There are two main methods of tapping: one-handed or 'ordinary' tapping, and two-handed tapping.
Hence, tapping usually incorporates pull-offs or hammer-ons as well, whereby the fingers of the left hand play a sequence of notes in synchronisation with the tapping hand.
With the electric guitar, in this situation the output tone itself is usually overdriven although it is possible to tap acoustically with drive serving as a boost to further amplify the non-picked (and thus naturally weaker) legato notes being played. Because of the amount of distortion generally present, the player should also focus on reducing unnecessary noise during tapping; for instance, by using the palm of the tapping hand to mute any open strings that might otherwise ring out.
The most common one involves rapidly repeated triplets played at a rate of sixteenth notes, using the following sequence: Tap pull-off pull-off In this case, the right hand index or middle finger sounds the first note on a string by sharply hammering onto it once, then pulling off (often with a slight, sideways 'flicking' movement so as to strengthen the note) to a lower note held by one of the left hand fingers, that of which is then finally pulled off to the last note held by another left hand finger. From there, the cycle is repeated. If one breaks that down even further, the very first part can be seen as the actual 'tapping' motion itself, whereas the second part involving the left hand acts as a way of embellishing the passage with additional notes; which, overall, could be considered an extended trill. The overall aim is to maintain fluidity and synchronisation between all the notes, especially when played at speed, which can take some practice to master.
Tapping techniques and solos on various stringed acoustic instruments such as the Banjo have been documented in early film, records, and performances throughout the early 20th century. The clavichord was an early acoustic keyboard instrument that used a mechanical hammer to "fret" a string for each key. It was followed by an amplified version, the Hohner Clavinet in 1968.
Two examples of Hackett's complex tapping can be heard on the song "Supper's Ready", from 1972, and "The Return of the Giant Hogweed", from 1971. Harvey Mandel, well-known for his psychedelic guitar playing, also employed 2-handed fretboard tapping in the 1960s. Mandel was one of the first rock guitarists to utilize this technique, years before Eddie Van Halen and Stanley Jordan first appeared.
The technique would remain a part of Frehley's solos from 1977 through the Kiss reunion during "Shock Me".Various other guitarists such as Frank Zappa, Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top, Brian May from Queen, Duane Allman [2] from the The Allman Brothers Band and Leslie West from Mountain were using the tapping technique in the early 1970s as well. Ace Frehley and Frank Zappa used a guitar pick for their style of tapping.
Artists such as Don Caballero and Maps & Atlases, for example, both employ extensive and intricate tapping pulling from many different areas of the technique.
Source: Wikipedia > Tapping
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