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Posted by: inertia Jul 3 2008, 12:17 AM

Hi Muris,

I'm really struggling with tapping, I find that I always have adjacent strings ringing even when I fully concentrate on only tapping the one string. Can you explain how you physically tap like how you hold your tapping hand on the fretboard etc? I find often it looks as though people somehow anchor their tapping hand on the fretboard but I don't see how that is possible without muting the strings. I have changed my picking style completely to emulate yours because it seems to work well and is very efficient but the tapping isn't going as well...

thx

Posted by: Joe Kataldo Jul 3 2008, 12:21 AM

I know this is Muris board...sorry for meddling but...I've prepared a lesson on tapping that could answer all your questions, should be lived soon

Bye

Posted by: inertia Jul 3 2008, 03:49 AM

thanks joe look forward to it

Posted by: Joe Kataldo Jul 3 2008, 10:34 AM

Your Welcome

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jul 3 2008, 11:48 AM

Thanks for input Joe,we'll be waiting for this lesson!

Inertia,your issue is mostly related with routine
which comes with lot of practicing.
I haven't thought a lot about it when I was practicing tapping
for the first time,I was just trying to find a way to keep it clean.
And here's what I do know now.

You mention anchoring tapping hand on the fretboard.
Yes,that would be one way to do it but that limits you
to only one or two strings to tap,usually higher strings
cause you will anchor your tapping hand on lower strings.

Second way is to be VERY careful with power you're
using when you tap,too much power in tap
will force some open strings to ring.

Third way is to mute all unused strings as much as possible.
And that is usually done with your left/fretting hand.
Per example if you're playing some tapping on D string,
you should use your left hand index finger to do 90% of muting.
Just lay it easily on G,B and high E string,enough to mute them a little
but not too hard to fret them.
Also,tip of your index finger might touch A string as well do mute it.

Forth and also very important way is to tap ONLY
the string you wanna tap,avoid to touch strings around it.
If your action of the strings is too high it might be difficult
not to touch some neighbor stings so check your action as well!

Finaly,combining all these 4 ways/methods you'll be able
to play tapping nicely and without any noise.

So my advice is to look deep into your tapping playing
and locate what you're missing from these 4 ways/methods,
then simply apply one of few of them and see the result.

Hope this helps a little.

Posted by: inertia Jul 3 2008, 05:17 PM

great explanation, thx Muris will try to incorporate this

cheers

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jul 9 2008, 12:30 AM

Any progress?

Posted by: inertia Jul 15 2008, 04:58 PM

Yes actually, I have been practicing some EVH and some Satriani licks and it's getting a lot better, with a newborn baby at home it's been difficult to get practice time in though
Thanks again for the great advice, especially the fretting hand muting, that has helped the most I think.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jul 15 2008, 05:21 PM

Congrats on baby once more
and I'm glad if my advices helped a bit.

Posted by: OrganisedConfusion Jul 15 2008, 05:25 PM

My tapping sounds like running nails down a black board. Am I doing something wrong

I can't get it to sound good at all. Is it best to use a pick or finger to tap with and how do you get it smooth and fast. I'm useless at everything.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jul 15 2008, 05:43 PM

No one is useless,trust me.

Could you provide me with a video clip
of your tapping please?
That way I might help more.

Ohh, and go with the fingers 90%,
use pick only when you need those
ultra fast single note taps ala Satch.

Posted by: OrganisedConfusion Jul 15 2008, 05:50 PM

I can't do video. Only record sound. Would you be able to tell from just audio or not?

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jul 15 2008, 06:51 PM

Audio won't be of greatest help cause
I cannot see what's going on there
and what causes the result you're not satisfied with.

Posted by: OrganisedConfusion Jul 15 2008, 07:34 PM

I really need to sort out a video camera but I have zero funds currently

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Jul 15 2008, 07:51 PM

If you were from around here, I'd give my old webcam for free. Works fine, but not the best of quality though, but can at good days do clear and fine videos at 320x240...

Posted by: Muris Varajic Jul 15 2008, 08:25 PM

Some cheaper one will do the job,
we don't need extra quality for this.

Posted by: wrk Sep 6 2008, 12:57 PM

Hi Muris,

Not so long ago i started to concentrate a bit more on tapping, what i never really did so far. Thanks to your detailed description above, i manage more or less to mute all the other strings and to avoid too many string noise, but i still have one problem ..

When the tapping part includes to skip one string. I'm able to mute the string in the middle with my index, but the last note i played just before to change to another string gives me some trouble. Somehow when i release the tapping finger (right hand) this string is adding some noise (open string). I don't really know which part of my body i could use to mute this string ...

Example: In you "Tapping and Legato" lesson is one of those string skipping parts from the A to the G string. I get used to it to use my right hand palm to mute the A string and it works well for this specific part, but if i play something similar on higher strings between the G and high E string for example, muting with the palm doesn't seem to be an good idea.

Do you have any idea/advise how to mute this string?

Thank you ...

Posted by: Muris Varajic Sep 6 2008, 01:47 PM

Hi Wrk.

I understand your issue in total,
it's hardest to mute higher string when playing tapping on them.
As you are guessing,you cannot do much muting with right hand,it's all in left hand.
So you have to move/remove your fingers reeaally carefully to avoid noise etc.
This "feel" comes with the time actually,you'll be able to control your movement
and you'll always make a move just enough to release the finger but not to pull the string.
Also,use you left hand index finger to covers as many strings as possible,when it's possible.

Hope this helps a bit.

Posted by: wrk Sep 6 2008, 02:12 PM

Thank you Muris !! Your answers are as quick as your playing ..

I guess i just continue to practice and try to be more careful with the release of the index.

Thanks!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Sep 6 2008, 02:23 PM

You are very welcome,
just let me know if you need anything else.

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Sep 6 2008, 02:25 PM

Been thinking about this for a while:

What are the advantages and disadvantages of tapping with a downwards motion instead of an upward motion? I've always been doing the latter, as that felt most natural to me, as with a regular pull off you also tuck your fingers into your hands, which you also do with an upwards tapping motion.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Sep 6 2008, 02:32 PM

Depends of your tapping hand position actually,
and I don't believe there are any advantages or disadvantages,
it's just what feels more comfortable to you.
I use downwards motion in like 95% of situations,
maybe with upward motion on lower strings,sometimes.
But I use upward motion mostly when doing 8 fingers stuff
cause my tapping hand is more "above" the neck,if you know what I mean.

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Sep 6 2008, 02:39 PM

Yeah, I know what you mean.

I geuss that at the high E string, you could easier get some noise problems when tapping upwards, as you might easier hit the B string. So in that case tapping downwards would be "better". But thanks for the answer!

Posted by: wrk Sep 6 2008, 02:47 PM

I did first the same like you and was asking me the same question. When i started to practice the "Tapping and Legato" lesson, i used my middle finger for the tapping by still keeping the pick with my thumb and index. I noticed that the tapping motion is coming more from the hand instead of just the finger and then it felt somehow easier to do a down stroke.