Tapping means fretting a note with your picking hand. In the tab every tap is written as a hammer-on: in 12h17p12p8 on the B string, the jump to fret 17 is a right-hand tap, not a left-hand hammer-on. Everything here is on the B string in E minor.
How to tap
- Hold the pick between thumb and index, and tap with your middle finger. Rest your thumb on the top edge of the neck for support.
- Tap hard and right behind the fret, then pull off slightly downward toward the floor so the string snaps to the fretted note.
- Left hand: index on fret 8, pinky on fret 12. After the left hand pulls off from 12 to 8, it hammers 12 again to start the next group. In the tab these fret-12 notes look like plain notes: pick the first one, and in exercise 1 pick each one after a rest.
The pattern spells a chord: B, E, B, G is E minor. In exercise 3 only the tap moves (17 for Em, 15 for G), then the left hand moves to frets 7 and 10 for D.
Most common mistake: noise from other strings. Lay your left-hand index lightly across the higher and lower strings, and rest your picking palm on the low strings.
Practice exercise 1 slowly, focusing on an even, loud tap.