附注:
This is an excellent piece for developing your two-hand tapping for acoustic guitar, as well as being a gentle introduction to
the percussive style I keep shoving down your throats! And its a kick ass tune! Bonus! A fitting tribute to the great Eric Roch
e.
I put the "drum" sounds on a seperate stave for reading convenience (and for those of you who don't want to hurt your poo
r defencless guitars - miss them out) I've used 'x's on the different strings to represent different sounds on the guitar body.
These are as follows:
6th String - Right hand palm 'karate chop' on bridge. In this piece this is performed extremely loud,
so hit VERY hard (this causes the low open strings to vibrate which is crucial to the song)
5th String - N/A
4th String
- N/A
3rd String - Right hand ball of thumb slap on upper bout of body above neck join.
2nd String - Right hand finger(s)
slap against edge of body farthest from neck (aim slightly lower than you might think to produce the 'snare' sound required) B
e sure to slap the guitar VERY hard with your finger(s) held completely flat to avoid a muted sound - spank that plank!
1st
String - Left hand knuckles or finger nails on the edge of the body beneath the neck (this should make a short, sharp, 'snappin
g' sound) You have to strike quite fast and hard for this one to sound right. And yes... it does hurt!
Points of note are:
Bars 3 - This is the first time this technique pops up but it used later as well: the high 'D' played on the open first strin
g is plucked with a free finger (usually the middle (m) or ring (a) finger of the right at approximately the 5th fret. JUst plu
ck as you would normally, but avoid fretting or hitting other open strings with the chosen finger.
Bar 9 - The super-fast lo
w 'D's are played using a flamenco technique known as a rasgueado. This involves flicking the fingers of the right hand out acr
oss the strings one after another in very quick succession in the order 'c a m i' (pinkie to first) . Don't worry about hitting
strings othe rthan the 6th, as they should be muted by the left hand as you are lifting off from the 5th fret on the 5th strin
g. If not, this part will sound like you have dropped your guitar. Mute carefully.
Bar 13 - The muted notes here are perform
ed by slapping the fretboard with the left hand around the 7th fret - sometimes a harmonic will result, don't worry, Eric often
let these notes sound, but its the percussive element that is important. This technique is used agin at the breakdown at bar 2
3.
Bar 17 - More rasguedos, but only using 'a m i' this time. For the constant upstrokes use the nail of the right hand thum
b.
Bar 23 - 26 - This is where dropping your guitar is a major issue! Its probably best to have on quite a tight strap to cr
eate minimum movement when your arms are flailing. Broken down this part is actually quite easy, but at speed it gets very toug
h. I find the biggest difficulty is remebering when to fret with each hand. Study the tab carefully and learn it slowy before p
icking up the pace.
That pretty much covers it!
Have fun with this one!
Eric Roche R.I.P.
