Tapping

Tapping means fretting notes with your picking hand, and it opens up wide, fast arpeggios that would be impossible with one hand alone. It's the sound of eighties rock and shred guitar, and it's easier to start than it looks. This chapter teaches you how to tap on guitar step by step, keeping the pick in your hand and tapping with your middle finger.

You'll begin with single taps on the B string in E minor: tap hard right behind the fret, then pull off with a slight downward flick so the fretted note speaks. Then you'll learn the classic tap-pull-hammer triplet, three notes per beat on one string without picking, and move it through Em, C and D. Next come tapped arpeggios across two strings in A minor, walking through Am, F, G and an E major bar for a harmonic-minor flavor. The last lesson gives you tapping licks from beginner to advanced.

Each guitar tapping exercise plays in your browser with a click. Start slowly: an even, clean ripple matters far more than speed.