Misc - Bass Tapping Lessons For Beginners bass tab

For starters, do an open hammer on on your G string. Good , you

just tapped your first note. Now practice making it sound clear

and defined, and get used to trying to stop the note. Now, since

U has a different right hand approach, I'll give you mine and

with time you will develop your own. I usually wear my bass low,

but when it comes time to tap, the strap goes up. Not super high,

just a comfortable high.

Now position your right arm almost parrallel to the strings,

and find a position where you will note be muting them. Go ahead

and tap the 9th fret on the G string, and practice starting, holding,

and ending the note properly. It should be as clear and controlled

as note played conventionally. Take the time to make sure you

have this written down, most players like to skip this part and

then never learn to tap correctly. This part is crucial, so if

it takes you a weeks to get it perfect, practice for two before

moving on.

G--9---9---9--9--|

D------------------|

A------------------|

E------------------|

Probably the technique most used in tapping is a pull-off. RIght

now you're going "I already know how to do a pull-off, Well, you

can if you want to, but you will be a little lost later on, because

pulling off from a tapped note is a lot different than pulling

off a fretted note. When you pull off a tapped note, you want to

slide the tapping finger (RH) off the string, in order to give

the note more volume. So practice catching pull-offs, and the

finger slide, (the 15 is right hand, 12 is left hand)

G--14p11-14p11-14p11--|

D---------------------|

A---------------------|

E---------------------|

G--14p11h13p11-14p11h13p11--|

D---------------------------|

A---------------------------|

E---------------------------|

Again, really simple, but that riff right there will be impressive

once you get it up to speed, and will provide a basis for you to

get your own riffs going.

Practice really is key to getting tapping down, just like you

had to build up muscles to slap, and even play fingerstyle, your

hands have to get used to tapping. Eventually, you will find

it coming naturally, and after that your playing ability will

multiply. Hope this was helpful..

One more thing, once you get tapping down, and I don't recomend

this while learning because it will hide your mistakes, is turning

on some distortion, nothing comletes a tapping line like some

fuzz to blend it all together. I personally prefer to set my EQ

flat, with a moderate amount of disortion , and tap away. Have fun.