Tapping

[LuisSavesTheDay]

I can tap, jst not very good. I can tap like a beast when i use my pick, but when i use my finger, i suck ***. I wanna learn how to tap with my finger better; i can do it, it jsut doesnt come out very clear, like my pick tapping. Any suggestions on how tofix my unclear finger tapping?

[Bizarro]

Practice? You need to build up a callous on your tapping finger, which will help your articulation. This comes from practice...

[metalprep6969]

The same thing happened with me. I couldn't tap for anythign with my fingers, but I could with a pick. You just have to do it a lot (yes you're going to have to bear with the horrible sound for a while).

\m/

[Guitarperson88]

When I started tapping i used my finger, I suck when i use my pick lol, so it's the other way around. I also do multi finger tapping sometimes if the going is right. If you want some exercises man let me know and I'll post them here.

[wild_child]

when tapping with the finger it helps to treat it like a pull off i.e. tap then move the finger downwards slightly so you kinda pluck the string with the tip of your finger, this helps to get the notes clear. also, you gotta tap harder than with a pick, cause your finger is softer than a pick.
other than that, its all practice

i'm suprised theres still no articles specifically on tapping, it seems like it would be useful to a fair few people here..

[LuisSavesTheDay]

hey guitarperson88, post sometap excers. Im starting to like tapping more. You guys think the 5150 II would be a tapping machine? (im not just thinking about one fore the tapping, but also cause its so fn clean)

[wild_child]

i've heard good things about the 5150, often its been compaired to a mesa dual rec. for like half the price, very toneful, very nice. although i prefer the original 5150, but i dont like my amps to have too many knobs on them.. i'm actually thinking of getting one myself, its either that or the marshall jcm 800.
it aint gonna enhance your tapping though, thats up to your own discipline. might give it a smooth sound though

[LuisSavesTheDay]

the more knobs, thhe better . Why would you recommend the 5150 rather then the 5150 II?

(i was amazed to see the 9.1 sound review on Harmony central)

[wild_child]

i wouldnt say i reccomend one over the other, the fact that they are still manufaturing both models shows that they both have their individual advantages.
again, its more a personal thing, i'd go with it cause its got less knobs, i dont like to be playing around with amps too much if i wanna shape my sound, i'll use an eq box. however the 5150 II model seems to offer more control over each independant channel, which is no bad thing.
apparently the two amps tones are fairly different, but i'm not a witness to this.

[metalprep6969]

Haha, if you don't like too many knobs, Mesas sure as hell aren't for you! I absolutely love my 5150II. It does sound a bit different than the original, but it's still amazing. I don't think it's any worse or better, just different. There's already a thread comparing the two, if you're that interested do a search for it. It might help your tapping in that it has loads of gain, but if you can't tap on another amp, you're not going to be able to tap with that amp.

\m/

[Sakkaku]

I'm looking into going a head & cabinet, rather than a combo amp... I'm probably going to either get a 5150, or a MF400.

[wild_child]

here's a tapping exercise that i play alot. i'd suggest starting off at 60 bpm and working your way up to 120, or faster if you feel like it

[oRg]

I'll post some tapping excersizes that I love doing. These would help build callouses really fast. Some though have some big stretches and also require left-hand tapping. I also have a tapping arpeggio in there that sounds really fun. As for a good tapping sound I seem to get a good one from my Randall RH-200 and a Boss Metal Zone pedal (optional). The Randall gives some pretty good tone.

About the excersizes though. I tabbed them all in the same tempo for the sake of simplicity. I actually play them at varying tempos. Feel free to practice at any tempo, I actually encourage it with some licks in there. Some licks also require a large stretch. So make sure you warm up before playing these. There's also a 6 finger tapping lick in their resembling a G7add4 chord with no root. Correct me if I'm wrong on the chord, I'm not too familiar on chord theory. have fun.

edit: I accidentally labeled the tapping arpeggio wrong. The one I have tabbed is a minor arpeggio.

[LuisSavesTheDay]

wht do i oepn the attachments with?

[EricV]

Powertab... available for free here:

http://www.power-tab.net/

By the way, I prefer the original 5150 over the 5150 II. The latter seems to have a better clean sound, but for some reason I feel it sounds a bit different in general ( gain channel ), and I do prefer the first one sound-wise
Eric