Tapping Part 1
(03 Apr 06)
Here is the right hand
Based on the first example (the hammer on / pull offs between D and E), here's the next exercise: We HAMMER (tap) onto the G, 12th fret G-string, and then pull off to D, and hammer on to E (9th fret).
Click HERE to see the video
At first this will feel weird, as it's kind of an "odd pattern". You know, hammering on, pulling off to D, hammering on to E, and then, when you tap the G again, you have to take the ring finger away from the E so when you do the pull off from G, you get D (I hope this makes sense !!!). But believe me, I have taught this to many many students, and it was always the same: after some confusion and coordination problems, you get the hang of it and are able to work up to a decent speed. Keep at it and you will soon figure out that it's actually quite easy to get this up to speed once you have gotten used to the pattern.
CONFESSION:
When I got my first electric guitar, I still was pretty much a beginner. I had fiddled around on the acoustic guitar a bit, but I still wasn't really able to play most basic chords. However, since I was such a huge fan of Eddie Van Halen, and wanted to be able to play like him, it took me about 20 minutes after bringing home the guitar until I was trying to tap. And I think it was that same evening, or the next day, that I was able to do it, even though it wasn't all that accurate. If you know how to do hammer ons and pull off's, you should be able to get it down pretty quickly.
MUTING
As you might have seen from the video clips, I do have my left hand thumb placed in a rather odd way. Fortunately, my hands are rather big, that's why I can do that. For example, when I tap on the G-String, I mute the E- and A-String with my left hand thumb AND a part of the right hand (see above... might cause extra noise when you move your right hand, so this needs some attention). The D-string is usually muted by the tip of my left hand index finger, which also mutes the upper 2 strings.
All this is not carved in stone, it really depends on what you wanna play and what feels comfortable. Tapping can of course be done with a clean sound, but it certainly sounds cool with a distorted one. And if you use such a sound, muting is essential, as it won't really that great if there's a lot of extra noise.
If you want your tapping-lick to start with any other note but the tapped one, you don't necessarily have to pick that note (which could make it difficult). You could instead utilize a "hammer on from nowhere". I have described those in my legato article.
Basically, you hammer on, say, the D on the G-String with your left hand index finger, without playing anything before it. Then you continue with the actual lick / sequence / figure.
Check out the TAB and the video:
Click HERE to see the video
Again, try to keep the notes at approximately equal volume.
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