Introduction to Finger Tapping
Tapping is essentially using both hands to incorporate notes into your playing. It also gets your notes off faster and cleaner than using picking all of the time. Tapping has been around for a long time, and is even used by some acoustic finger stylists - in fact this is where it originated.
Take your middle or index finger or even the edge of your pick if you prefer and try tapping this sequence slowly. Make sure you’re playing this exercise (as with all on this page) with a clean tone at first. That way you can hear what notes you are playing, before possibly adding distortion.
Example 1: (Repeat each bar four times)
E |----7h9t12-----|----7h10t12----|----7h10t14----|----7h10t15----|
B |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
G |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
D |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
A |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
It may look difficult if you’re new to it. I like to tap with my middle finger if I am doing single finger right handed taps like the example above. You can then keep your pick in your index and thumb. Have the first finger of your left hand on the 7th fret (B), then to start the sequence off, either pick or pluck with your finger the high E string around the 12th fret so that you can easily tap the note when required. Then hammer-on to the C# (9th fret on high E string). Make sure it’s clear and crisp.
Now tap with either your pick or finger onto the 12th fret. Then pull your finger away from the 12th fret (having removed your finger from the C#), making sure to almost pluck the string in order to sound the B clearly again.
Sound ok yet? Try going a bit faster. Repeat the same process for each bar until you can play it fairly fast, or at least fast enough where you are comfortable with the speed. Let’s look at tapping and pulling off now. Sounds more difficult than it is. Let’s go through the same process we did in Example 1, but using pulling off now. Look at this.
Example 2: (Repeat each bar four times)
E |----t12p9p7----|----t12p10p7---|----t14p10p7---|----t15p10p7---|
B |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
G |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
D |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
A |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
This looks the same but it’s totally different rather than the notes that I’ve chosen. Have your fingers ready on the 7th and 9th frets. Tap the 12th fret. Then, pull-off to the 9th fret. As you’re pulling off try and make sure that you almost pluck the note as well so you can hear the 9th fret B as well as you could hear the tapped note (like you did in the previous example). Now, do a regular pull-off to the 7th fret. This may take a bit more time to get good at. Just work slow at first. Once you get the first bar down fairly well, repeat the process for the rest. Go through the whole pattern a few times at the speed you learned it. Slowly increase speed each time until you’re at the speed you had in Example 1.
Sounds good doesn’t it? Again, make sure the taps are clean and audible. Everyone’s heard "Eruption" by Van Halen, especially if you’re a guitarist. EVH was an awesome guitarist. Although he was so good, his tapping is easiest to start with since it only involves tapping and hammering on/pulling off, which in it’s own way is a form of tapping. Here we go with the part towards the end of "Eruption". We are going to use the same exact concept we used in Example 1. Go through the same process we did already also, but only if needed.
Example 3: "Eruption" tapping part towards the end (Repeat each bar four times)
E |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
B |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
G |----6h9t13-----|----6h9t14-----|----8h11t14----|----8h11t16----|
D |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
A |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
B |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
G |----9h13t16----|----9h12t17----|----9h13t19----|---11h14t19----|
D |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
A |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |---------------|---------------|
B |---------------|---------------|
G |---11h14t21----|---13h16t21----|
D |---------------|---------------|
A |---------------|---------------|
E |---------------|---------------|
Now that’s just the first part. The rest of that tapping part in "Eruption" can be found at any tab site.
Is there a song that uses both pulling-off and hammering-on as well as tapping in the solo? … Of Course!! Let’s take Ozzy Osbourne’s "Crazy Train" solo for example. The whole solo doesn’t consist of just tapping, but the beginning part does. If you’ve ever heard the song you know how well it sounds. That’s with a lot of distortion too! It’s clean and crisp though. Also, the guitarist isn’t playing beyond his comfortable speed that we mentioned earlier. As a guitarist you will learn that speed, although very important, must be within your comfort zone for it to sound good and not muffled. Here’s the solo:
Example 4: "Crazy Train" Tapping part in Solo
E |---------------|---------------|
B |--t14p10p7h10--|--t15p10p7h10--|
G |---------------|---------------|
D |---------------|---------------|
A |---------------|---------------|
E |-x5------------|-x3------------|
I add this sometimes as an improvisation…sounds good I think.
E |---------------|---------------|---------------|
B |--t17p10p7h10--|--t15p10p7h10--|--t14p10p7h10--|
G |---------------|---------------|---------------|
D |---------------|---------------|---------------|
A |---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |-x3------------|-x3------------|-x3------------|
E |---------------|---------------|-------------------|
B |--t14p10p7h10--|--t15p10p7h10--|--t17p10p7h10t17v--|
G |---------------|---------------|-------------------|
D |---------------|---------------|-------------------|
A |---------------|---------------|-------------------|
E |---------------|---------------|-------------------|
That’s not much but it is fairly difficult until you get the hang of it. Now that you have that down you’re asking: "What about solos with alternating pull-offs, hammer-ons, and taps?". Sure there are some of those too. Let’s take Metallica’s "One" for example. This is pretty long but it works for our purposes. This is the solo towards the end. It’s kind of Neo-Classical sounding. It incorporates the same one fingered right handed taps with alternating pull-offs and hammer-ons. You think it sounds easy? Try it and see for yourself.
Example 5: "One" Solo bars 1-6 towards the end
E |--t19p15p12----|--t19p12h15----|--t19p15p12----|--t19p12h15----|
B |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
G |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------| x2
D |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
A |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |--t20p12h15----|--t20p15p12----|--t20p12h15----|--t20p12h15----|
B |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
G |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------| x2
D |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
A |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
B |--t19p15p12----|--t19p12h15----|--t19p15p12----|--t19p12h15----|
G |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------| x2
D |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
A |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
B |--t20p15p12----|--t20p12h15----|--t20p15p12----|--t20p15p12----|
G |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------| x2
D |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
A |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
B |--t17p13p10----|--t17p10h13----|--t17p10h13----|--t17p10h13----|
G |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------| x2
D |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
A |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
B |--t18p13p10----|--t18p10h13----|--t18p13p10----|--t18p10h13----|
G |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------| x2
D |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
A |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
E |---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
The solo is quite simple, however the tapping is done with the edge of the pick and at 216 BPM with all of the notes being 16th notes!
Written by Alex on Sunday 17th October 2004 at 3:49pm and posted in Lessons, Techniques
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