Learn How to Play by Tapping on the Guitar

That driving, ecstatic, climactic sound of properly executed tapping on a guitar has driven many a crowd to a screaming, writhing peak! The tablature for tapping can seem intimidating, but it is actually a relatively easy skill to learn if you start slowly and focus on your technique.

Tapping is the process of performing rapid hammer-ons and pull-offs (slurs), with both your left and right hands. Learning to tap means that you can:

* Play triplet or quadruplet slurs in places across the fret board that would be impossible to reach with just your left hand

* Play slurs at a much higher beat count than you can with one hand

To learn to tap, you will first need to learn to hammer on and pull off. Tapping is basically a series of hammer on-pull offs. To hammer on with your left hand:

* Fret any note with your left index finger

* Pluck it with your right hand and leave it to ring

* Use your middle, ring or pinky finger of your right hand to quickly and gracefully change to a new note further up the fret board.

Pull offs utilize the same technique as hammer ons, but are played down the fret board, instead of up. That is, they move from a higher to a lower note. To pull off with your left hand:

* Put your pinky, ring or middle finger on a note on the fret board

* Put your index finger on a note behind it on the same string

* Pull the higher finger away, making sure that you pull at the string a little as you do so to help create a sound.

Once you've practiced hammering on and pulling off for a while, you'll notice that the two flow together. You can hammer on to a note, and immediately pull off back to the original one. This is the basis of tapping. When you hammer on and pull off to the same two notes, it is known musically as trilling.

To learn how to tap:

* Start off trilling two notes - for example, use the 5th and 8th frets on the B string. Do the trilling slowly, even if you've practiced enough to be quite quick.

* Once you have a rhythm going, use your right hand middle finger to hammer on to the 12th fret, after you've hammered onto the 8th.

* Pull off the 12th fret, and then continue to pull off the 8th fret as you would have.

* You've created a three-note trill - also known as tapping.

* Quadruplet trills are also possible. It is much easier to practice with three fingers of your left hand, and the middle finger of your right, rather than using two fingers on each hand.

Good songs for practising tapping:

* Thunderstruck, AC/DC

* Crazy Train, Ozzy Osbourne

* Hot for Teacher, Van Halen

* Midnight, Joe Satriani

* Building the Church, Steve Vai

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Tapping Guitar

As you surf through YouTube you have probably seen guitarists tapping guitar and wondered if you could learn to play like that. The sound you get from tapping guitar playing adds some variety and excitement to your range of techniques. You can use the first or second finger of your left hand to tap the fretboard at the fret your note is at instead of fretting the note and striking the string with your pick.

The basic technique is not difficult to pick up but if you decide to make start on your tapping guitar style, be prepared to put a lot of practice time in. For many guitar players learning guitar tapping well takes around six months, so do not be sad if you cannot get it right away.

If you are interested in learning guitar tapping, buy or borrow CDs and watch YouTube clips of these guitar players: Stanley Jordan, Zack Kim, Steve Vai, Eddie Van Halen, Buckethead, Tom Morello, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci and Paul Gilbert. Some Metallica songs that feature tapping are Ride The Lightning, Blackened, ...And Justice For All, One, The Frayed Ends Of Sanity, To Live Is To Die, Wherever I May Roam and Am I Evil. If you are a beginner guitarist or even at the intermediate stage, you might find that finger tapping is very difficult. This is because it is a whole new skill apart from playing guitar in the normal way.

Tapping guitars is a technique that a lot of guitarists are inspired to try by watching guitar virtuosos like Van Halen or Steve Vai. While there is nothing wrong with getting enthusiasm about tapping from a role model remember that no matter how far you go with the guitar it is always best to be yourself. You can only emulate your idols, you cannot BE them.

One way to make use of the songs that have already been recorded is to download Guitar Pro or Powertab do a search for tabs for guitar tapping songs in those formats. The PowerTab trial version and Guitar Pro (free) do not have realistic sound but you can get the notes off the tab and slow the MIDI down to get a handle on how to do the tapping, so they are not totally useless.

When you first try guitar tapping you will want to set the gain on your amp really high. As high as you can handle. In fact better get a pedal so you can lower it again for parts of the music where you are not tapping. If you do not have a top of the range guitar with nice pickups, do your guitar tapping slow so you can hear what you are doing, but keep the beat regular.

As a first attempt at guitar tapping Eruption by Van Halen is not a bad choice. Eddie Van Halen uses three finger tapping which you can pick up by practicing. Hot For Teacher is another Van Halen song you could try. The intro has some nice tapping on the guitar. Just go through any Van Halen CDs to see if there is any tapping you want to try to imitate.

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Introduction to Guitar Tapping

Tapping is the process of using your stringing fingers to do fast hammer-on and pull-offs and using your picking hand to tap a fret further down the board in-between those hammer-ons and pull-offs. Once you have mastered hammer-ons and pull-offs tapping should not be difficult it implement into your guitar techniques. While it can be tricky to get a perfectly clean sound, the technique itself is not hard to get down. Once the technique is mastered you should start practicing cleaning it up.

I'll give you an example of a simple tapping line. With your stringing hand put your index finger on fret 2 on string B. Now with your ring finger do a continuous hammer-on and pull-off on the 5th fret. You should be comfortable doing this already if you are trying to learn tapping. Now in-between these hammer ons and pull-offs with your index finger begin tapping the 9th fret on the same string.

You can start out slow to master the movement and to help you get a clean sound when the distortion is on. Once you get this down at a decent pace you'll hear a very cool and unique sound. You've just played the beginning to the tapping part in Eddie Van Halen's Eruption! Not as hard as it sounds is it?

There are many possibilities that can come from tapping. You can implement slides into it, tapping with more than 3 fingers, switching strings, and whatever you can think of you can do.

Thanks for reading and I hope I have helped you out along your journey of mastering guitar!

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The 10 Best Electric Guitar Solos

If you are coming to this article and you feel a bit outraged, then don't worry. Join the club. I'm sure that many people are warming up their fingers with the intention of typing me up a scathing lecture on how I should not presume the authority to rank such a thing, and how foolish the task is and on and on... However, I have still written this article and you are still preparing to read it. So, let's just accept that this is my opinion and we'll go from there.

I do believe that lists like this have use. Many guitarists search for lists like this. I am not talking about only beginners either. Experienced guitarists seek out lists like this even if only just to criticize them. I think that the ultimate purpose of these lists is to help spread the word about great guitarists and great solos that may have gone unheard of for some people had it not been for the list.

The first question to answer is: what makes one guitar solo better than another one? Is it the melodic content of the solo? Is it the technical difficulty of the solo? Well, if you have come to this article in search of an answer to this question, I am sad to have to tell you that I do not have one.

One last thing to say about the developmental criteria of this list. The title is best electric guitar solos. I have tried to choose solos which demonstrate the possibilities of the ELECTRIC guitar. I have included commentary on some of them. Oh, one more last thing, please don't email me about which guitarists I have forgotten. I understand that you have your favorites. Just post a comment and let us all know.

I don't want to keep you waiting any longer. So here are the 10 Best Electric Guitar Solos:

1. Stairway to Heaven - Jimmy Page

2. Eruption - Eddie Van Halen (This solo represents the invention of tapping. Tapping is now a quintessential right-hand electric guitar technique.)

3. All Along the Watchtower - Jimmy Hendrix (Jimmy Hendrix took an acoustic song and made it an electric masterpiece. Because of this solo, many people consider this to be Jimmy's song.)

4. Crazy Train - Randy Rhoads

5. Freebird - Gary Rossington/Alan Collins

6. Pride and Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughn (Stevie, in my opinion, took what Hendrix did and made it more technically challenging but cleaner at the same time.)

7. Big Trouble - Steve Vai (Legendary for his practicing work ethic, Steve Vai is a master of all electric guitar techniques.)

8. She's a Woman - Jeff Beck

9. Comfortably Numb - David Gilmour

10. Sultans of Swing - Mark Knopfler (Melodic brilliance at its finest.)

My name is Ryan Gloman and I have a passion for guitar and a passion for sharing information.

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Secrets Revealed - Learn How to Play Lead Guitar Techniques! (Tapping)

This lesson is the first of the intermediate techniques which I will be teaching and it so happens to be the sixth lesson in this 'Secrets revealed: Learn how to play lead guitar techniques!' series. I hope you have read my previous articles as they cover the more basic techniques.

Tapping

Tapping is one of the most overused techniques around these days but they should not stop you from learning it. Tapping is very similar to hammering on and pulling off but instead of using your fretting for the trill, you will now use your picking hand to do a tap. Dragonforce is one band that loves to do tapping in their solos.
How do we do a tap?

1. First, get your index finger on the 1st string 5th fret, while your ring finger sits on the 8th fret. I know this may be quite stretch but it will be beneficial in time to come.

2. Next, hammer on the 12th fret with your right hand index finger and then pull off.

3. Now, when the note is still ringing, pull off on the 8th fret.

How is a tap indicated?

----t12p8p5----- In the diagram, the tap is indicated with a 't' in front of the note to be tapped.
-------------------- Another way for a tap to be indicated is a 'T' above the note.
--------------------
--------------------
--------------------
--------------------

Remember to take it step by step, and if you need to, slow it down a bit. For the rest of the tapping part, there are so many tabs out on the net, so go get it if you want it, but it s a bit difficult to do at this level. However, don't be disheartened or discouraged as the more you practice, the better you'll get.

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Guitar Tapping Tips And Techniques

Although made popular recently by Eddie VanHalen, guitar tapping or right hand 'legatos' is a technique players have been executing for years. Country players know the benefit of laying down a nice subtle lead and just putting in those quick hammers with clear guitar tapping. And while it's not the easiest thing, guitar finger tapping techniques are really nothing much more then fast hammer on and a pull offs. Whether you use your middle finger or your first, most times you can hold the pick as usual to execute your guitar tapping and get the speed and positioning essential to good guitar tapping techniques. But like anything else, guitar tapping takes practice and patience.

Since this is a highly specialized, yet popular way of playing we hear a lot of player's guitar tapping these days...and just as many tapping badly. Especially when a guitar is cranked through distortion, a whole host of extra noises will come out if the player's guitar finger tapping techniques aren't the cleanest. An important trick to 'clean-up' when you are cranked through that Marshall Stack and you're in "overdrive", is to rest the back of your right hand on the lower strings for muting; what you want to avoid is these string making a lot of extra noise while you get that guitar tapping in one steady movement. Of course, if you're a rock player you are most likely already dreaming of the all-too flashy 'cross-handed tapping' but this is so impractical it only ever works when playing live (and even then it is a hard to get those guitar tapping progressions cooking in this way!) Admittedly though, this particular type of guitar tapping, above all other types of guitar finger tapping techniques, creates a truly distinct tone.

There are hundreds of videos and books that show guitar tapping tips, but as it is with everything else, you can't even begin to understand how guitar tapping works until you get up and do it yourself. Although modern listeners have been conditioned to want speed like Eddie V., it is more important to get the strong and clear sound of each note then to sacrifice technique for potential sloppiness. Guitar finger tapping techniques are only good if you can do them; nothing sounds worse then reaching for a flashy technique and not being able to pull it off. As with everything else you learn on guitar, if you mater a technique on acoustic then you can feel all that more confident trying it on electric.

Playing a difficult and flashy exercise, such as guitar tapping or lightening fast arpeggios, sometimes seem to be easier on an electric; you get-off on the sound you are creating, the noise, but don't catch nuisances or mistakes. Try tapping on an acoustic guitar (or you want a big challenge-try guitar tapping on an acoustic bass!) Guitar finger tapping is hard on an acoustic; cross-handed guitar tapping is almost impossible (it takes a ton of strength and precision), but master guitar tapping on an acoustic and you'll find you are that much more prepared for what you might do on your electric.

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Finding the Best Free Guitar Lessons

Are you an aspiring guitar player? If so, did you know that you can find free guitar lessons online? Well, you can, and there are literally thousands of them. Free guitar lessons offering everything from holding a pick and learning chords, to music theory, solos, licks and songs are there for the taking. Free guitar lessons are a great way to improve your skills and techniques.

The best part about online guitar lessons is that you can learn in the comfort and privacy of your own home - no traveling, no waiting, no cancellations and of course as many reruns as you want. There are so many videos and blogs posted online, if you are dissatisfied with the first ones you try, don't worry there are hundreds more to choose from.

Whatever you wish to learn, there will be something useful found online. Whether it's finger tapping, increasing dexterity or pick speed, inverted chords or harmonics, guitar lessons online will guide you through the techniques in a clear step-by-step manner. No panic if you didn't catch it the first time, simply play it again.

If you are an acoustic guitarist, you can get video tutorials on how to play the guitar with the Travis picking method (alternating bass, finger-style method), or a quick lesson in arpeggiating chords. If you play the electric guitar, you might be interested in learning how to sweep pick, or produce false harmonics. Chances are, there will be a free guitar lesson online somewhere, no matter what your skill level.

If, however, you are a complete beginner there are unlimited opportunities online to learn for free. Start with the fundamentals and take it from there.

So, you can be sure that there is always something new to learn when playing the guitar, whether you're a total newbie or an old hand. Chords, licks, solos, tablature, theory, tone, effects pedals, tuning, strumming styles and many, many more - you name it, you will find it online.

Just a word of warning though, there is also a plethora of rubbish out there and it's important to be able to sort the good from the bad, or more importantly, the right from the wrong. I've seen so many free guitar lessons that demonstrate the completely wrong thing. They should come with a warning label stating something like - "This is exactly what not to do".

So how can you find out who the good guys are and whom you should be listening to? Well, I would look for those teachers who have a guitar course or a handful of lessons that are paid for. The reason for this is, most of these guys put their best stuff into the free lessons in the hope that you buy into their course. Nothing wrong with that, its business 101, but finding these free gems can teach you a hell of a lot of neat tricks and all before you think of spending any of your hard earned cash.

Check out the guitar forums and see where people are going, whom they're talking about and who's providing valuable content. People flock to stuff that's good and they've probably already done much of the hard work for you by researching several possibilities. Get started with some free guitar lessons, but don't restrict yourself to just one online source - look around.

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Finger Tapping On Guitar - Best Lead Guitar Tips!

Finger tapping on the guitar is mostly used for lead playing. While this technique can be done on acoustic, it is more prevalent for electric guitar players. Some of the most recognized guitar players that use tapping technique include: Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and Kirk Hammett. Acoustically, you'll hear the magic of this technique, and often percussive style playing, amongst guys like Andy Mckee and Erik Mongrain. So, what exactly is finger tapping? Also known as guitar tapping, this style of playing employs the picking hand finger(s) which tap the desired note(s). By using this technique, players are able to more easily play wide interval guitar licks, play at faster speeds, and create new musical ideas. Here are some tips:

• Practice with scales
• Practice with arpeggios
• Practice with exercises
• Tap at the end of the desired fret(s)
• Work on eighth note, triplet, and sixteenth note rhythms
• Learn songs with basic finger tapping to start
• When you're ready and more accomplished, try to tackle "Eruption" by Eddie Van Halen!

How can you improve your lead guitar playing? There are many ways. The first thing I recommend is learning a variety of scales and modes. Some of the most popular scales include pentatonic, major and minor, chromatic, and modes of the major scale. Practice these scales over chord progressions and make up leads/solos. Without sounding like a robot, make sure to add in your techniques, such as bending, vibrato, trilling, and of course, tapping! Have fun practicing these ideas, and best of luck!

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Learning Tapping Techniques For Electric Guitar

Learning tapping techniques for the electric guitar is something that most beginners will want to do. It is a guitar playing skill that came to prominence with the debut of Van Halen in the late 1970s. It was the insane soloing of Eddie Van Halen that really brought the concept to the attention of generations of guitar players around the world, and it has since been incorporated into rock guitar playing as a regularly used and very effective trick. It shouldn't be overused though, as that both sounds dull and also destroys a little of the entertainment and mystique of the technique.

You will find that learning tapping techniques for electric guitar is easy to start off with (I actually discovered how to do it myself by accident, then looked around to learn more). Basically, it is the practice of using hammer-ons and pull-offs to create notes rather than picking a fretted note. Both hands are up on the fretboard, and done properly, it can give the sound of a great many more notes being played than actual physical movement.

It's a fun thing to do, and placed right it can sound really superb. So exactly how do you start? Well, there are any number of guitar lessons on tapping techniques out there, but you will find a good simple way to begin is just to focus on your top E string.

Okay - first of all you need to place your first finger on the fourth fret and your ring finger on the seventh. Perform some hammer-ons in this position. Then, between each movement of your left hand, take a finger from your right (I use my middle finger usually, as I'm generally still holding my pick) and play two notes by hammering the string on the 9th fret and pulling off. This creates five notes when you have moved your fingers twice (hammer on/pull off/hammer on with the fretting hand and hammer on/pull off with the picking hand).

This is a very, very basic way to start to learn tapping techniques for electric guitar, but once you have the hang of it you can start to experiment with including more strings and exploring the frets for beautiful runs of notes. Tapping is all about creating more notes while actually moving your hands less. This technique then creates a wonderfully fluid sound that can be a gorgeous embellishment to any guitar solo.

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Finger Tapping on Guitar

Finger tapping on guitar is a great way to get some cool sounds from your guitar it is a modern technique and is used a lot today. This technique is utilized by numerous players one main one is Eddie Van Halen. He uses this concept very well. Finger tapping is performed without using a pick. Instead, it is done by tapping the strings on your guitar using both hands in the process.

One handing finger tapping

Get hold of your picking hand then reach over to the fret board, have your eyes set on one particular string then simply tap the string then simply brush it downwards making a sound.

Two handed finger tapping

Two finger tapping is more difficult than one finger tapping because you have to use two fingers in coordination with each other and you have to get the timing right. However, with practice you shall get better and coordination won't be such a problem. First of all, with your fretting hand, just simply pick a single note on any string, keep your finger on it but don't play it. Now using your would be picking hand, simply pick a different note on the same string as your fretting hand. Tap the string hard and then brush it downwards using the flesh of your finger then release, hence making a sound. After this the note played by your fretting hand is immediately sounded. When you pick a note with one hand make sure that it is within the same scale as the other note that is played. This happens very quickly. Repeat this action and as soon as you have done it accurately then increase the speed.

As soon as you have mastered this then try moving your fretting hand to play another note including playing the first part and take in turn with each hand changing the note. This will give you a longer riff to play and make it sound a bit more interesting.

Keep practicing this until you get the coordination right as it takes time for your muscles to get used to it. You will eventually develop muscle memory and will then appear easier for you and not much thought is required. As soon as it appears easy try increasing the amount of notes adding one more note each time. Eventually try playing up the guitar using all 6 strings. Feel free to add some distortion to the sound and why not use some reverb it will make you sound like a cool guitarist. Keep practicing every day trying different notes. You will find yourself creating your own licks and riffs in no time.

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Simple Guitar Finger Tapping Tips

Finger tapping is a great way to play like Van Halen- seriously! Although he never invented it, he made it famous through a rock masterpiece entitled "Eruption." Guitar finger tapping involves rapidly tapping the finger board with your plucking hand while you're fretting hand is busy with rapid series of hammer-ons. Word of warning though, you need to play this with slower tempo before building up your speed.

There are different ways on how to play guitar finger tapping, but this is one is the most important: clean up your tones. You need to mute all the extra strings before tapping. Forgetting to do so will create unnecessary noise pulsating through your speakers; coupled with the overdrive cranking up your sound and what you have is total disaster. In order to mute the open strings, place your arms along the guitar's body. If you are not comfortable with this, wrap a rubber band around the first fret. What is important is to mute the open strings in order to lessen the distortion.

Your plucking thumb should be on top of the neck-anchoring the rest of the fingers so that they will stay in place. To keep your rhythm in-check, play with a metronome. Initially set it on the slowest tempo and climb your way up to the quicker pace.

It is much easier to tap with your middle finger. Don't get into trouble of hiding your pick just to tap with your index. It's just a waste of time. So, with those in mind try these exercises and bring your guitar playing to the next level.

On the highest E-string, place your index fretting finger on the 5th fret and your ring fretting finger on the 8th fret. Next, tap the 12th fret higher E-string with your middle plucking finger. Tap it really hard in order to bring out the sound before dong a downward motion (v). The last step is to pull-off the ring finger from the 8th with a downward motion (V). To begin the next cycle, perform a hammer-on with your ring finger.

One you've had enough practice, try a two-hand tapping-where the left hand plays the bass notes while your right hand gives out the melody. This technique is similar with playing a piano.

For more reference about finger tapping, you may want to listen to different guitarists like: Kirk Hamett's solo in Metallica's album, "...And Justice For All"; Joe Satriani's "Surfing with The Alien"; Diamond Head's "Am I Evil"; Steve Hackett in "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight" and any solos by Steve Vai.

Developing a finger tapping skill requires constant practice and finger strength. Don't be discouraged if you are not seeing any improvement.

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