How to play Newton Faulkner style percussive acoustic

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Total Guitar (Newton Faulkner/Richard Barrett), Fri 18 Sep 2009, 9:20 am UTC

Cross-rhythms occur when two or more separate rhythm patterns weave in and out of each other.

Here, Newton's pick hand plays one rhythm pattern (of triplet-based percussive strikes on the guitar body) while his fret hand creates another pattern (hammered-on eighth notes). The contrast between the triplets and the eighth notes creates the cross-rhythm.

You can practise this cross-rhythm in two ways. The first approach is to attempt the pick hand percussion part separately from the fret hand melodic part. Percussion can be alien to guitarists so this presents an excellent opportunity to give your axe a good smack and try out Newton's slap-happy techniques.

The second approach is to combine both rhythms and practise one bar at a time. Newton's piece is essentially a one-bar pattern with variations in each bar, which makes this tricky approach a lot easier.