Why Learn Tapping?
Tapping opens up intervals that are physically impossible with standard fretting. By adding your picking hand to the fretboard, you can play wide-stretch arpeggios, rapid scalar runs, and piano-like passages that would require superhuman stretches with one hand alone.
Beyond the "shred" applications, tapping is used tastefully in blues, jazz, acoustic, and pop guitar. It's about having another tool in your expression toolkit.
Basic Tapping Mechanics
- Tap: Hammer your picking-hand finger firmly onto a fret — the force produces the note
- Pull-off: Pull your tapping finger off and slightly downward to sound the next note (held by fretting hand)
- Hammer-on: Your fretting hand hammers onto the next note in the sequence
The basic cycle: Tap → Pull-off → Hammer-on → repeat.
Exercise 1: Basic Tap-Pull-Hammer Pattern
The classic Eddie Van Halen-style pattern on one string:
e|--T12-p5-h8--T12-p5-h8--T12-p5-h8--T12-p5-h8--| B|--------------------------------------------------| G|--------------------------------------------------| D|--------------------------------------------------| A|--------------------------------------------------| E|--------------------------------------------------| T = tap with picking hand p = pull-off h = hammer-on
Start at 60 BPM — each group of three notes = one triplet beat.
Exercise 2: Moving the Tap Note
Keep the fretting hand static while the tap note creates a melody:
e|--T12-p5-h8--T13-p5-h8--T15-p5-h8--T17-p5-h8--| B|--------------------------------------------------| G|--------------------------------------------------| Tap notes: 12, 13, 15, 17 (ascending melody)
Exercise 3: Tapping Across Strings
Apply the tap-pull-hammer pattern across multiple strings for an arpeggio effect:
e|--T12-p5-h8---------------------------------| B|-------------T12-p5-h8----------------------| G|--------------------------T12-p5-h9---------| D|--------------------------------------T12-p5-h7--| Am arpeggio shape with tapping
Exercise 4: String Skipping Taps
Skip strings for dramatic interval leaps:
e|--T12-p5-h8---------T12-p5-h8---------| B|-----------------------------------------| G|-------------T11-p4-h7------------------| D|-----------------------------------------| A|--------------------------T12-p5-h7-----|
Use these positions to create tapping patterns within the minor pentatonic framework.
Open in full appMuting Strategies
| Technique | How It Works |
|---|---|
| Fretting hand muting | Rest unused fingers lightly across lower strings |
| Pick-hand palm | Rest palm edge on strings you're not tapping |
| Hair tie / fret wrap | Place near nut to dampen open string resonance |
| Pull-off direction | Pull slightly downward — never straight up or outward |
Common Tapping Mistakes
- Tapping too softly: Hit the fret firmly and accurately — halfway between frets won't sound clean
- Pulling off wrong direction: Pull down (toward the floor) not up or away from the neck
- Ignoring muting: The biggest difference between clean and messy tapping is noise control
- Rushing: Keep strict time with a metronome — tapping tends to speed up unevenly
Next Steps
Once basic single-string tapping is clean, explore multi-finger tapping (using index and middle finger of the picking hand) and arpeggio-based tapping patterns. Combine tapping with legato technique for seamless fluid passages.