DF
Tapping
Hey, I love tapping, and am trying to incorperate it into my playing.(I play an Takamine accoustic) The lessons from Hanspeter Kruesi taught me alot, and watching the guitarists Johnny Demarco with his performance of The Entertainer and some Stanley Jordan as well as Kaki King, Eric Mongrain, and the movie August Rush have inspired me. However... I find when I play on the upper frets, around the 5th and more, I get an annoying background noise between the fret I am playing and the nut. I would rather not put a mute (aka hair scrunchy) on the nut, as I still like the open strings. Is it just because I use an accoustic, or is there a certain way of pressing down on the strings that I need to master?
DF
DF
# 1
hey,
Ya I dont play acoustic styles, but i do know what you mean. Since im not usually using the open strings when i do like full neck tapping runs i can get away with a sweat band for a mute, but for you id say just use less of your finger when tapping because it runs less of a risk of hitting unwanted notes.
Also just practice what you are playing more, and you should only hit the notes you want. Way easier said than done but its possible.
Ya I dont play acoustic styles, but i do know what you mean. Since im not usually using the open strings when i do like full neck tapping runs i can get away with a sweat band for a mute, but for you id say just use less of your finger when tapping because it runs less of a risk of hitting unwanted notes.
Also just practice what you are playing more, and you should only hit the notes you want. Way easier said than done but its possible.
# 2
Using acoustic definitely makes things harder.
With electric, you have the advantage of being able to use compression to even out your sound and give yourself more sustain.
As far as the scrunchy goes, with some practice you can learn to quickly move it on and off the fretboard depending on whether you're using open strings or not. It's just a matter of timing..or writing a solo in such a way as to give yourself time to move it out of the way.
Technique wise, there's so much to cover that I wouldn't know where to start.
I posted about 50 lessons in tapping here:
http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=1873
http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=1961
http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=2059
http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=2484
They mostly cover using electric but you may find some information useful.
note: some of the videos are still the older lo-def versions but they'll be getting updated soon.
With electric, you have the advantage of being able to use compression to even out your sound and give yourself more sustain.
As far as the scrunchy goes, with some practice you can learn to quickly move it on and off the fretboard depending on whether you're using open strings or not. It's just a matter of timing..or writing a solo in such a way as to give yourself time to move it out of the way.
Technique wise, there's so much to cover that I wouldn't know where to start.
I posted about 50 lessons in tapping here:
http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=1873
http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=1961
http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=2059
http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=2484
They mostly cover using electric but you may find some information useful.
note: some of the videos are still the older lo-def versions but they'll be getting updated soon.
# 3
This is good stuff, I'll keep practicing that.
Speaking of electric, does it matter what kind of electric guitar you get for tapping? And what equipment if any is good for it?
Speaking of electric, does it matter what kind of electric guitar you get for tapping? And what equipment if any is good for it?
# 4
Well, obviously the better the guitar the easier it'll be.
As for equipment etc... the tutorial goes into most of that.
Basically, if you can get hold of a compressor it will greatly help your tapping as it evens out the sound and provides more sustain. (it's also very forgiving of uneven playing).
Some reverb will also help to blend the notes together a little.
Other than that, lighter strings lowered as close to the fretboard as you can without buzzing will also help. As well as the scrunchy thing if you can train yourself to move it quickly out of the way when you need to use open strings.
As for equipment etc... the tutorial goes into most of that.
Basically, if you can get hold of a compressor it will greatly help your tapping as it evens out the sound and provides more sustain. (it's also very forgiving of uneven playing).
Some reverb will also help to blend the notes together a little.
Other than that, lighter strings lowered as close to the fretboard as you can without buzzing will also help. As well as the scrunchy thing if you can train yourself to move it quickly out of the way when you need to use open strings.
# 5