| Introduction to Tap Dancing |
 |
| ok you're probably wondering "what is wrong with my computer now?"... No you didnt get re-directed to the wrong page. This is the correct page for guitar licks. Except what I'm trying to do here is to get your brain to do a little tap dancing before you actually begin the next lesson - FINGER TAPPING on guitar. And what about the pink??? you ask. Well its just to match the color of the lady's incredibly illegal fashion sense. Ok before you start leaving let me explain what this has got to do with finger tapping at all. Most of the time we want to impress the people around us when we strap on the guitar and we launch into a series of a quadrillion notes all compressed into a few seconds... or rather we try to. In tap dancing, the dancer taps real quick at times as well but if you would have heard some tap dancing, there is some catchy rythmn there and it makes a really cool beat even while it is going at breakneck speed. So how does this translate into guitar playing? Ok first of all, you need timing. Instead of launching straight into beeping your million notes per second lick, make up a start... like an intro sort of thing. A good way to start is to start slow, then speed it up. So is that all there is? No of course not. To make sense out of tapping, you have to have some melody inside your tapping. It is not tapping for the sake of tapping. Otherwise you might as well get your grandmother to come on stage halfway through your flaming guitar solo to do the finger tapping section of your solo. But what melody can I make? The easiest way to make melody is to vary the notes you use. How can this be achieved? Ok first do the easy one. Octave shift tapping. When you make a pattern of your tapping, shift the pattern an octave higher or an octave lower. This will give your tapping solo section some variety. Of course give it a conclusion or something to lead it into the next section of your hot dripping wet guitar solo. In this example I have chosen to lead it to an end. As usual, right click and save target as... to listen. The next method to achieve variety is to vary the chord of the tapping pattern that you are tapping. For example if the tap pattern is in the chord of C, modulate it to D then to E, as I have in this example. As usual, right click and save target as... to listen. Hopefully you have an idea of what this is about now after listening to it. Sorry I have no time to transcribe this but just remember, the notes you tap is entirely up to you. Choose what you want to tap. Make it into a pattern. You dont need to use my example. Tapping is what allows you to play a series of notes that lay within an interval too large for your fretting hand to play. Experiment wherever you can. You may come up with a cooler sounding tap than me. In the meantime dont forget to HAVE FUN. That is what guitar playing is all about. |
 |
|
 |