Fast Finger-Tapping Pattern for Electric Guitar

by Jason Earls, author of How to Become a Guitar Player from Hell
http://becomeguitaristfromhell.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/zevi35711


A finger-tapping pattern that allows one to produce a rapid succession of notes that sound exceedingly fast with only a modicum of finger effort is the following:

{ Tapped note, Middle note, High note, Middle note, Low note; Repeat ...}

What the pattern means is that although the exact frets involved may change, as long as the basic pattern of pitches above is retained, you will be able to produce a musical phrase that sounds incredibly fast, depending upon the natural movement and speed of your fingers, of course. There’s just something special and unique about this particular tapping pattern that generates an abundance of speed for some unknown reason.

As far as a guitar lick that follows the pattern, here is one example (all notes are either tapped, hammered-on, or pulled-off to):


-14t-11-12-11-9-14t-11-12-11-9--
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This lick is based on notes from the C# minor scale. I will normally play the lick more than twice, continuing it for maybe three or four bars. Another thing I should mention is that with this pattern you will sometimes be “cramming in” notes, i.e., you won’t be too worried if some of the pitches are actually played out of order occasionally, since your fingers will be moving as fast as possible. With this pattern you will primarily be concerned with obtaining a maximum amount of speed and you don’t want anything interfering with that goal.

Here is another lick that follows the main pattern:

-14t-8-10-8-7-14t-8-10-8-7---
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This one is based on notes from the B Phrygian mode), although other keys can also be interpreted. Notice that our original pattern is maintained {tap, middle, high, middle, low; repeat}, but that now we are simply using a different combination of notes.

Finally, here is an example using notes from the D minor scale:

-13t-10-12-10-8-13t-10-12-10-8--
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It’s interesting that when one taps notes that are closer together on the fretboard, i.e. tapping at the 13th fret while your highest fingered note is on the 12th fret as in the lick above, it seems to sound even faster.

I first ran across this tapping pattern in an Yngwie Malmsteen solo. He played it in the key of E minor using the last fingering combination, and he executed the lick so incredibly fast it sounded like angry bumblebees circling a potential victim.

Of course the thing to do with the main pattern is – (while still retaining the basic order of pitches) – experiment with different tapped notes and fingering combinations until you find something that suits your particular improvisation or the song you are playing. (You could even adapt the underlying pattern to a different fingering combination altogether if something else better fits the natural movement of your hands.) Also try the pattern on different strings.

Remember, the main thing to keep in mind with a tapping pattern of this nature is that if you’re ever in the middle of a solo and feel an emotion such as anger, passion, jealousy, or frustration, you can play this quick tapping lick to hopefully express those emotions. Also remember that 1) It can be adapted to fit any scale you like; 2) Don’t be overly concerned with hitting every note in the exact order, mainly focus on producing a lot of speed.

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http://becomeguitaristfromhell.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/zevi35711

Bio: Jason Earls is the author of Cocoon of Terror (Afterbirth Books), Red Zen, How to Become a Guitar Player from Hell, If(Sid_Vicious == TRUE && Alan_Turing == TRUE) {ERROR_Cyberpunk(); }, Heartless Bast*rd In Ecstasy, and 0.136101521283655... all available at Amazon.com and other online book stores. His fiction and mathematical work have been published in Red Scream, Yankee Pot Roast, M-Brane SF, Scientia Magna, three of Clifford Pickover’s books, Neometropolis, Mathworld.com, AlienSkin, Recreational and Educational Computing, Escaping Elsewhere, Thirteen, Dogmatika, Prime Curios, the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, OG’s Speculative Fiction, Nocturnal Ooze, Bust Down the Door and Eat All the Chickens, and other publications. He currently resides in Oklahoma with his wife, Christine.