Tapping
was basically invented by guitarist Eddie Van Halen.
If you listen to a few of Van Halen's songs you
are bound to hear this technique being used. It
allows you to play a series of notes in very quick
succession, and actually isn't that hard to pick
up. It involves tapping on to a note with the right
hand and then pulling-off to a lower note which
is played by the left hand. Check out the video:
The
first part shows the basic concept of tapping.
We'll start off with a basic three note pattern
on the E string: A, C and E. The A and the C will
be played with the left hand. The first finger
should be rooted at the 5th fret to play the A.
It does not move from here. The third or fourth
finger will hammer-on to the C after every A note.
The tapping part comes in with the right hand
playing the E. To do this, you need to hammer-on
to the E with your index finger and then pull
off to the A.
If
you look at the video you will notice me exaggerate
the sideways pulling-off movement from the E.
You do not need this much movement, but you do
need some. The most common mistake with tapping
is to just hit the string vertically and not to
pull off sideways. This just produces a horrible
noise.
Practise
playing the sequence: Tap the E, pull off to the
A, and hammer-on to the C. As usual take it slowly
at the start. When you are competent at this,
you can begin to move the tapping note around.
In the video I move it up one fret at a time.
So
far we have studied tapping with the index finger.
This is often not the most convenient way to tap.
It does have the advantage that it is easy to
pull-off, but it also has disadvantages, such
as where do you put the pick in the middle of
a song? Tapping with a pick is not only easier
to do if you are on stage in the middle of a song,
but you can also tap a lot faster.
To
use a pick to tap, you do everything the same
except with a pick. Hold the pick on its side
and use this to hammer-on to the string. The pulling-off
bit is harder - you really have to force it sideways
but it comes with practise. I prefer to use a
thicker pick for this technique as it can wear
away thin ones. Here I am using a Big Stubby.
Have a practise at this before taking a look at
this tab:
Get
the tab
Go
through this sequence slowly and then try to play
it at speed. Build up the speed gradually and
every time you make a mistake, go back and do
it slowly. Using a metronome is good for this
and it helps to improve your rhythm. Set it at
a slow tempo, say 120 bpm, then increase it in
increments of 10bpm every time you play it correctly.
Every time you mess up, go back 10. We have metronomes
available in our shop if
you don't have one.
Using
a pick allows you to tap faster as the area of
the pick is smaller than your finger, so it gets
out of the way quicker after each tap.
Once
you have completed this lesson, move on to part
two.
