Tapping: Tapping, also called right hand fretting, is a technique in which the right hand reaches over the fretboard to strike the strings against the fretboard. The force of the string hitting the fret causes the tapped notes to vibrate, just as with a left hand hammer-on. Tapped notes in the right hand are typically combined with left hand pull-offs and hammer-ons to create fast, flowing patterns that would be difficult or impossible to play otherwise. By combining both hands and mixing open string notes, complex patterns can be created without any complicated finger gymnastics in either hand. Because the strings never need to be plucked when tapping, hammering, and pulling, the coordination typically required when picking notes is eliminated.
Most tapping licks are pattern oriented - they typically involve simple repeated fingering patterns moved across the strings to different fret positions. In the examples below, the letter "T" is used to indicate a note tapped by the right hand. The letter "P" indicates a pull-off, and the letter "H" indicates a left hand hammer on.
In the following solo, only two patterns are used: T P H H (right hand taps then pulls off, then two fingers in the left hand hammer-on), and T P P P (right hand taps then pulls off, then two fingers in the left hand pull-off). Very simple stuff to play, but it sounds incredible!
Tapping Solo #2 (high quality, downloadable pdf file of the music below - right click with the mouse to save this music to your hard drive).
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