Kick Drum With A Down Strum

We use the kick and snare sound at the same time as playing chords.

The chords for this exercise include,

G major, D major, E minor, C major and for the last chord, move the open C major up to frets (Em9no5/D).

• Start by preparing the heel of the palm to produce the kick sound

• As we start to move the heel, we flick the fingers out to strum the chord at the same time

• As the chord rings out, use the thumb to play 'snare' on the string

• This full sequence is repeated twice for each chord change.

The main challenge in this exercise is playing the kick and strumming the chord together. There aren't any motions on guitar to relate the particular motion to, so it is a matter of watching and listening to the video examples carefully, taking it slow and persevering. Our percussive playing is taken up a level once this great technique is really mastered!