Emmett Chapman (September 28, 1936 – November 1, 2021) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musician best known as the inventor of the Chapman Stick and maker of the Chapman Stick family of instruments.

Career

Chapman started his career as a guitarist, recording and performing in the late 1960s. He played with

Barney Kessel Barney Kessel (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist. Known in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups as well as a "first call" gu ...

and

Tim Buckley Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American musician. He began his career based in folk rock, but subsequently experimented with genres such as psychedelia, jazz, the avant-garde, and funk paired with his ...

before leading his own band. In 1969, Chapman modified his homemade nine-string "Freedom Guitar" to accommodate his "

Free Hands Free Hands is the name of Emmett Chapman's two-handed tapping method of parallel hands used on his Chapman Stick instrument, and on several other Stick-inspired instruments. Chapman first published his tapping lessons in book form in 1976, and ca ...

" tapping method. Although some guitarists had done two-handed tapping with the fingers of the right hand parallel to the strings, Chapman's method used the fingers of both hands perpendicular to the strings. This culminated in the creation of the Electric Stick, which he renamed the Chapman Stick. He founded Stick Enterprises in 1974 and has made more than 6,000 instruments. He held fourteen patents for various aspects of the Chapman Stick. During the 1970s, Chapman toured extensively to promote his music and the instrument. He was influenced by Barney Kessel, then John McLaughlin. In 1985, he released a solo album, '' Parallel Galaxy''. The song "Back Yard" was used in the 1984 version of the film ''

Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

''. An aesthetically modified Chapman Stick was used as the baliset musical instrument, described in the novel, and is performed by

Patrick Stewart Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor. With a career spanning over seven decades of Patrick Stewart on stage and screen, stage and screen, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Patrick Stewart, variou ...

in the director's cut of the film. Chapman died at his home in

Woodland Hills, Los Angeles Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California, United States. History The area was inhabited for around 8,000 years by Native Americans in the United States, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, on November 1, 2021, at the age of 85, after a long battle with cancer.

References

External links

Biographical website

Stick Enterprises

Interview at Mel Bay Guitar Sessions

Documentary
by Dan Chapman
Emmett Chapman Interview
at NAMM Oral History Collection (2011) {{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Emmett 1936 births 2021 deaths American jazz guitarists Chapman Stick players 20th-century American guitarists People from Woodland Hills, Los Angeles Inventors of musical instruments