Modern rock: Two-hand tapping

For two hand tapping TABS click here

For audio examples of two hand tapping click here

What is it? An extension of legato technique, using both hands on the fretboard to sound notes with hammer-ons and pull-offs.

Pros: Often the easiest way to play at high speed; big intervals are as easy to play as small intervals; looks flashy!

Cons: Can sound cliched - especially when played for long lengths of time.

Advocates: Eddie Van Halen, George Lynch (Dokken), Jennifer Batten (Michael Jackson band).

Example 1: Single-string tapping

This type of triplet (ie, three notes per beat) tapping is responsible for countless 80s rock solos. Although some players ditch the pick (put in the mouth, stick to the forehead, throw to the screaming audience ...), most will tap with the second finger on the picking hand while holding the pick, so tapping with sweeping licks are easier to perform. The first three notes here (tap, pull-off, hammer-on) shouldn't take too long to master, but watch that all notes are sounded evenly and in time. Tip: rest your picking hand's palm on the lower strings so the hand is stabilised and the lower strings are muted.

Example 2: Single string tapping, variation 2

This one is more akin to the patterns covered in the legato section, except that the picking hand tap adds a note into the equation for a longer scalic line.

Example 3: One tap, one pull-off

This is quite a classical-sounding example, as a high E tap is alternated with a fretting hand pull-off. This two-note pattern is thrown by the triplet rhythm. Rhythmic displacement such as this is a rock guitarist's trick to get more mileage out of several repeating notes.

Example 4: Minor pentatonic tapping

This is what can result if the popular A-minor pentatonic, shape 1, is used in tandem with a picking hand tap at a higher fret (here, the 12th fret). By planting each hand in a particular zone on the fretboard, note choice is selected by moving across strings rather than travelling up and down one string only.