Percussive Guitar Guide

Percussive Guitar Guide

© Guitar Mastery Solutions, Inc.

Page !2

Table Of Contents Introduction

4

String Slapping

4

The Muted Slap (M.S.) ...........................................................................................4 The String Slap (S.S.) ............................................................................................ 5 The Fret Hand Slap (F.H.) ...................................................................................... 6 Example 1: String Slapping With Chords (4.05) ...................................................6 Example 2: String Slapping With Octaves (6.28) .................................................. 7 Example 3: String Slapping With Legato (9.38) ....................................................8

Body Percussion

8

Bass Drum (B.T.) ....................................................................................................9 Snare (S) ................................................................................................................9 Example 1: Body Percussion With Strumming (11.46) ....................................... 10 Example 2: Body Percussion With Fingerpicking (15.48) ...................................10 Bass Drum (B.H.) .................................................................................................11 Snare (F.H.)..........................................................................................................12

Combining Percussive Guitar Techniques

12

Example 1: Body Percussion With Harmonic Slap (18.25) ................................. 13 Example 2: Body Percussion With String Slapping (23.19) ................................14


Page !3

Introduction This guide has been designed for you to go hand in hand with the accompanying video. Trying to learn the examples in this guide without the video will severely limit your ability to play them. It is designed to reinforce what is being taught in the video, as well as provide additional tips for each example, so you know exactly what to do and what to focus on when learning to play your acoustic guitar percussively. So for best results, watch the video carefully and pay attention to the examples and techniques you are working on. In addition to this, find the notated example in this guide so that you can then reinforce what it is you are learning in the video as well as what you need to focus on when developing your percussive skills. (There is a time stamp next to each example to make it easy for you to find in the video.) Most of all, have fun because learning to play your acoustic guitar percussively is exactly that. Whether you take it to the nth degree or just simply integrate a few cool techniques into your playing, there is one thing for sure, you will never look at your acoustic guitar the same way again.

String Slapping A great way to create cool percussive sounds on your acoustic guitar is to slap the strings. Learning to do this will open up a whole world of percussive possibilities to you. Lets look at three ways you can slap the strings of your acoustic guitar starting with:

The Muted Slap (M.S.) The muted slap is achieved by slapping the lower string(s) of your guitar with the side of your thumb. You are after a muted sound when doing this, hence the name. The muted slap is shown with an “x” on the bottom line/string of the tablature. It is referenced with “M.S.” (Muted Slap).


Page !4

What To Focus On When Executing the Muted Slap:

- Keep your hand nice and relaxed. - Focus on using the side of your picking hand thumb to make contact with the string(s). - Be sure to rotate/flick your wrist as you execute this technique. The movement needs to be generated from your wrist.

- You are after a muted/percussive slap against the strings here so don’t move your thumb away too quickly from the strings once you make contact with them.

The String Slap (S.S.) The string slap is when you slap the string with the side of your thumb to sound it instead of plucking it with a plectrum as you would normally do. It is very similar to the muted slap, however you are wanting to sound the string/note when executing this technique. The string slap is referenced with “S.S.” (String Slap).

What To Focus On When Executing the String Slap:

- Keep your hand nice and relaxed. - Focus on using the side of your picking hand thumb to make contact with the string. - Be sure to rotate/flick your wrist as you execute this technique. The movement needs to be generated from your wrist.

- You actually want the note you are slapping to sound. To do this make sure your thumb bounces off the string as soon as it makes contact with it. This is so the string can vibrate and make a sound.

- Be very patient with this technique. As easy as it may look, it can take some time to get a consistent sounding note. Practice it regularly in small doses and you will get it.


Page !5

The Fret Hand Slap (F.H.) The fret hand slap is done with your fretting hand as oppose to your picking hand. You use the fingers of this hand to slap against the strings of your guitar to create a percussive/ muted sound. The fret hand slap is shown with an “x” on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings/lines of the tablature. It is referenced with “F.H.” (Fret Hand).

What To Focus On When Executing the Fret Hand Slap:

- Keep your hand nice and relaxed. You are simply touching the strings here, not pushing them down like you would to fret a note

- You can use any number of fingers to execute the fret hand slap depending on the situation and sound you are after. I like to mostly keep my index finger grounded lightly against the strings as my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th fingers perform the slap.

Example 1: String Slapping With Chords (4.05) In this example you are going to incorporate a muted slap (M.S.) with a simple chord progression. Be sure to watch this example being played in the video.


Page !6

Things To Focus On In This Example:

- Play SLOWLY and break things up into smaller pieces to work on. You MUST go slow enough so that you can ENGAGE your brain with EVERY move you make.

- Keeping your hand nice and relaxed. Be sure to rotate/flick your wrist as you execute this technique. The movement needs to be generated from your wrist.

- Using the back of your nails to strum the chords. - Your thumb slapping several strings rather than just the single string. This is often the case when incorporating the mutes slap with chords.

- Your thumb not moving away too quickly from the strings once you make contact with them. This will ensure you get the muted/percussive sound that you are after.

Example 2: String Slapping With Octaves (6.28) In this example you are going to incorporate all three kinds of string slaps with octave shapes. Be sure to watch this example being played in the video.



- Using the index finger (i) of your picking hand to pick/pop the octave on the 4th string at the end of each cycle.

- Keeping your picking hand/wrist relaxed. Look for any excess tension. Awareness is the key to eliminating unwanted tension.


Page !7

- Keeping your fretting hand relaxed when executing the fret hand slap. Be sure to only be lightly touching the strings when doing this.

Example 3: String Slapping With Legato (9.38) In this example you are going to incorporate the string slap (S.S.) and the fret hand slap (F.H.) with some legato playing. Be sure to watch this example being played in the video.



- As always, keeping everything nice and relaxed. - Isolate the legato parts (ie. hammer ons and pull offs) so that you can focus on making these strong.

- Keep your picking hand relaxed when performing the string slaps. The movement is generated from the wrist.

Body Percussion Body percussion is all about using the body of your acoustic guitar to create different percussive sounds, many of which emulate the different parts of a drum kit. For this section I will use standard drum notation for the various techniques you will learn.


Page !8

Let’s start with two common areas of the body of your guitar you can target to get a kick drum or bass drum sound and a snare sound.

Bass Drum (B.T.) For this particular sound you simply slap the lower area of the soundboard on the front of your guitar with the side of your thumb. It is the exact same motion you do for the muted and string slaps. As always, watch this part of the video carefully to see exactly what you need to do. The bass drum hit with the thumb is notated in the first space of the percussion stave. It is referenced with “B.T.” (Bass drum hit with thumb).

What To Focus On When Executing the Bass Drum With Thumb:

- Keep your hand nice and relaxed. - Focus on using the side of your picking hand thumb to make contact with the body of your guitar.

- Be sure to rotate/flick your wrist as you execute this technique. The movement needs to be generated from your wrist.

Snare (S) For this particular snare sound you need to tap or rap your fingers on the side of your guitar. Use two fingers when doing this. I like to use my 3rd and 4th fingers but you may prefer your 2nd and 3rd fingers. Either way is fine. You are after a higher end “popping” sound to emulate the sound of a snare or a rimshot. The snare hit is notated in the 3rd space of the percussion stave and is referenced with an “S” (Snare).

What To Focus On When Executing the Snare:

- As always keep your hand nice and relaxed.


Page !9

- To get the higher end popping sound, you need to focus on the base of the two fingers you are using to land flush with the rim of the body of your guitar. Connecting too high up on the fingers will result in a duller sound.

- Be sure to rotate/flick your wrist as you execute this technique. The movement needs to be generated from your wrist.

Example 1: Body Percussion With Strumming (11.46) In this example you are going to incorporate both bass and snare hits on the body of your guitar as you strum out a simple chord progression. Be sure to watch this example being played in the video.



- Isolate the percussion part from the chord strums. It’s much easier to learn and get things down this way.

- Use the back of the nails of your picking hand to strum the chords. - Focus on getting the higher end popping sound for your snare. Be patient as this can take a little time to get consistently.

- Keep your picking hand relaxed when performing the percussive hits. The movement is generated from the wrist.

Example 2: Body Percussion With Fingerpicking (15.48) In this example you are going to incorporate a bass drum and snare hit on the body of your guitar as you are fingerpicking a chord progression. Be sure to watch this example being played in the video.


Page !10



- Isolate the percussion part from the fingerpicking. Working on both parts separately is a much more effective way to get this down.

- Focus on getting the higher end popping sound for your snare. Be patient as this can take a little time to sound consistently.

- Keep your picking hand relaxed when performing the percussive hits. The movement is generated from the wrist.

Bass Drum (B.H.) This bass drum sound is very similar to the first one only instead of using the side of your thumb, you will use the heel of your hand to hit the lower area of the soundboard of your guitar. This creates more of a lower end “thud” type sound. This bass drum hit is notated in the first space of the percussion stave. It is referenced with “B.H.” (Bass drum hit with heel of hand).


Page !11

What To Focus On When Executing this Bass Drum Hit:

- Be sure to connect with the heel of your hand when striking the body of the guitar - Don’t hit too hard. You don’t want to crack the soundboard of your guitar. Snare (F.H.) Another option in regard to getting a snare type sound on the body of your guitar is to use your fretting hand. Using two hands for body percussion will open up a whole new world of groove possibilities. To get this sound simply tap the side of your guitar just below the neck. Alternatively you can tap the front of your guitar just below the fretboard. As always watch this example in the video to know exactly what to do. This snare hit is notated in the 3rd space of the percussion stave and is referenced with a “F.H.” (Fret hand snare hit).

What To Focus On When Executing the Fret Hand Snare:

- Hit either the side or front of the guitar for this sound. Which you go with may depend on the context in which you use it, or the sound you are after.

- Focus on bringing your fretting hand out in front of the guitar as oppose to having your thumb behind the neck. Execute the snare sound and then get your fretting hand back into position (ie. thumb behind the neck) to continue playing.

Combining Percussive Guitar Techniques Now it’s time to incorporate everything together that you have learned. This is where it’s at. The following examples will include string slapping approaches along with body percussion techniques all mixed in with your everyday guitar playing skills such as strumming chord progressions, playing riffs etc. This is where everything comes together and you start to get an idea of the possibilities of percussive guitar playing. Enjoy :)


Page !12

Example 1: Body Percussion With Harmonic Slap (18.25) In this first example you are going to integrate the bass drum sounds along with both snare hit approaches while strumming a simple chord progression. Look out for the harmonic slap (explained below) at the end. Be sure to watch this example being played in the video.



- Isolate the percussion part from strumming the chords. Working on both parts separately is a much more effective way to get this down.

- The triplet feel is played throughout in this example. Watch and listen to it being played on the video to make sure you are doing this correctly.

- The harmonic slap is new. Use the middle finger of your picking hand to slap the strings directly over the 12th fret. Your finger needs to bounce right off the strings as soon as it makes contact with them for the sound to ring out.

- You are targeting 3 strings with the harmonic slap, however it’s ok if you end up sounding more. © Guitar Mastery Solutions, Inc.

Page !13

Example 2: Body Percussion With String Slapping (23.19) In the example below you are going to incorporate some body percussion hits while your fretting hand plays a riff using some of the string slapping approaches you learned earlier. Having the ability to include both string slapping and body percussion hits together will take your percussive guitar playing to a whole new level so be sure to study this example carefully in the video.



- Isolate the percussion part from the riff you are playing with the string slapping techniques. Working on both parts separately is a much more effective way to get this down.

- Keep your picking hand relaxed when performing both string slapping techniques and body percussion hits. The movement is generated from the wrist.

Learn how to create cool and unique unplugged versions of songs on your acoustic guitar


Page !14

About The Author Simon Candy Musician & Guitar Instructor Simon is a professional musician and guitar instructor based in Melbourne Australia. He specializes in acoustic guitar playing, drawing from his studies over the past 25 years in jazz, rock, blues and fingerstyle guitar. Simon has been teaching the guitar for over 20 years. He has taught at some of Australia’s most prestigious schools including Xavier College and Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak. Simon also conducts masterclasses on various acoustic guitar topics in Chicago, USA. He is the owner and founder of Simon Candy School Of Guitar and is in constant demand, currently teaching 80+ students a week to reach their guitar playing goals in the best ways possible. Simon has performed in many bands over the years from rock to jazz and most things in between. In addition to this Simon also plays solo acoustic guitar. His influences include Chet Atkins, Lenny Breau, Danny Gatton, Tommy Emmanuel, and Joe Pass just to name a few. A lot of these influences can be heard in the solo acoustic arrangements that he creates as well as in his own music. Amongst other things, Simon is currently working on both an acoustic album of arrangements as well as an original solo acoustic album. He has studied jazz and popular music at Box Hill Institute and is a graduate of the Tom Hess Music Careers Mentoring Program and Elite Guitar Teachers Inner Circle. To check out other great acoustic guitar resources be sure to visit: http://acousticguitarlessonsonline.net Simon can be contacted at: [email protected]


Page !15

This e-book is under international copyright protection. It cannot be copied, sold, rented, loaned, or distributed in any way whatsoever, without written © Guitar Mastery Solutions, Inc.

Page !16

consent of Guitar Mastery Solutions, Inc.


Page !17

Percussive Guitar Guide

Recommend Documents