Tapping involves placing both hands on the fingerboard. For those whose picking hand has been exiled to strumming, this will be new for you. On an electric guitar the amplifier makes it possible to play very lightly and have the notes heard clearly, something that is impossible on an acoustic guitar. On the electric guitar, you can use the four fingers on your picking hand to play notes on the fingerboard. The amplifier eliminates the need for picking and frees the other hand to join in the fun. Tapping enables you to play things that just aren't possible with a pick technique. Your two hands can be separated at either extreme of the neck and you can play rapid-fire licks that sound as though you've jumped up and down the neck rapidly, even though you haven't moved at all.

Let's begin with a very simple example of a tap. FIGURE 12-1 doesn't involve tapping at all; it's just a hammer-on between the first finger and the pinkie, and gets you ready for the tap.

Now replace the pinkie with a tapped finger from your picking hand (right hand for right-handed player, left for left-handed). Most players tap with their index finger, although the middle also works well. Experiment to see what works best for you. Some players tap with their middle finger so that they don't have to drop their pick while tapping. If you opt for the index finger, you'll have to switch the pick to another finger while you tap.

In FIGURE 12-2, you replace the pinkie with whichever tapping finger you choose. Reach up with your picking hand, place it alongside your other hand, and use a finger from your picking hand to replace the pinkie.

In the music, the notes that are tapped are marked with a + sign, so you can easily see what to tap. Treat the tap as you do any other hammer-on — hammer down hard to make the note sound right. If you've never tapped, it may take you a while to get used to using your fingers this way and to get used to the new sensation in your picking-hand fingertips.

Tap Pull-Offs

You can also pull-off with your tapped finger to keep the string “alive.” This is especially useful when you loop a small lick over and over again. To pull-off, after you finish the tap, pull away from the string with a slight downward motion just as you did with a normal fret-board pull-off. Pull-offs help articulate the note and make it sound clearer; they also give the next note on the lick (usually a normally fretted note) some volume. If you just let your finger leave the string, there's no energy to make the next note sound, and since you're tapping, you really can't pick in between. Pull-offs are vital to tapping. The harder you pull-off, the more accent you give the next note.

Tap Benefits

Tapping gives you certain advantages that you can't accomplish any other way. In FIGURE 12-2, you went back and forth between the first finger and the pinkie. Normally, the pinkie is a weak finger and unless you've spent a lot of time developing its muscles, you won't be able to hammer-on very fast or hard. By replacing the weak pinkie with a strong index finger from the other hand, you can achieve greater speed and flexibility. Tapping also gives you the ability to play wide intervals smoothly. When you jump around the neck, it can be a real challenge to connect the notes smoothly, especially when shifting. But by using two hands, you can reach notes that are far apart, like the ones in FIGURE 12-3. This line would be very difficult to play if it weren't tapped.

Another great perk with tapping is that you gain extra fingers. You're no longer limited to four fingers; you can easily add a fifth or more.

Guitarist Stanley Jordan is one of the first to take tapping and apply it to chordal playing. He uses all eight fingers to tap with, which sounds as though several guitarists are playing at once.