The Chapman Stick was invented in 1969 by Emmett Chapman, a Los Angeles-based ex-guitarist.

It looks like the wide neck of a guitar. It is played by 'tapping' to produce sound, rather than by plucking the strings (as you would do with guitars or basses). You simply press the strings with your fingers on the fret board with both hands, like a piano or keyboard.

The Chapman Stick has ten strings*. It's electric, it can be MIDI-fired, and has an extension varying from five and a half octaves up (depending on the version).

Usually the strings are split into two groups of five. The pickup is stereo, so you can amplify and add different effects to strings. One group of strings is lower in extension, the other higher.