# Free Hands

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[[Image:Emmett_chapman_1969.jpg|thumb|'''[Emmett Chapman](/source/Emmett_Chapman)''' - Free Hands method 1969]]
'''Free Hands''' is the name of [Emmett Chapman](/source/Emmett_Chapman)'s two-handed [tapping](/source/tapping) method of parallel hands used on his [Chapman Stick](/source/Chapman_Stick) instrument, and on several other Stick-inspired instruments.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reilly |first1=Jim |title=StickMan The Story of Emmett Chapman and the Instrument He Created |date=2015 |publisher=Two Handed Press |location=Calgary, Alberta, Canada |isbn=978-0-9918729-1-6}}</ref>  Chapman first published his tapping lessons in book form in 1976, and called his method book ''Free Hands: A New Discipline of Fingers on Strings''. <ref name="Free Hands">{{cite book |last1=Chapman |first1=Emmett |title=Free Hands: A New Discipline of Fingers on Strings |date=1974–2004 |publisher=Stick Enterprises |location=Woodland Hills, CA USA}}</ref>

Chapman's method of tapping was the first to facilitate equal access to the strings by aligning the right hand's fingers parallel to the frets, the same orientation as the left hand's, but coming from over the neck instead of under. <ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Adelson|first1=Steve|date=December 1, 2009|title=Emmett Chapman and the Stick|url=http://guitarplayer.com/article/emmett-chapman-stick/December-2009/103617|url-status=dead|magazine=[Guitar Player](/source/Guitar_Player)|language=en|volume=44|issue=12|pages=70–75|issn=0017-5463|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100130234239/http://guitarplayer.com/article/emmett-chapman-stick/December-2009/103617|archive-date=January 30, 2010|access-date=January 25, 2026}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070225114037/http://www.stick.com/articles/evolution/ Evolution of a Musical Art]
*[http://www.emmettchapman.net/music/freehandsmethod.html''Free Hands'' Method]
*{{US patent|4142436|Method of playing stringed musical instrument}} (patent)

Category:Guitar performance techniques

{{guitar-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Free Hands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Hands) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Hands?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.