Midnight by Joe Satriani

[Firespirit1982]

First of all, since I'm a newbie here, let me just say hi to all. :)

Been playing guitar for a while now, though never seriously until quite recently. Now, I've been trying to learn different techniques and styles that in the past I had never even bothered trying.

I've been trying to learn Midnight by Joe Satriani. Now, the tempo, tapping patterns, etc in this song aren't a problem. It's a general thing I've been having trouble with when tapping. I'm creating this nasty sound whenever there's a large distance between my fretting hand and the tapping hand. For example, in Midnight, I'm tapping from open onto the twelfth fret, and its then that I get this terrible sound. How do I eliminate this to get it to sound like the record?

Is this what's referred to as a tap harmonic (I honestly don't know) ? And if so why does it sound so off (wouldn't it just be the octave between the open and the twelfth fret - or am I totally confused)? Is it my cheap guitar? (Ha, and I know what you're all thinking, bad workman, tools, always blames, :p )

Any help much appreciated,
Peter

[Knightsaber]

hey i learned that song awhile ago, maybe this helps.

try tying a bandana or rag over the first fret, just tight enough to mute the strings. those overtones will kill you.

as for tap harmonics, i don't have all the info, but it's a harmonic formed by tapping twelve frets above a fretted note.

Hope it helps,

Daniel

[szulc]

Satraini uses a bandana or sock for this live. I saw him in Detroit in 1988 when this first came out. The surfin with the alien tour, it was great and so was Stu Hamm.

[EricV]

Jennifer Batten has a special string damper. It is tightened to the headstock, and once you need it, you just push it down and it mutes the strings.
That might help too.
Eric

[Firespirit1982]

I haven't tried it yet, but I get the idea. Thanks a lot guys :)