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Surely among the most loved guitar techniques, tapping had a popularity explosion at the end of the 1970's thanks to Eddie Van Halen, who isn't the practical inventor, but has certainly contributed to the popularity of this way of playing. Whoever is familiar with tapping, more than likely one of the first things that you studied is a piece by Eddie, called Eruption (on Van Halen's first album).
Tapping is a common part of the technical baggage of every guitarist, also having had a technical evolution due to many famous guitarists like Jennifer Batten and Stanley Jordan.
What is the purpose of tapping? In many cases tapping is used to create large intervals within a melodic structure, which would otherwise be difficult with normal fingering.
Combining the fact that the sequences of notes can be played at a sustained speed (it's much easier to play fast in a tapping phrase than in an alternate picking phrase). These are not the only reasons, but surely they have contributed.
As in all the sections of this site, the development of the tapping technique will also be done in steps. Some exercises (in particular those at the beginning) may seem similar to those already played.
One of the problems that the beginner of the tapping technique comes across in the first hours of study is surely the pain in the finger tips of the right hand. It is not one measure, but you have to consider that the fingers of the right hand will have to practically press against the strings, but whats worse is that they will almost beat on the frets. Don't worry, all you need is to practice certain exercises daily, which we will do shortly, to strenghen the finger tips of the left hand.
We will therefore start to train the fingers of the right hand, which after awhile will form a callus on the tips of the fingers.
The point of the finger that strikes the string is also responsible for the sound that it creates, and therefore a callus is surely better. Lets set up the right hand.
The index and middle fingers of the right hand are used in the first exercise.
Firstly, you need to determine a support point that allows you to have good hand stability while the fingers move. The thumb will have this responsibility, because it will move along the upper edge of the fretboard, accompanying the movement of the hand when the fingers move on the frets. This is just one of three standard formulations of the right hand that we will see.
Position the thumb on the upper edge of the fretboard near the
12th fret. The purpose of this first exercise is to get the index and middle fingers of the right hand used to alternating themselves pressing the strings at the 12th fret. It doesn't matter where on the fretboard that the exercise begins, but it is best to start from a comfortable position.
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Lets begin by performing the exercise
on the first string. At the fifth fret we press the A note with the first finger
of the left hand: for now it is important not to use open strings, because its difficult to control the movements. At this point the right index finger falls perpendicular to the twelfth fret (of the first string), basically creating a hammer-on which has the same characteristics as the hammer-on done with the left hand. The resulting E note must be clear and precise, plus the finger must not flex once it has touched the string. Now we can perform the second movement, which is to release the pressure of the finger creating a pull-off between the E and the A. Practically, you must "jerk" the string with an action that can be done two ways. In the first case, the left index finger slides down using the minimum amount of movement, almost unnoticeable, but very audible. The A note is played at the same moment as the right index finger releases the pressure on the string, similar to the common pull-off. In the second case, the substantial difference is in the upward movement of the finger index, while the rest is the same. |
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Try these movements a few times until you learn them well, mostly for the coordination of the fingers. The real exercise is proposed below, and consists of playing the tapping twice (for a total of four notes, alternating index and middle fingers) on every string scaling from the first to the sixth. Perform the exercise numerous times. Notice that on the sixth string the thumb of the right hand must be removed from the edge of the fretboard, otherwise it would prevent the correct movement of the fingers. Here, the stability of the hand comes from the wrist.
Be careful not to force the fingers too much, which could cause exess pain in the fingertips, even if a minimum of amount of pain is unavoidable and completely normal. Always check the position of the right hand.
Exercise #2
We are now ready to face one of the fundamental techniques of tapping: the triads. To have large intervals between the notes also means creating some hypothetical chords, whose nature is defined
by its conformation. The triad, made up of a group of three notes
(see the special section), that is used in certain melodic construction "games" to play tapping. In fact, Eruption for example, is built almost entirely of triads.
In the following exercise we can see how a group of three notes, with the most acute played in tapping
and the other two in hammer-on, can create a triadic movement in succession. These three notes make up a minor triad, whose root is found on the lowest note
(the A at the fifth fret): this therefore results in a triad of A minor. You can also see in the score that
the ligature signs have appeared, which have been added to indicate the tapping on the E note connected in descent to the A note, and connected to the C note in the ascending sense.
In many cases this is implied.
Play the sequence, repeating it a few times, and always alternating the index and middle fingers of the right hand. I suggest that you play the exercise slowly, in order to develop good rhythmic control.
Using triplets you can easily accent the first note of the triad (that done with the tapping).
In the following part, the triad is repeated on all the strings, starting with a series of chords whose
root is the fifth fret: Am on the first string, Em on the second, Cm on the third and so on.
As you can see, the ligature symbols are only present before the first triplet, but it is clear that the ligature is done on all the triplets.
Before going to the next exercises, I recommend that you play these examples, because they will give you a good base to have when facing the material in the next page. You should practice for about a half hour for three or four days, trying to avoid pain in the fingertips.
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