Finger tapping

[MadGuitarest]

I think finger tapping is what i think it is but if its not that the n whatever but when i play the beggining of thef fast lead that Kirk Hammett from Metallica plays in the song "one", i can tap the fast part but when i put my pedal on i am getting alot of feedback and stuff because its hard keeping my palm to mute the upper strings while i tap the bottom string fast. Its easy to tap but it comes along with the other strings feeding back. anyone have any suggestions?

[jleraan]

Don't bother about palm mute. Just focus on the notes you are going to play, and make sure they sound clean. Start slow, then build up, but don't speed up more than you can handle at a time. Always play it CLEAN. It's all about technique. You might try it without distortion at first.

[Death55]

You could try putting something under the strings at fret one to stop any strings that arent being played from ringing out which is sometimes what i do. I usually use a piece of paper but paper doesnt work too well.
Playing slow and speeding it up slowly will help. It is a matter of making sure your fingers are not smashing the other strings from poor technique. Palm muting is another way but that also has to be practised. When you palm mute try and keep you palm muting hand still when your tapping so it doesnt hit strings as well.

[TheWizard]

Originally posted by Death55
You could try putting something under the strings at fret one to stop any strings that arent being played from ringing out which is sometimes what i do. I usually use a piece of paper but paper doesnt work too well.

hey thats a good idea, lets stop in the middle of a song take out a piece of paper and put it on my strings (unecessary amount of sarcasm)

make sure u have the guitar on the neck pickup, it shouldn't feedback as much

also you shouldn't need to mute the strings for long periods of time while tapping, once you start hearing feedback quickly mute the strings and release if u need to, I don't think ive ever had this problem so sorry if that doesn't help

[finger_cruncher]

Two suggestions...


1: You use too much gain/distortion (which sounds awful too...makes guitars sound like rusty chainsaws).


2: There's a dampening device sold on the internet (in fact, I think it was designed by Angelo, to mute unwanted feedback when performing with his 2-necked guitar) which could probably solve your problem without compromising your sound or effecting regular playing. I've seen it advertised before, but I can't honestly say much about it.

[Death55]

Originally posted by TheWizard
hey thats a good idea, lets stop in the middle of a song take out a piece of paper and put it on my strings (unecessary amount of sarcasm)

Yeah... well it does work. Why not try and shove some paper under the strings half way through a song. It could be a laugh :)

[Azrael]

i know the probelm - i honestly havent found a good way of dampening the strings either when i do 8-finger tapping. if anonye has a good idea let me know. 8-fingertapping is easy on the stick, since there is a dampening device applied to the strings, but on a regular guitar its a pain.
there IS a string dampener, however, that you have to screw onto the headstock. you can lift it up to leave the strings free and lock it so that they are ampened. problem is - when doing tappings with open strings and especially when you have to quicky switch between non-open string tapping and open string tapping, this device is crap aswell.

i was thinking of using my right hand thumb to dampen the strings when doing 8-finger stuff, but that lead to spastic cramps in my right hand *LOL*

[u10ajf]

I think tying a bandana around your fretboard might do the job without looking too stupid. I tend to use socks when I practice but I prefer not to damp at all if I can help it, it feels like cheating. If you're good at yoga sit down and use your foot!

[jleraan]

8-finger tapping? Does that actually have any advantages?

[TommyBoyFury]

Get a good quality fx box, like a POD XT, which has a built in compressor and noise gate. This will give an amazing tone with no feedback, if you tweak it right.

[TommyBoyFury]

Personaly, i have tried 8 finger tapping or rather index, middle and ring finger on my tapping hand. The result was that i did not gain any advantage. having said that, on some vai tapping licks that use multiple strings, making use of the other tapping fingers does seem to make it easyer to reach higher speeds. This is also the technique vai uses. Micheal Romeo and Jennifer Battern tend to make use of multifinger tapping also. PS you could also try tapping with your toes, although iam not sure if it would give you an advantage.

[zepp_rules]

it just takes practice, i used to have that problem, still do to a point.

there are a few things you can do:
1. just work on it, as time goes by it will get cleaner and better

2. for some patterns you can barre your index finger of your left hand across the strings to dampen it. my guitar teacher showed me this. it's really good for switching strings.

3. i wouldn't recommend dampening it with anything other than some fingers. then you don't learn how to avoid the other strings. just go slow. it will come in time

[jleraan]

Originally posted by TommyBoyFury
Personaly, i have tried 8 finger tapping or rather index, middle and ring finger on my tapping hand. The result was that i did not gain any advantage. having said that, on some vai tapping licks that use multiple strings, making use of the other tapping fingers does seem to make it easyer to reach higher speeds. This is also the technique vai uses. Micheal Romeo and Jennifer Battern tend to make use of multifinger tapping also. PS you could also try tapping with your toes, although iam not sure if it would give you an advantage.

I agree that multifinger-tapping is a nice thing. But 8? Well, I could check it out and see what it's good for. I guess there are occasions where it is the best technique.

[deja]

This is not my idea. Just sounded easier then paper stuffed. You could try one of those fuzzy hair scrunches (circular,elastic, holds hair,soft).

Anyway . Just after the method of tapping. Still searching for understanding the notations...

[aiwass]

I agree that multifinger-tapping is a nice thing. But 8? Well, I could check it out and see what it's good for. I guess there are occasions where it is the best technique.

Michael Romeo does not use multi-finger tapping. Jennifer Batten and T.J. Helmerich do, however.

8 finger tapping basically allows you to play a lot of stuff that is impossible with conventional playing. That's all.

[Hootayah]

Guess it's up to me to mention these links again.

Go here:

http://www.guitartricks.com/2000/trick.php?trick_id=1873&s_id=13
http://www.guitartricks.com/2000/trick.php?trick_id=1961&s_id=15
http://www.guitartricks.com/2000/trick.php?trick_id=2059&s_id=16
http://www.guitartricks.com/2000/trick.php?trick_id=2484&s_id=21

All you ever wanted to know about tapping including 4 finger, 8 finger and
an inexpensive device for dampening the strings.

[Azrael]

A very good example for what can be done with 8-finger tapping is showcased by Chris Broderick (Jag Panzer) when he plays mozarts "Rondo a la Turca". You can find the videoclip on www.chopsfromhell.com

[Inisfail]

Couldn't you use a double-necked guitar? So when you're supposed to do your tapping session you just switch neck. What's the point? You simple cut off the strings you aren't gonna play onto. Let's say you are only going to tap on E, B and G? No problems, cut off low E, D and A. No buzzing, no scratching nothing.

Or otherwise you choose the hard way: play and play and play and don't stop until you can play without touching any other string!! If you don't like my suggestions, try the bandana-trick someone mentioned.. ;)

[Azrael]

its not about touching the other strings i guess. when doing 8-finger tapping you simply dont have your palm close enough to the strings to mute them.

try tapping on any given string without dampening the others - the vibration that is caused by your fingers hitting the fretboard make the other strings vibrate aswell. thats the problem. and having a second neck with only one or two strings is stupid *LOL*

[Inisfail]

and having a second neck with only one or two strings is stupid

I... I just wanted to help him.. *crying and thinks: No one likes me..*

Well, that was a joke.. And the double necked aswell.. Anyway!

I have it!!!

If you're going to play 8-fingers taping: Instead of playing with your frethand (left, I guess) behind the neck, play it above the neck.. Hm, somehing like this (click on the link to the picture).

That looks cool and you can use your pinky on the frethand as a muter!!

Cya!

[Azrael]

i do that only for show and to be able to play chromatic 16ths at over 300. but i doubt the use of this showoff-technique for 8/10-finger tapping.

[Inisfail]

i do that only for show and to be able to play chromatic 16ths at over 300

"To be able"? Does this somehow improve your speed when you play chromatics? Hm, I think it's a litte (read: extremly) more difficult to play like that compared to standard tapping.. Or, are you perhaps playing something like this when you play the chromatic at that tempo:


X|--h7-h8-h9-h10-t11-t12-t13-t14--h7-h8-h9-h10-t11-t12-t13-t14--|


Ghaaa.. Never mind.. :eek:

[Azrael]

not for me in that specific situation. you know the fingermovement when you knock your fingers on the table one after the other when you are impatiently waiting for someone? this movement comes easiest (fastest) for me from pinky to index finger. so when i flip my hand over the fretboard i can do way faster hammerons that way. but thats probably just me.

[Jolly McJollyson]

Interesting. I shall try this. HA, my rhythm guitarist is gonna bust a nut.

[iiholly]

Interesting. I shall try this. HA, my rhythm guitarist is gonna bust a nut.

It always has to come back to something sexual.... :p