Guitar Techniques II - Fingertapping

Michael Johnson >> Guitar Techniques II >>


Teacher: Welcome class to the series on Guitar Techniques. In this lesson we'll cover Finger tapping. Many rock guitarists believe Eddie Van Halen was the originator of the technique, however this technique was introduced by classical players. Some of the early blues masters used this technique at times. For rock recordings you can even hear Billy Gibbons use this technique in his early recordings. Eddie Van Halen perfected the technique as you very well know. Let's get started with the basic technique variations. Here's the first sample. Part 1 - Basic Fingertap 1 Part 1 - Basic Fingertap 1b Teacher: Since you are using your picking hand for the tapping note you need to either tuck your pick under the first finger. That way you can grab the pick quickly to strum notes. You can pick the 1st note with your fingernail or hammer with the fret hand. Here's the next finger tap sample. Part 1 - Basic Fingertap 2 Part 1 - Basic Fingertap 2 Teacher: This example starts with the finger tap and then uses a pull-off sequence. Here's another variation. Part 1 - Basic Fingertap 3 Part 1 - Basic Fingertap 3 Teacher: In this example you have to first pick with your fingernail or strike the string and use a hammer to the other notes. Here's the next technique. Part 1 - Basic Fingertap 4 Part 1 - Basic Fingertap 4 sammy_andrews: does it matter which finger you tap with? Teacher: Sam, I use my 2nd finger to tap usually, this way I can tuck the pick under the 1st finger. However you can use the other fingers to tap as well. Bill: are you pulling off the string with the tapping finger. Teacher: Bill, pull-offs and hammer-ons are very important for using finger-tapping. You'll notice these combinations throughout all the examples except a few licks. Here's the next variation. Part 1 - Basic Fingertap 5 Part 1 - Basic Fingertap 5 Teacher: In this sample you bend the note one whole-step and tap holding the note. You can vibrato using the fret hand as well. Here's the next technique. Part 1 - Basic Harmonic Fingertap 6 Part 1 - Basic Fingertap 6 Teacher: We cover tapping harmonics in the last lesson. Try combining techniques. Here's the last variation. Part 1 - Basic Fingertap Slide 7 Part 1 - Basic Fingertap 7 Teacher: This technique actually slide the finger-tap note. OK, let's get into using this technique with scales. Most of these samples will use the A Minor Pentatonic scale. Part 2 - Fingertap Scales 1 Part 2 - Fingertap Scales 1 Teacher: In this technique you use the A Minor Pentatonic notes on the single-string G. You start with a hammer-on in the scale pattern, and then fingertap and pull-off while ascending notes related to the scale. Here's the next example. Part 2 - Fingertap Scales 2 Part 2 - Fingertap Scales 2 Teacher: This technique starts with the fingertap, pull-off, hammer-on, tap and pull-off. Notice the fingertap notes ascend the related notes of the A Minor Pentatonic scale pattern. Here's another example using scales. Part 2 - Fingertap Scales 3 Part 2 - Fingertap Scales 3 Teacher: This example ascends the scale pattern using both the fingertap and fret hand. As you can see there are so many variations you can try. Try this technique using other scales as well. Now you can use the A Minor Pentatonic on the other strings as well. Part 2 - Fingertap Scales 4 Part 2 - Fingertap Scales 4 Teacher: In this example you use two A Minor Pentatonic scale patterns combined. Here's the 2 patterns. A Minor Pentatonic - 2 Box Patterns Teacher: You can see by the patterns how they are connected. You tap the higher notes. Let's try a few licks. Part 3 - Fingertap Riff 1 Part 3 - Fingertap Riff 1 Teacher: In this lick you play a basic blues solo and add the fingertap after you bend the note on the 3rd string. Notice the vibrato after the note is played. You can also fingertap using open strings and octave notes. Here's an example. Part 3 - Fingertap Riff 2 Part 3 - Fingertap Riff 2 Teacher: OK, here's what some of you are waiting for, a series of Van Halen licks. Part 3 - Fingertap Riff 3 Part 3 - Fingertap Riff 3 Teacher: Each tapping note uses a pull-off and then you hammer when playing from the 1st to 4th string, this sequence of notes will take a while, notice you start out with a C#m triad, and then adjusts as you ascend the scale pattern. Notice how the tapping finger will move first, and then the hand moves. This combination creates a very cool classical sound. jotajota: Thanks for the lesson, very good, keep rocking, when can i get another lesson sammy_andrews: good lesson...takes some practice for me though :) Willka: Thank you teach jotajota: thanks Teacher: Thank you and see you next lesson!	<< load notation from left
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