Stanley Jordan
(July 31, 1959) is an American jazz/jazz fusion guitarist, best known for his development of the touch technique for playing guitar.
He was born in Palo Alto, California, and he received a BA in digital music composition from Princeton University in 1981, studying under computer-music composers Paul Lansky and Milton Babbitt.
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STANLEY JORDAN TRIO TICKETS
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Two-handed tapping technique
Normally, a guitarist must use two hands to play each
note. One hand presses down a guitar string behind a chosen
fret to prepare the note, and the other hand either plucks or strums the string to play that note. Jordan's touch technique is an advanced form of two-handed
tapping. The guitarist produces a note using only one finger by quickly tapping (or hammering) his finger down behind the appropriate fret. The
force of impact causes the string to vibrate enough to immediately sound the note, and Jordan executes tapping with both hands, and with more
legato than is normally associated with guitar tapping. The note's
volume can be controlled by varying the force of impact: tapping with greater force produces a louder note.
A helpful
analogy to visualize this technique is the distinction between a
harpsichord and a
piano. A harpsichord produces
sound by plucking its strings, and a piano produces sound by striking its strings with tiny hammers. However, while notes produced on a harpsichord or piano sustain after the hammer has struck or the pick has plucked, fingers must remain on a tapped note in order for the sound to continue. This similarity is what led Jordan to attempt such a technique in the first place; he was a classically trained pianist before playing guitar and wanted greater freedom in voicing chords on his guitar.
Jordan's two-handed tapping allows the guitarist to play
melody and
chords simultaneously. It is also possible, as Jordan has demonstrated, to play simultaneously on two different guitars. Another feature of Jordan's playing is the tuning he uses: from bass to treble EADGCF (all in fourths as on the Chapman Stick, compared with the standard EADGBE), so the patterns for chords are the same wherever they are played on the fretboard.
Stanley Jordan's main guitar was built by
Vigier Guitars in 1982: it is an Arpege model on which Vigier made a flat fingerboard, allowing it to have a very low action (0.5/0.7mm). The low action facilitates the tapping technique.
Jordan was the first artist to be signed by Bruce Lundvall when the latter became president of
Blue Note Records in 1985 and, consequently,
Magic Touch
was the first release (not reissue) of the rejuvenated
label.
Personal life
Jordan has one 24-year-old daughter from his brief marriage. Jordan's daughter, Julia Jordan, is a guitarist living in
Los Angeles,
California, and recently completed an album titled
Urban Legacy
. The album received very positive reviews in the DIY section of Performing Songwriter Magazine.
Stanley Jordan is currently a resident of
Sedona,
Arizona, where he owns Sedona Books and Music. He attends
Arizona State University, working toward a
master's degree in
music therapy.
Discography
- Touch Sensitive
(1982) (As this album is not listed on Jordan's Web site, he may not consider it an official part of his recordings)
- Magic Touch
(1985)
- Standards, Vol. 1
(1986)
- Flying Home
(1988)
- Cornucopia
(1990)
- Stolen Moments
(1991)
- Bolero
(1994)
- The Best of Stanley Jordan
(1995)
- Stanley Jordan Live in New York
(1998)
- Relaxing Music for Difficult Situations, I
(2003)
- Ragas
(2004)
- Dreams of Peace
(2004)
- State of Nature
(2008)