

This is a wonderful exercise to get your hands familiar with where the intervals are under your fingers while you form this bass/chord hand shape. Sure, we've heard this progression ohhhhhhhh a lot, however, you'll marvel at 'how easy it ain't - simple musically but a darn fine hand stretch and for me in the beginning, deluxe in getting my plucking fingers to act like 'sheep dogs' cutting out only the strings you want to pluck from the flock of eight.

The technique used in this piece is 'plucking a bass line while plucking the chords'. The true beauty (for me) about the NS is that just like with the Sticks you play bass and guitar parts but now you are free to pluck them as well as tap. Okay, maybe it's just me, but that's a big deal in my 'working world' (and please God, keep the work coming). I have to fill the bass role completely because that's how I got started, anything from there is just great, as long as I do that in high fashion.

Years of playing stringed instruments eventually gives you the 'instinct' to mute strings without thinkin' about it' until then, this exercise will help. If you're like me, ya hit the wrong string or mute/don't mute at the wrong time, and think, "Oh great, I did it again, oh great I did it again, UNBELIEVABLE, how many times can I make that mistake, ohhh nice touch, apparently a lot!" THEN, it becomes second nature. What seems like something 'oh so simple' is actually a coordination task you are not used to yet, once you nail it 'it doesn't stump you that way again', oh sure, there's lot's of other one's to go through BUT not that one again. EXCELLENT!

Look at "practice staff 1" first before playing the piece. It will outline 'where, when, what fret, what finger, what string' and stuff that if I were able to just sit and show you would take about 10 seconds, but having to read and translate it to your own hands is like putting "Sears backyard patio furniture" together. Once you try and figure out the directions, which have been illustrated in Singapore, translated from Chinese to, German to French to Spanish to English, then the last sentence says something unrelated like, "And don't over cook the chicken!" Ya know, it's gonna be a long day!

Hence, once you get the basic hand shape and movement of "practice staff 1" the rest of the chords and movement follow in parallel, and remember, "Don't over cook the chicken."

Enjoy, Don

(Finale Notepad 2003 file for the audio - 9.5KB)