Finger Tapping - From Basic to Craziness!

Welcome to the Finger Tapping Tutorial! This is a fairly large tutorial that spans from beginning to advanced levels. So no matter what skill level you're at, I'd encourage you to go through the whole thing from start to finish. There's something for everyone here. With that said, let's rock! Well, what is finger tapping? Finger tapping consists of your picking hand literally tapping notes on the fretboard to produce sound. With it's use of legato, it can help your playing sound more fluid and smooth. And most importantly, it gives you a whole new and creative way to approach your guitar. In the 1st exercise, we’re going to get our picking hand fingers familiar with tapping notes on the fretboard. With your fret-hand, go ahead and mute the strings like you see me doing in the video. Then with each picking-hand finger, tap the 12th fret notes on each string. Most tapping passages will only require your index or middle fingers, but we should still make sure all four fingers are exercised. Depending on your current skill level, this will be either extremely easy or a little difficult, but no matter what, focus on playing the notes accurately and with proper form. Speaking of form, make sure the thumb of your tapping hand always rests on the top of the guitar neck. This will help keep your tapping hand steady and balanced. In the 2nd exercise, we'll be doing another exercise that utilizes all four fingers. We'll be playing the 12th fret of each string four times with each finger. When looking at the tabs in this tutorial, you'll notice "T" markings. Anytime you see that above a note, that means we'll be tapping that note. I've also indicated what finger to tap with. You'll see one of the following symbols for each tapped note: i - index finger m - middle finger r - ring finger p - pinky finger Keep doing these exercises over and over until your form is perfect and you seldom make mistakes. Ready? On to the next lesson!