Eight Finger Tapping / Piano Tapping
I recently received a question via email on 8 finger tapping and piano tapping. I’ll try to introduce them the best that I can. This topic is very broad and like any other topic entire books can be dedicated to this subject. What I am going to try to do here is introduce what they are and give you a few pointers on my point of view and how I would go about it.
Eight finger tapping and piano tapping are pretty much the same methods. However I am going to classify them as different techniques. I am going to use the term piano tapping as playing the bass line and melody lines at the same time using both hands simultaneously on the fret board of the guitar (as in more melody). I will use the term eight finger tapping to classify using all 8 fingers to tap with. (as in more speedy).
I am sure that since your looking into this topic your already familiar with standard tapping and how it is used with one finger on the fretting hand. There are a lot of possibilities in this itself to explore. Eight finger tapping opens even more of these doors. You are using the four fingers and maybe even the thumb, of your right hand versus a single finger.
One of the big things to get used to is getting your right hand fingers trained for this, if you’re a piano player your at a big advantage already. Bring your right hand over the top of the fret board perpendicular to the neck.
In this lesson introduction I’ll give you a few ideas to warm up on, and get started with – the parts 2, 3 and however long it goes will get more detailed.
Since your already familiar with your scale patterns from your left hand – do the same patterns with your right using each finger to hammer on (tap) the notes
Try Exercise 1 using your right hand only (one finger per fret) repeat down neck
E Chromatic
E——————————————————————————————————12–13–14–15
B———————————————————————————-12–13–14–15——————–
G————————————————————12–13–14–15——————————————
D—————————————–12–13–14–15————————————————————-
A———————-12–13–14–15——————————————————————————–
E—12–13–14–15—————————————————————————————————
Exercise 2
repeat down neck
E Minor Pentatonic
E———————————————————12–15————————————————————
B———————————————–12–15———————————————————————-
G————————————-12—14——————————————————————————-
D—————————12–14——————————————————————————————
A—————-12—14—————————————————————————————————-
E——12—15————————————————————————————————————–
Ok get used to that and now lets integrate both hands tapping. It takes a lot of practice to get your fingers in sync with this guitar theory.
Exercise 3
E———————————— Continue pattern across all stings and then go down the neck
B——————————————————————————————————————————
G——————————————————————————————-5-6-7-8——9-10-11-12—-
D———————————————————–5-6-7-8——9-10-11-12———————————–
A——————————-5-6-7-8——9-10-11-12—————————————————————-
E–5-6-7-8——9-10-11-12———————————————————————————————
L L L L R R R R
Exercise 4
G minor pentatonic – Each played an octave apart
E————————————————————————————————–3–6–15–18
B——————————————————————————-3–6—15–18—————–
G————————————————————–3–5–15–17———————————–
D———————————————3–5–15–17—————————————————-
A————————–3–5—15—17———————————————————————-
E—-3—6——15—18—————————————————————————————
L L R R
Since your playing the notes all sequentially in the examples, this would be along the lines of what I call eight finger tapping. With piano tapping we would take Ex 4 and develop an melody and a bass line out of the scales.
Exercise 5
Piano tapping
G minor pentatonic
I’ll keep it very simple since it is a hard technique to master
The bass line will be a simple root fifth and the melody
will be based on the G minor pentatonic in the 15th fret position. Use your fingers to hammer it on, no picks involved
E——15—15 –18————15–18———————————————–15—-18b—
B———————-15—18———–15—18—————————15–18—————–
G——————————————————-17—-15—17—-15————————–
D———————————————————————————————————-
A——-5———5———–5————-5———5—–5——-5————5——————-
E—3———3———–3————-3———3——-3——-3———3——–3————–
The Low E and A stings are hammered on by the left hand, and the higher frets on the higher strings are hammered on by the right.
If the previous example requires a bit to much dexterity to do at the same time, let’s simplify it a bit for now and just pound the root note for the bass
Exercise 6
(same as above but simplified)
E———15—15 –18————15–18———————————————–15—-18b—
B————————-15—18———–15—18—————————15–18—————–
G———————————————————17—-15—17—-15—————————
D————————————————————————————————————-
A————————————————————————————————————-
E—3———3———–3————-3———3——-3——-3———3——–3—————–
You can also hold chords while piano tapping – in this example I’ll hammer and hold with the left hand a G power chord while doing the same solo lick
Exercise 7
E———15—15 –18————15–18———————————————–15—-18b—
B————————-15—18———–15—18—————————15–18—————–
G——————————————————–17—-15—17—-15—————————-
D————————————————————————————————————-
A—- 5—let ring——————————–5-let ring———————–5—–let ring——
E—–3——————————————–3———————————-3———————
As you can see from the examples you can use piano tapping to do the bass line, chords and melody at the same time. It takes a lot of practice and is one of the hardest styles to get used to. This tutorial was just a primer, I’ll do more in the next couple of days but in the end it is up to you to come up with your own licks and songs. My examples in this lesson were simple but I hope that they gave you an idea to work with.
Summary
- I use the term 8 finger tapping when your running the notes sequentially as in example number 4.
- I use the term piano tapping when doing the chords, bass line and melody at the same time.
- You can integrate all of the tapping styles together Van Halen style one finger, eight finger, piano style to create a melody and a fast flurry of notes.
- Come up with your own ideas, this style is still relatively new and not mainstream. While there are a some good players of this style out there maybe you can come up with something new and be the next big thing.
- Don’t get discouraged it is a very hard technique.
- You do not need a bunch of distortion, in fact it is actually better to do it clean.
Stayed tuned to my site www.taylorsnyderband.com for more examples and lessons on this subject.
I’ll get more into detail on this. As usual if you need specific help feel free to email me:
taylorsnyderband@yahoo.com
© Brad Corpus 2005
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