Guitar Tapping And How To Use It In A Solo

Guitar tapping has been a favored solo technique by many guitarists.  It's "wow" factor is extreme for any audience.  I understand how important tapping is to all guitar players for developing solo technique so I put together some good leads for you to get a better handle on it.  Good tapping requires a solid understanding of the fret board all the way up and down the neck of the guitar.  Make sure you are comfortable with that to best prepare yourself for tapping.

Finger tapping on guitar

To get into tapping, it's important to start practicing legato playing on the guitar.  To begin legato training and get into tapping, find introduction exercises here at http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/guitar_techniques/all_about_tapping_part1_legato_training.html.

Okay, so you want to learn tapping?, or you want to improve your tapping. I wrote this for anyone, from the early stages of tapping to the really awesome. Tapping consists of using your a finger(or more than one) to play a note higher up on the fretboard than your fingering hand alone could do fluently. This technique was revolutionized by Eddy Van Halen and from there on molded into a lot of different styles. Best to practice tapping on an electric guitar.

First Things First!

First you have to become good at legato playing. Legato playing is used by us guitarists by sounding a note without picking it. And the most common techniques used are:

Hammer-on's and pull off's.

Here are some exercised to better understand.. Practice these well!

e|----------------------------------------------------------|
B|-5-6----------5-7-------5-8------6-7-----6-8-----7-8------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------|
   1 2		1 3	  1 4	   2 3	   2 4	   3 4

These are Hammer-On's.Pick the first note, then use the finger indicated on the bottom(from the same hand) and pres into the second note indicated, you should hear the second note pretty much just as loud as the first one if you do it right.  

e|----------------------------------------------------------|
B|-6-5----------7-5-------8-5------7-6-----8-6-----8-7------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------|
   2 1		3 1	  4 1	   3 2	   4 2	   4 3

These, on the other hand, are called Pull-off's, they are considered the opposite of hammer-ons. You pick the higher note then pull the finger downward off of the string causing extra vibrations and so sounding the lower note. Be careful not to bend the note causing it to go sharp. Always have your finger on the fret that will sound the note after the pull-off.

Continue to practice those, when you can hammer on the note and pull it off quickly and perfectly you use a technique known as a Trill.

thrills are a fantastic workout for strength, finger independence and control. Perfect thrills are hard to accomplish so don't stay to fixated on those.

Some more legato exercises:

h = Hammer on
p = Pull off
s = slide
u = Upstroke
d = Downstroke

Timing is very important with these exercises, use a metronome and start slow if you have one handy.  

Single string Legato:
  #1                  #2	         #3
e|-------------------|------------------|---------------------|
B|-5-6-5-7-5-8-5-7---|-6-5-7-5-8-5-7-5--|-7-6-8-6-7-6-8-6-----|
G|-------------------|------------------|---------------------|
D|-------------------|------------------|---------------------|
A|-------------------|------------------|---------------------|
E|-------------------|------------------|---------------------|
   d h p h p h p h     d p h p h p h p    d p h p h p h p

Multiple string legato:

e|-----5-6-6-5------|-------5-6-7-7-6-5----------------------|
B|-5-6---------6-5--|-5-6-7-------------7-6-5----------------|
G|------------------|----------------------------------------|
D|------------------|----------------------------------------|
A|------------------|----------------------------------------|
E|------------------|----------------------------------------|
   d h d h u p u p    d h h d h h u p p u p p

e|---------5-6-7-8-8-7-6-5----------------------------------|
B|-5-6-7-8-----------------8-7-6-5--------------------------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------|
   d h h h d h h h u p p p u p p p

Practice Hammering on some ascending scales e.g

e|--------------------------------5-7-8---------------------|
B|--------------------------5-6-8---------------------------|
G|-------------------4-5-7----------------------------------|
D|-------------3-5-7----------------------------------------|
A|-------3-5-7----------------------------------------------|
E|-3-5-7----------------------------------------------------|
   d h h d h h d h h d h h  d h h d h h

Now that we've got that under the knee let's look at a more advanced version of hammer-on's.

These can be referred to hammering on from nowhere. this will come in handy for some styles of tapping.

e|----------------------------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------9-----10------------------------|
D|-----9-----10------12---7-----9------and so on until------|
A|---7-----9------10----5-----7--------top------------------|
E|-5-----7------8-------------------------------------------|
   h h h h h h  h h  h  h h h h h  h
   1 2 4 1 2 4  1 2  4  1 2 4 1 2  4

Guitar solo

I will follow up the last excerpt with another lesson that applies this technique to guitar tapping.  Check out the lesson out at http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/guitar_techniques/all_about_tapping_part_2_beginner_tapping_to_little_bit_of_advanced.html.

Well you all know what tapping is so I'm going to get down and dirty and start tabbing out the exercises.

You can use any finger on your picking hand the most used ones are either the first or the second finger.

It's always good to practice Tapping with a metronome

t = Tapp(with picking hand finger)
h = Hammer On
p = Pull Off

Firstly one string tapping:  

e|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
B|--10-5-8--10-5-8-------------|-10-8-5-10-8-5---------------|
G|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
D|--------------and so forth---|---------------and so forth--|
A|--------------for as long as-|-----------------------------|
E|--------------you can--------|-----------------------------|
    T  p h  t  p h		 t  p p t  p p

If you can't do it properly without making the high e note ring try it on the high e string instead of B but work your way to B! Practicing with open string below you will help improve your accuracy.

Now we're going to move au a bit and change strings while tapping:

e|--------10-5-8--------10-5-8------------------------------|
B|-10-5-8--------10-5-8---------10-5-8----------------------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------|
   t  p h t  p h t  p h  t p h  t p h 
 
e|--------10-8-5--------10-8-5--------10-8-5----------------|
B|-10-8-5--------10-8-5--------10-8-5-----------------------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------|
   t p p  t p p  t p p  t p p  t p p  t p p 

Now It's getting harder: hammer on from nowhere before the tap:  

e|------8-10-5--------8-10-5--------8-----------------------|
B|-10-5--------8-10-5--------8-10-5-------------------------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------|
   t  p h t p h  t  p h t  p h t  p h
 
e|-10-8-7-5------------8-10-8-7-5------------8--------------|
B|----------8-10-8-7-5------------8-10-8-7-5----------------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------|
   t p p p  h t  p p p h t  p p p h t  p p p h 

Now there's the act of moving your hands from their frets:  

First: moving the tapping hand
e|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
B|--10-5-8--12-5-8- (repeat)---|-10-8-5-12-8-5--(repeat)-----|
G|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
D|--------------and so forth---|---------------and so forth--|
A|--------------for as long as-|-----------------------------|
E|--------------you can--------|-----------------------------|
    T  p h  t  p h		 t  p p t  p p  

Moving the fretting hand:
e|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
B|--10-5-8--10-4-7--(Repeat)---|-10-8-5-10-7-4--(Repeat)-----|
G|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
D|--------------and so forth---|---------------and so forth--|
A|--------------for as long as-|-----------------------------|
E|--------------you can--------|-----------------------------|
    T  p h  t  p h		 t  p p t  p p

So you may be wondering how all this fits into a guitar solo.  One of the best examples of intense guitar solos filled with finger tapping comes from Eddie Van Halen.  I couldn't get Eddie to teach us how to tap, but I did find a good lesson that explains a lot of his techniques and solo ideas.  Check out the video here at http://adult-guitar-lessons.com/learn-eddie-van-halen-style-rock-guitar-lesson-on-tapping-slides-n-whammy-bar-tricks/.

Another source we can look to is the gear and set up used by the might Van Halen.  I dug up this article that gives some great insight into the what helped make Van Halen the guitar legend he is today.  Find all this here at http://ezinearticles.com/?Find-Out-The-Gear-Secrets-of-Eddie-Van-Halen&id=5931463.

Super-fast two-handed tapping, monstrous dive-bombs, legato licks with machine-like precision - no other guitarist since Hendrix influenced the guitar community more than Dutch-born Edward Lodewijk Van Halen.

Almost single-handedly he brought technical innovation and harmonic diversity to the blues-based Hard Rock of the 60s and 70s. The breathtaking instrumental 'Eruption' on Van Halen's 1978 debut album alone made many established guitarists of the day want to throw their guitar on the dumpster. But not only Eddies' playing was breathtaking, his tone was equally astonishing. Achieved through a combination of highly customized guitars and amps he coined the phrase 'Brown Sound' which set a new reference tone for thousands of guitarists following his path.

Eddie first guitar was a cheap Teisco Del Rey solid body guitar, which he swapped for his drum set with his brother Alex Van Halen. Later he acquired a Les Paul copy to learn all the songs and licks from his guitar idol, Eric Clapton.

But he doesn't like the heavy weight and the fact that he can't get a usable tone from the neck pick-up.

Guitar tapping solo at rock concert

The first album was recorded with a self-made Strat-style guitar that consisted of several Charvel guitar parts as well as a '58 Fender Stratocaster. Both guitars have maple necks, which Eddie prefers. The Charvel 'Frankenstein' guitar has a mahogany body which Eddie likes, as it doesn't produce the Fender Twang. He rips the humbucker out of an old Gibson ES-335 and screws it in the bridge position of the guitar and uses sticky tape to give it the famous 'stripe' look.

As soon as the first 'modern' Vibrato-system becomes available Eddie installs it on his Franken-Strat and from then on the Floyd Rose vibrato is a staple on all of his guitars. In the early '80s Eddie had an endorsement-deal with Kramer guitars, who build his signature guitars - equipped with a single humbucker, a single volume control, Floyd Rose vibrato and the trademark white-and-red stripes.

After his deal with Kramer ended he developed his signature guitar with Music Man in the early '90s. This guitar has an attractive curly maple cap and specially designed custom neck and bridge pick-ups by DiMarzio, a great playing neck with compound radius and is extremely successful. It has a very unique tone and is one of the most interesting rock-guitars of the 90s.

1996 sees the end of the collaboration with Ernie Ball / Music Man. Eddie moves to Peavey to release a very similar guitar, called 'Wolfgang' after his son. Music Man renames the EVH-model into Axis and changes a few details and keeps the guitar successfully in their program.

But the Peavey Intermezzo is only short-lived.

Just recently Eddie has launched his own brand, EVH. In collaboration with Fender he now has a range of EVH signature Wolfgang guitars, the EVH 5150 III amps and EVH shoes(!)

The other part to his 'brown sound' is of course his amplifier. In the beginning he uses several cheap amps until he acquires a late '60s Marshall. This Plexi-Marshall is usually played with the 'english setting' - all controls on 10! He later uses a Variac Transformer to alter the voltage in the amp and to make the sound 'spongier'. Effects wise Ed keeps it simple - a Univox EC-80 Tape-Echo or an old Tube Echoplex, an MXR Phase 90 and MXR Flanger are all he needs. Occasionally you can find a MXR Distortion Plus on his pedal board. Later on he will turn to Roland SDE-3000 Delay, Lexicon PCM 70 Reverb and Eventide H-3000 harmonizer to create a full and wide live-tone. Also in his live-rig are a Boss OC-2 Octaver and SD-1 Super Overdrive.

Once Eddie gets accustomed to all the trickery that's available in the studio he makes full use of them, double tracking his guitars, using a Firefox Mini-Strat or a Danelectro 6-string bass.

In the early '90s Eddie starts playing around with the Hi-End amps made by Mike Soldano. He loves the lead sound but the rhythm tone doesn't do it for him. After a meeting with Hartley Peavey they develop a signature amplifier, the Peavey 5150. This amp is extremely popular and fellow guitarist like Ted Nugent, Brad Whitford of Aerosmith or Joe Satriani integrate it in their set-up.

As the partnership with Peavey comes to an end, Ed returns to his trusted Marshall for a while only to team up with Fender to release the EVH 5150 III.

Van Halen is one example of a guitarist that takes finger tapping to the next level by using two handed tapping.  Find a great video that highlights this difficult technique here at http://www.ultimate-guitar.tv/guitar_lessons/guitar_tricks_two-hand_tapping.html.

Be sure to practice your guitar tapping using these techniques to get it comfortable under your fingers.  Tapping is definitely a fan favorite for a lot of people in the audience.

Be sure to check back for more at Mike's Guitar Talk.  Please feel encouraged to leave feedback.

Have fun and stay tuned!

Mike