GUEST COLUMNIST:

DREW CREEL

The Tap Dance



Hello all! Welcome to my first column on Chops From Hell! Today I'm going to show you a two-handed tapping technique that involves tapping different intervals on each hand to create interesting and unique arpeggios and progressions.

The pattern goes: tap 2 notes on the left hand, tap 2 notes on the right, 2 notes on the left, 2 on the right, etc. No picking at all! The right hand will tap a 5th interval at all times, while the left hand will tap 2nd, 3rd, and 5th intervals. I use my middle and ring fingers to tap on the right hand. The nice thing about alternating hands every two notes is that it becomes much easier to mute the other strings and reduce noise. In the first half of the example, I mute with the left hand, and in the second half when it goes to the higher strings I mute with the palm of my right hand. If you are having trouble with noise, you can try tying a tube sock around the first couple frets - I swear, it works!


As you can see, there is a lot of potential in this kind of tapping! Once you build up strength in your right hand tapping fingers, try tapping out different intervals on different strings and see what you can come up with. For extra fun, try it on a clean amp setting with some delay. Feel free to drop me a line at drew@meyvn.net if you have any questions or comments. Thanks!


the following bio material provided by Drew Creel

Drew Creel is 26 years old and has been playing guitar for 12 years. He currently plays guitar for the progressive metal band Meyvn, who is signed to KillZone Records. Meyvn released their newest album, "Splintered Skies", in September of 2006 to worldwide acclaim. For more information on Drew or Meyvn, visit http://www.meyvn.net/.