Welcome to Gaia! ::

ok.

my advice for tpping:


start with a high gain ( this is best)

using either your middle or index finger (whichever is strongest). tap the string hard. what most people don't do is you don't just let go, you pull your finger off. so it's a pull of. you're SORTA hitting the string when you let go. repeat for your fretting fingers.

so it's tap finger (pull off) fret fingers ( 2 pulloffs)

i can tap with the best of them. ( see my youtube vids)

but i dislike tapping, it seems like you're just trying to be flashy and show off.

A couple words of advice:

1. No disrespect, but I disagree with the above comment that you want to start with high gain. Distortion covers incompotence. Thus, you want to start out with a totally clean channel and no reverb. With this setup you will know if you are sounding each note cleanly.

2. All tapping is, is playing arpeggios using your fingers to sound the individual notes. So find a set of three notes that sound good together and play them on one string by tapping.

3. You never mentioned if you know the mechanics of tapping so I am going to VERY briefly explain the basics of the most commonly used form of tapping. First you fret a string (let's use the the high e string on the 7th fret) with your left hand pointer finger. Second, using your right hand pointer finger, you hammer down on the same string at a location higher on the neck (let's say the 15th fret on the high e string). Immediately after you hammer on, using that same finger, pull off so that the note you are holding with your left hand is sounded. Finally, using your pinky on your left hand, hammer on to a third note (let's say the 10th fret on the high e string). Then you repeat the pattern in the following form: Pull, Hammer, Hammer, Pull, Hammer, Hammer, etc. Remember, you never move your left hand pointer (in this form), you only hammer and pull with your right hand pointer, and hammer with your left hand pinky. Those are the basics of one of the easiest and most used forms of tapping.

4. Once you have the basic mechanics down, get a metronome and start it going really slow. In time with the ticking, slowly practice your, Pull, hammer, hammer, pattern until you can do it flawlessly at that speed. Then speed up the metronome and do it there until you do it flawlessly. Repeat and continue to increase the speed until you can do it at lightning speeds. BTW, this form of practicing new stuff is what Yngvie Malmsteed does and it keeps you from thinking you can play a lick, but really just slopping through it.

I hope this is helpful! =)

Yeah, i figured you knew what you were doing, never questioned that. I've just had so many guitar students work on a lick, scale, tapping, or whatever at home with the distortion raging and come into a lesson and play it totally sloppy joe. Then they wonder why they can't hit the notes, when they never could in the first place, it was just so gain intensive you couldn't tell it, lol.

one of my favorites is this one, try it slow then speed it up some
e|----t12-8-5--
B|--------------
G|--------------
D|--------------
A|--------------
E|--------------

i was really bad but i learned from a friend and it came naturally i can playing the tapping part of the solo in Crazy Train