Six Strings
In this section: Techniques
Techniques

Tapping

A finger of your picking hand hammers the string onto the fretboard, like a hammer-on, then pulls off to sound the note held by your fretting hand. You link notes that are far apart, fast, with no pick attack.

Notation
t before the tapped note, then p and h (t12p5h8)
Hand
Both hands
Difficulty
Advanced
Style
Rock, metal, fusion

Listen

e|-------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-t12p5h8-t12p5h8-t12p5h8-t12p5h8-t12p5h8-t12p5h8-t12p5h8-t12-|
G|-------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-------------------------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------------|

What it’s for

With tapping, your picking hand leaves its usual spot over the pickups or the soundhole and plays on the neck. It adds a high note far from your fretting hand: seven frets away, sometimes more, a stretch no single hand can cover. The notes run together without any pick attack, slurred, in a cascade. It sounds fluid and fast, almost like a keyboard.

Eddie Van Halen made it famous in 1978 with “Eruption,” and a whole generation of hard rock and metal players ran with it. Stanley Jordan took it somewhere else entirely, in jazz, tapping with both hands like a pianist. And on acoustic guitar, percussive fingerstyle players use it to play melody and bass at the same time.

How to do it

The example at the top of the page, on the B string: your picking hand taps the 12th fret, your fretting hand holds the 5th and hammers the 8th.

  1. Put your fretting-hand index finger on the 5th fret of the B string, and keep your ring finger ready above the 8th fret.
  2. Keep the pick between your thumb and index finger and tap with your middle finger: you can go straight back to picking without changing your grip. Another option is to tuck the pick into your palm with a curled finger.
  3. Tap the 12th fret with the tip of your picking-hand middle finger, sharply, right behind the fret, like a hammer-on. The note sounds without any picking.
  4. Pull the string as you leave the fret: your tapping finger catches it and lets it go toward the floor, like a pull-off. That’s what sounds the 5th fret held by your fretting hand.
  5. Hammer the 8th fret with your fretting-hand ring finger, then start again: tap, pull-off, hammer-on. Three notes, one string, no pick attack.
  6. Mute the other strings: the edge of your picking hand rests on the low strings, and the free fingers of your fretting hand cover the high E.
45678910111213EADGBem1abc

Tapping: both hands on the neck

  1. Your fretting index stays down at the 5th fret: that’s the note that rings when your picking-hand finger lets go.
  2. Your ring finger, raised, hammers the 8th fret right after (hammer-on).
  3. Your picking hand’s middle finger (m) taps the 12th fret, then lets go by pulling the string slightly toward the floor, like a pull-off. Keep holding the pick between thumb and index.

Drawn like tab: high E at the top, low E at the bottom.

In tab, the tapped note has a t in front of its number (some tabs put a T above it instead); the rest reads like legato. t12p5h8: tap the 12th fret, pull off to the 5th, hammer the 8th.

Examples

The example at the top of the page loops three notes, B, E and G: an E minor chord spelled out note by note, in triplets, slowly. Seven loops, then the tapped B held out.

At the intermediate level, the loop follows a chord progression in E minor: Em, C, D, Em. The tapped note changes with each chord (12, 13, then 15), and for the D your fretting hand moves up two frets.

e|---------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-t12p5h8-t12p5h8-t13p5h8-t13p5h8-t15p7h10-t15p7h10-t12p5h8-t12-|
G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------|

At the advanced level, each group has four notes, in sixteenths: tap, pull-off, hammer-on, pull-off. And the pattern moves from the B string to the high E, then comes back.

e|-----------------------------------------t12p5h8p5-t12p5h8p5------------t12-|
B|-t12p5h8p5-t12p5h8p5-t13p5h8p5-t13p5h8p5---------------------t15p7h10p7-----|
G|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Licks

A rock lick in A minor: the same triplet pattern works its way down from the high E to the D string, one string at a time, and ends on a tapped A.

Loop it in the Studio →
e|-t12p5h8-t12p5h8---------------------------------------------|
B|-----------------t13p5h8-t13p5h8-----------------------------|
G|---------------------------------t12p5h7-t12p5h7---------t14-|
D|-------------------------------------------------t12p5h7-----|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------------|

A metal lick in E minor: your fretting hand doesn’t move, it holds B and D on the high E string. The tapped note does the moving, up and back down: E, F#, G.

Loop it in the Studio →
e|-t12p7h10p7-t14p7h10p7-t15p7h10p7-t14p7h10p7-t12p7h10p7-t14p7h10p7-t15p7h10p7-t12-|
B|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

A folk lick on acoustic guitar: the open high E string replaces the fretting hand between taps. Em, C, D, Em, and a 12th-fret harmonic to finish.

Loop it in the Studio →
e|-t7p0h3-t7p0h3-t8p0h3-t8p0h3-t10p0h2-t10p0h2-t7p0h3-<12>-|
B|---------------------------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------|

Practice routine

Set your metronome to 50 bpm and play the loop from the example, t12p5h8, one loop per click: the tap on the click, then the two fretting-hand notes. Count “1-2-3” for each loop.

  • When all three notes are the same volume for a full minute, go up 5 bpm.
  • Aim for 120 bpm in triplets.
  • Then move on to four-note groups, t12p5h8p5, in sixteenths: start at 60 bpm, goal 100.

The real test: the tap, the pulled-off note and the hammer-on should all be equally loud. If one fades, slow down.

Common mistakes

The tapped note barely sounds? You’re hitting with the flat pad of your finger, or too far from the fret. Use your fingertip, fast, right behind the fret: speed makes it ring, not force.

The fretting-hand note disappears after the tap? Your tapping finger is leaving the string without pulling it. Catch it slightly and release it toward the floor, like a real pull-off.

The other strings are buzzing? Tapping sets neighboring strings vibrating. Rest the edge of your picking hand on the low strings and the free fingers of your fretting hand on the high ones.

Your rhythm is all over the place? You’re thinking about your fingers instead of the beat. Put the tap on the metronome click and count the notes out loud, three or four per click.

Variations

  • More than one tapped note. Your picking-hand index and middle fingers each tap their own fret: two high notes instead of one, and wider arpeggios.
  • The sliding tap. Once the note is tapped, slide your tapping finger up a fret or two before pulling off: the note rises, like a slide.
  • Tapped harmonics. Hold a note with your fretting hand and tap exactly on the fret wire twelve frets higher, without pressing into the fret: a bell-like harmonic rings out. See natural harmonics.
  • Two-hand tapping. Both hands tap on the neck, no pick: one hand plays the bass, the other the melody.
  • Without the picking hand. Your fretting hand can start a note on its own, with a hammer-on from nowhere: that’s the basis of legato.

Acoustic or electric

On electric guitar, tapping is right at home. A little distortion, or a compressor, helps the notes sustain and evens out the volume between taps and slurs. But distortion also amplifies noise: muting the strings becomes essential.

On acoustic guitar, the strings are heavier and sit higher above the frets: you have to tap harder for the note to sound. It’s mostly used with open strings, like in the folk lick, or in percussive fingerstyle, where tapping mixes with hits on the body.

Going further