By: Levi Clay
This article is intended to be an extension of the ideas we looked at in the two-hand tapping article (see link below), but also to help you use the techniques you already know in a more creative manner. Bidexteral tapping is a term I credit to Derryl Gabel for coining. It’s a technique, which as the name suggests, involves using fingers on both hands to execute fluid tapping ideas. You can find tapping of this nature a lot in the work of Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, and in the chorus to “Sevens” by Guthrie Govan, to name a few examples.
The lick that we’re going to look at involves hammer-ons exclusively; in my opinion the most complex part of multi-finger tapping is the pull-off motion between the third and second fingers. We’ll be using this technique to apply motif cycling to a fifth, moving it up in tri-tones. Try drawing a neck diagram so you can visualise the lick, and as we’ve done before, experiment with where you can use the lick.
I like to visualise the tri-tone scale, C C# E F# G A#, two major triads (C and F#) a tri-tone away, This lick technically fits over a C7b5b9, but feel free to use it over any chord, as it has a nice “outside” sound, and in my opinion, a lick like this sounding “inside” is just wrong. As a starting point why not use it over an Fm vamp to imply a V7alt-Im, but make sure you resolve it to F or it gets pretty funky pretty quick.
The first exercise presented gives us the basic technique involved in playing this lick. The fretting hand taps a perfect fifth, which is performed by hammering-on from nowhere, so a bold hammer-on technique will be required as well as good use of muting. When the notes are played, the picking hand comes in and plays a perfect fifth shape but a tri-tone higher on the same set of strings. Take your time on this one and make sure you are muting efficiently as it can be tricky to nail it in the first few attempts.
Example 1 (Click to open in a new window)
Example 1 Audio (Click to open in a new window)
The next exercise is the first half of the final lick. We take the shape we used in the first exercise and simply move it up one octave geometrically on the neck. The key to good muting here is to leave the picking hand’s third finger down right up until the fretting hand is ready to hammer onto the D string. Then, rather than pulling away from the string, which creates unwanted noise, we release pressure without leaving the string. Now, the tip of the fretting hand finger should be in contact with the A string, allowing us to leave the string without excessive noise.
Example 2 (Click to open in a new window)
Example 2 Audio (Click to open in a new window)
This exercise makes up the last part of the lick, but, due to the mass and density of the high E string it’s more difficult than previous exercises to tap and get a consistent sound. Add to that the fact that there is a bigger position shift, and that the shape played by the picking hand is highly compressed, and we have good dexterity workout. Stick to the muting techniques used in the last exercise, but also add the pad of the picking hands palm, at the thumb joint, in order to mute the low strings.
Example 3 (Click to open in a new window)
Example 3 Audio (Click to open in a new window)
Here is the actual lick with an exit note added for good measure. After tapping the highest note pull-off and slide up to the C. Here you may either apply vibrato or continue the line with the C as a new starting point.
Example 4 (Click to open in a new window)
Example 4 Audio (Click to open in an new window)
About the Author
Levi Clay is an up and coming guitarist and teacher based out of London UK. As a student of several of the UKs top guitarists, Levi has landed work as a transcriber, player, opening for the legendary Pat Martino, and teaching his own class at the International Guitar Foundation (IGF) Youth Rock event. As a transcriber, his reputation for transcribing Guthrie Govans album landed him the job transcribing some of Guthries videos. Currently Levi fills his time pursuing his BMus(Hons) at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP) and leading rock band Hellcat Molly. Levi proudly plays Suhr Guitars and Cornford Amplification.
Links
Levi Clay Homepage
Two-Hand Tapping Article
Advanced Tapping Article
Finale Tapping Lesson
