Technique Lesson 1: Tapping
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What is tapping? *Tapping is simply hammering on with your pick hand. *While it's certainly not a new idea, the concept of tapping was popularized by
Van Halen. *The idea here is that there are notes that you might want to use that you could either
A. *Not reach with your fret hand or
B. *Not reach as quickly with your fret hand.
so for these reasons a piano like (two handed approach is needed). *Let me give you and example from Van Halen's "Eruption"
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* T p h
b-9-2-5---
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Now you could certainly try to pick this passage using only your fret hand, but unless your hands are bigger than mine (pretty darn big) you're going to have trouble. *But with tapping you can use your index and ring finger on the 2nd and 3rd notes and tap the first one.
Now there are many varieties and methods also. *The most basic one is used by Van Halen. His technique is to palm his pick (kind of sandwiching it between his middle finger and hand) and tap the required notes, then quickly switching back to the pick.
In order to avoid palming the pick and possibly losing it in the process some guitarists (notably
Joe Satriani) use the edge of the pick to do their tapping. *This is what you're hearing in the solo to "Going Down". *The main advantage here is no lost time as you're never getting rid of the pick. *The disadvantage is that a pick tap rarely creates the kind of vibration that finger tapping does, and it doesn't sound the same.
Another method is to hold the pick all the time with your thumb and index finger and do all your tapping with your middle and ring and pinky fingers. *This is the best of both worlds. *It gives you the sound Van Halen gets with the flexibility Satch gets. *This is how Vai does it and it's very economical. *It will definately take work to train your fingers to tap. *This approach will also allow you to pick notes while tapping with your other fingers. *There is no hard and fast rule as to where you should tap, but it is just another note in the progression so it should be in the same mode or scale or key. *A good way to start out is just to tap the top end of a pentatonic scale like this
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* T *P*P T *P P T P P
e-10-8-5-------------
B--------10-8-5------
G---------------9-7-5
D--------------------
A--------------------
E--------------------
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Don't be afraid to explore a little bit. *Don't get stuck in patterns. *Nearly all Van Halen stuff is Tap Pulloff Hammeron patterns. *Try Tap, Pulloff, Pulloff. *Try Tap, Tap, Pull. *Lastly, lets look at some bi-dextral (two-finger) tapping
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t=ring finger tap
T=middle finger tap
* T *t * * *T *t
e--------------------
B-14--------15-------
G--------------------
D----14--------16----
A---------7---------7
E-------5---------5--
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Here's a perfect example where it's important to be able to use your pick also since the A being played on the low E and the E being played on the A are not tapped. *This is another technique that takes practice.
A few notes for all tapping:
* Use distortion, it helps sustain
* Use a humbucker it increases sensitivity
* Don't wear long sleeves, they will brush against the strings as you tap
* Remember, you are NOT Van Halen, try to mix this into your technique, don't let it become your technique.
PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE
(Edited by jem7vwh at 12:57 pm on April 21, 2001)
