Hey everyone! Welcome to this tutorial on acoustic percussion. This is a short etude tutorial that will help familiarize yourself with the basic techniques of this modern acoustic style. Percussive playing on the acoustic guitar is getting more and more popular, and is used by artists such as Andy McKee, Antoine DuFour, and many more.
To start off, we're going to be tuning our guitar to DADAAD. So from the bottom to the top strings, we'll make the following changes:
Change Low E string to D
Leave A string as A
Leave D string as D
Change G string to A
Change B string to A
Change High E string to D
Lastly, in the tablature of this tutorial, it is very important to pay close attention to the markings above and below the notes. Any markings above the notes will indicate the percussive hits you'll be playing with your hands:
L.str = use left hand to slap the strings
L. bod = use left hand to knock the guitar body
R.str = use right hand to slap the strings
R. bod = use right hand to knock the guitar body
Any markings below the notes will indicate your picking hand's fingering when plucking or slapping the strings:
T = pluck with thumb
T Slap = slap string with thumb
M = pluck with middle finger
A = pluck with ring finger
All set? When you're tuned and ready, head on over to Part 1!