Tapping
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- This article is about the music technique. For other uses, see Tapping (disambiguation)
Tapping (also known as "fingertapping") is a playing technique generally associated with electric guitar (though the technique may be performed on any string instrument). It is executed by using the fingers of the picking hand to tap the strings against the fingerboard, sounding notes.
Tapping usually incorporates pull-offs as well, where the finger that just tapped the fingerboard to sound a note is then swept off with enough lateral motion to sound that same string again — this time on a lower note than the tap (fretted by another finger before the pull-off, or simply left open).
The Chapman Stick is an instrument built exclusively for tapping. The Warr guitar is also built for tapping, though not exclusively. Both instruments use lower string tension and low action to increase the string's sensitivity to lighter tapping.
There are two main methods of tapping: one-handed or "ordinary" tapping, and two-handed tapping.
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One-handed
One-handed tapping, performed in conjunction with normal fingering by the fret hand, facilitates the construction of note intervals that would otherwise be impossible using the fretting hand alone. It is often used as a special effect during a solo. With the electric guitar, in this situation the guitar tone is usually "overdriven" or distorted, so the influence that this method has on dynamics is rather small. The player should focus on cutting unnecessary noise during the tapping. Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen are rock musicians who employ this technique.
Two-handed
Also known as a hammer-on, two-handed tapping can be utilized to play polyphonic and homophonic music on a guitar by using eight (and even nine) fingers. For example, the right hand plays the treble melody while the left hand plays an accompaniment. Therefore, it is possible to produce music written for a keyboard instrument, such as J.S. Bach's "Two-part Invention".
The method increases the flexibility of the instrument, in that it makes it possible to play more types of music on a guitar. The main disadvantage is the lack of change of timbre. As it produces a "clean tone" effect, and since the first note usually sounds the loudest (unwanted in some music like jazz), dynamics are a main concern with this technique.
Eddie Van Halen incorporated this technique into modern rock guitar with the solo from "Judgement Day", and patented a pop-out stand to use to employ this technique.
A related technique is "tapped harmonics", where the fret hand acts as a barre, while the harmonic is tapped. Eddie van Halen does this in the acoustic guitar solo "Spanish Fly".
Stanley Jordan uses a style similar to tapping called "touch guitar", where the pick hand is used to play lead while rhythm is played simultaneously with the fret hand.
History
The practice of tapping has existed in some form or another for centuries. Paganini utilized similar techniques on violin. Another similar technique, called selpe, is used in Turkish folk music on the instrument called the bağlama.
Credit for the first application of this classical technique to popular music may most accurately be given to Steve Hackett of Genesis, who used the technique both live and in recordings in the early 1970s.
Perhaps the most famous employment of tapping is the short piece "Eruption" on the first Van Halen album, which features very fast tapping triads and formed the blueprint of heavy metal lead playing throughout the 1980s.
During the 1980s two-handed tapping developed much further with players such as Nuno Bettencourt and Steve Vai using multiple strings and fingers to stretch over multiple octaves.
Even in the '80s hair metal in which tapping had its heyday, tapping on the bass guitar was rarely heard, the most famous practitioners being Billy Sheehan and Stu Hamm.
Michael Manring brought the technique to New Age music in his early recordings with Windham Hill.
More examples
Ace Frehley of KISS used tapping on solos before Van Halen's debut, as has Angus Young, although he usually does one-handed tapping (such as at the end of the solo to "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" and in "Baby, Please Don't Go", both of which are viewable on the Family Jewels DVD.).
Another example recorded before Van Halen's debut is on Orchestra Luna's only album Orchestra Luna, on the outro to "Doris Dreams". Randy Roos is the guitar player.
Brian May of the British band Queen employed tapping in may songs including "Cyborg" on his solo album Another World. This style of playing can be seen in the 1975 Bohemian Rhapsody promotional video.
Dream Theater bassist John Myung frequently uses this technique on bass guitar.
A outstanding master employing exclusively this technique to an original blend of mainstream jazz, Turkish, Uzbek and Balkan folk music and classical music is Enver Izmailov.
Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist Randy Rhoads applied tapping to some of his guitar solos. Some of these include Flying High Again off of the second album he wrote with Ozzy Osbourne, Diary of a Madman. Another occasion when he used tapping in a solo with Ozzy was on the famous Crazy Train solo off of Osbourne's first solo album, Blizzard of Oz.
Ilusive's guitarist Ell Stone employed tapping in the solo of Path Of Destruction.
Billy Sheehan, endorsed by Yamaha (like John Myung), who is also one the best players ever, uses extreme speed, multi-finger tapping in a large number of his solos. He has played alongside huge names, like Steve Vai, David Lee Roth, Paul Gilbert etc.
Another important Tapping Guitarist In the European Continent is Carlos Vamos.He combines the tapping style in the tradition of Stanley Jordan with the use of delays and loops. He has recorded with Stanley Jordan, Michael Manring, Justin King and Jan Akkerman.
Modern bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan often use an extreme form of tapping. This form can be found in many of their songs, good example of which can be heard at the beginning of their debut album Calculating Infinity where the guitar players use fingertap with 3 fingers on each hand.
External links
- Starting touch guitar, by Stanley Jordan
- Website for tapping guitarist T.J. Helmerich, includes 8-finger tapping lesson with T.J.'s solos.
- Finger Tapping Guitar Lesson Beginner
- Free Guitar Lessons Lessons, including tapping/touchstyle ("Etude for Touchstyle", plus Batten style lesson).
- Bob Zabek plays unique complex tapping stuff and dirty blues-rock
- Adam FularaYoung two-handed tapper from Poland, plays J.S.Bach (BWV848 Prelude, BWV988) and jazz improvisation.
- Animated Tapping Example Tapping lesson with animation and sound.
- JFRocks.com offers online video guitar lessons on various styles and techniques of playing, including great lessons on the style of Eddie Van Halen. Site is updated weekly also see jfrtech.com and vinheuton.com