# 8 Finger Tapping Licks



## MetalMike (Jul 8, 2006)

After watching Chris Broderick's "Betcha Can't Play this" video I've been inspired to make a thread on posting your favorite 6-8 finger tapping licks. I would post mine but I only use the technique to extend runs and arpeggios and have no "strict 8 finger licks".


----------



## metalfiend666 (Jul 9, 2006)

I would do, but the most I use is 5 finger so far, and that's hard enough right now!


----------



## Oguz286 (Jul 9, 2006)

I really suck at tapping. I always screw up because i cant play them cleanly. And thats with 2 fingers... I dont know if there is a special technique for it? And i can never get it to sound good, even with a compressor. I'm doing something wrong but dont know what.


----------



## distressed_romeo (Jul 9, 2006)

Metalmike: To be honest I do the same thing...I use the technique as an extension of my 'normal' arpeggio and legato technique, and so don't have any fixed 'licks' as such. I'll put some cool runs up later tonight though...


----------



## jtm45 (Jul 9, 2006)

I personally think tapping is best used sparingly and in moderation.

I don't get impressed by all that super-fast 'showy' stuff at all. In fact it has the opposite effect on me.

My favourite sort of tapping is the stuff like Satch does where it's all about being melodic and musical rather than the desire to show off.


----------



## MetalMike (Jul 9, 2006)

Oguz286 said:


> I really suck at tapping. I always screw up because i cant play them cleanly. And thats with 2 fingers... I dont know if there is a special technique for it? And i can never get it to sound good, even with a compressor. I'm doing something wrong but dont know what.



When you tap with more than 1 finger think of your right hand as a fretting hand and rest your thumb behind (towards the top) of the neck as you would your left just a bit higher. This makes the technique much more articulate than if your just letting your tapping hand "float".



distressed_romeo said:


> Metalmike: To be honest I do the same thing...I use the technique as an extension of my 'normal' arpeggio and legato technique, and so don't have any fixed 'licks' as such. I'll put some cool runs up later tonight though...



I still think this is the best way to use tapping because I don't like the idea of changing my technique to adapt to a certain kind of lick and having to transition between the two. (i.e. going into a pickless 8 finger technique and putting the pick in mouth) Can't wait to see those runs. BTW you said you had some cool 8 finger stuff on your laptop. Did you ever upload any of that stuff?



jtm45 said:


> I personally think tapping is best used sparingly and in moderation.
> 
> I don't get impressed by all that super-fast 'showy' stuff at all. In fact it has the opposite effect on me.
> 
> My favourite sort of tapping is the stuff like Satch does where it's all about being melodic and musical rather than the desire to show off.



I like what satch does too. I'm assuming you mean like midnight and day at the beach. 

I'm not talking about the flashy stuff though. I'm looking to find some of the licks that use the guitar like a piano with left hand extensions not simple 7 note per string shred fests. I don't think it's worth having technique if you can't utilize it in a musical situation.


----------



## distressed_romeo (Jul 9, 2006)

There ya go!
Metalmike, sorry those took a while...I know I said earlier I'd upload some earlier, but I got a little distracted. Hope these are fun.

Are we just after scalic tapping here, as I've got a lot of rhythmic stuff as well?

Regarding incorporating all 8 fingers into your 'normal' playing, I've found you can palm the pick between your thumb and the side of your hand to free up your index finger pretty quickly. Obviously there's the risk of dropping it, and it means you can't really use your thumb as an anchor anymore, but it's good for dropping the occasional 8 finger bit in.
Having said that, it's pretty cool to just stick your pick in your mouth and play TJ Helmerich style. If you know the neck and take the time to strengthen the right hand fingers it's not as hard as it initially seems.


----------



## MetalMike (Jul 9, 2006)

distressed_romeo said:


> There ya go!
> Metalmike, sorry those took a while...I know I said earlier I'd upload some earlier, but I got a little distracted. Hope these are fun.
> 
> Are we just after scalic tapping here, as I've got a lot of rhythmic stuff as well?
> ...



Thanks alot. All this stuff is pretty cool. The only thing I have trouble with is the tap from nowhere. I don't use a dampener so when I do the tap from nowhere I use my left hand to mute the strings so it dosn't sound like i played the open string followed by the tapped note. The problem is doing this quickly enough to make it fluid. Is there a better way to do this? Thanks again


----------



## Metal Ken (Jul 10, 2006)

Probably my fav.. from Rusty Cooley.


----------



## MetalMike (Jul 10, 2006)

Metal Ken said:


> Probably my fav.. from Rusty Cooley.



cool lick. My favorite is prop from rusty also.
(http://www.chopsfromhell.com/guest_rc1.html)


----------



## Nik (Jul 10, 2006)

distressed_romeo said:


> There ya go!
> Metalmike, sorry those took a while...I know I said earlier I'd upload some earlier, but I got a little distracted. Hope these are fun.
> 
> Are we just after scalic tapping here, as I've got a lot of rhythmic stuff as well?
> ...



Thanks for that, 8-figner tapping has been one of my weak points, I can't wait to try those licks out!


----------



## distressed_romeo (Jul 10, 2006)

metalmike23 said:


> Thanks alot. All this stuff is pretty cool. The only thing I have trouble with is the tap from nowhere. I don't use a dampener so when I do the tap from nowhere I use my left hand to mute the strings so it dosn't sound like i played the open string followed by the tapped note. The problem is doing this quickly enough to make it fluid. Is there a better way to do this? Thanks again



To be honest, I just use a dampener, just for that reason!


----------



## Mykie (Jul 10, 2006)

I love tapping, kinda good at it actualy, but I can only use a total of 5 fingers max, my pinkys are weak and small as hell, they dont even reach the fret board when I solo, so I do a 3 finger solo, kinda weak. I got me some small hands, but I still shred on the 7.


----------



## MetalMike (Jul 10, 2006)

distressed_romeo said:


> To be honest, I just use a dampener, just for that reason!



dampeners are expensive.. I'm gonna try a sock now


----------



## distressed_romeo (Jul 11, 2006)

Lol...I don't mean like Jennifer Batten uses! I just put a little hairtie in front of the nut.


----------



## MetalMike (Jul 11, 2006)

distressed_romeo said:


> Lol...I don't mean like Jennifer Batten uses! I just put a little hairtie in front of the nut.



lol.. I figured you meant that. I'd like to hear from someone from personal experience if theres a huge difference between the real dampeners and the easy way.


----------



## distressed_romeo (Jul 11, 2006)

I know. I've contemplated forking out for one, but the hairties (which cost virtually nothing) work fine, so even if it did work well, I couldn't really justify spending that much cash.


----------



## rahul_mukerji (Jul 14, 2006)

I dont use 8-finger taps to play Night Ranger type licks. I use it more for a Stanley Jordan / Kiko Loureiro way. I find playing simple Left-hand-chord-and right-hand-melody pattern improves the strength of the tapping fingers faster than trying the TJ legato lick ---3--5-6--8---15--17--18--20

Here's a sample video of me trying their style of playing.

http://www.mukerji.us/Music/Video_tap.avi

Hope this helps some of you come up with your own 8-finger licks.

This my 1st post on this forum !!


----------



## distressed_romeo (Jul 14, 2006)

I've experimented with that approach as well, especially as I'm trying to improve my keyboard skills at the moment. Welcome to the forum dude!


----------



## goth_fiend (Jan 27, 2007)

I have been working a lot on heros of sand lately a song by angra, very cool 8 finger tapping section in that


----------



## distressed_romeo (Jan 27, 2007)

Great song too!


----------

