As many of you know, I write a column for TinFoil Music called "Guitar Gods" that has featured some awesome players and will feature many more players in the months to come. In the past, we've featured the playing styles of two of our "Guitar Gods" interviewees - Grammy winning guitarist Steve Stevens (of Billy Idol fame) and shred dominatrix the Great Kat. This month we feature the playing style of  Jennifer Batten.

Jennifer  is currently on tour with guitar legend Jeff Beck, and has recorded and toured with the King of Pop: Michael Jackson. She has also released several solo albums and two books, and was for a time an instructor at the famed GIT.

Jennifer is probably most famous in guitar circles for her fabulous two-hand tapping technique. For a primer in tapping, see the IG "Master Class" section. The examples below take a familiarity with fretboard tapping, though be sure to take it slowly at first to avoid injury. This first example is a classic Jennifer Batten trick - playing a basic scale with both hands, an octave apart. Be sure to play this with extreme clarity so it doesn't sound like mush - and notice that those last 4 notes are tapped harmonics.

LISTEN!

This next lick is a bit quirky and a bit more difficult, as it incorporates slides and some tricky rhythm, plus it requires you to hold a tapped note while using the fret hand to add vibrato.

LISTEN!

That's all for now, but be sure to visit Jennifer online at www.batten.com and check out her interview here. See you next month!
 

      =====

      David M. McLean is the proprietor of Skinny Devil Music Labs, former guitarist of the avant-garde fusion-metal band Aurora-Sen, guitar instructor, and columnist for TinFoil Music Magazine (where he conducts interviews in the on-going series “Guitar Gods”). His new solo album, “HUNGER”, will be released later this year.