Extreme Licks

Extreme Licks & Tricks - Part II

Hey peeps. As promised, its time to look at something completely

different... Continuing the theme of extreme and rather unconventional playing, this month, we delve

deeper yet into the realm of tapping, looking at playing solely with the picking hand. I first developed

this technique after watching the jaw-dropping 'over the top' fret board antics of Micheal Angelo, renown

of his famous ambidextrous dual-guitar harmony playing; if anyone is unfamiliar with this, it involved

playing a guitar with two necks, each hand playing legato in time and harmony with the other. While I

don't have such a funky guitar, I thought it might be an idea to develop a sense of legato ability with my

tapping hand - a task perhaps less daunting than it sounds, given the correct approach. Here are a few

licks and ideas I use in my own playing that certainly adds to the visual aspect of my performances, as

well as sonically enhancing melodies. I hope you find some use in this method, but it most certainly is

not for the faint hearted! All this is a little complex to set out, so follow the playing instructions

carefully. There's not too much tab here, but it should keep you going for the next couple of years at

least. 'Till next time shred-hedz,

Best wishes,

Example I: Harmony Runs In this example, we harmonize a

simple legato lick, adding a nice depth in the form of unison and octave intervals. This is a simple

construct of how such a technique can be used, and following the main lick, I have included an example of

how the same method can be used for, for example, 5th's... try some 3rds, 4th's etc... you might find some

really funky harmonies, and once you get the hang of the method, you'll never need stodgy FX pedals or

extra harmony guitar players again! To begin with, plant your picking hand's index finger on the B (fret

12), and hammer on with your pinky onto the D (15)... use your fingers in such manner

(one-finger-per-fret) until you perform the lick, using your tapping hand alone! Then, when its up to

speed, harmonize with your normal fretting hand. Ta da!

|-10 p7 h8h10 p8 p7----------------------------------------------------------------------t12t14t15p14p12--

|t15p12t13t15p13p12--t15p12t13t15p13p12--t15p12t13t15p13p12-------------------t12t13t15-------------------

|---------------------7 p4 h5 h7 p5 p4-----------------------t14p12p11t12t14------------------------------

|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2 h4 h5 p4 p2---

|-----------------------------------------5 p2 h3 h5 p3 p2---------------------2 h3 h5--------------------

|-------------------------------------------------------------5 p3 p2 h3 h5-------------------------------

|-t17p12t14t15p14p12--t17p12t14t15p14p12~~--|---5 p2 h3 h5 p4 p2~~--

|-------------------------------------------|--t15p12t13t15p13p12~--

|-------------------------------------------|-----------------------

|--7 p2 h4 h5 p4 p2----7 p2 h4 h5 p4 p2~~~--|-----------------------

|-------------------------------------------|-----------------------

Example II:

String-Skipping-Tapped-Uhhh-Madness But not in the conventional way, of course (naturally). Being mad, I

decided that in order to make the most of my fret board, a few changes in playing is in order. Fed up of

jumping my fretting hand around like I'm wanking my guitar, why not just use *both* hands to perform

otherwise unattainable licks? Here is the result... difficult, but quite, quite spectacular. In order to

perform these licks, burn your pick (sacrifice it to the God of Tapping), and hoist your tapping up so you

look like a doink. Then, as with Example I, tap away the legato lines here and there. Note! The bass

lines... are tapped... with... your... tapping hand! Yes, it is as hard as you think. Once again, this is

just to give you some ideas to fool around with... don't take this all to seriously, its really all just a

bit of fun for technically adept players that want to seriously add to their showmanship. Its pretty darn

tricky, but don't get discouraged. It can be done!!!!! Then, swap hands over and play the lines the other

way. Fun yet?

|-17p14h16h17-----------19p16h17h19----------14p10h12h14----------12p9h10h12-----------0~~--

|----------------------------------------------------------------------------t5p2t3t5--0~~--

|--------------------------------------------------------t4p0t2t4---------------------------

|-----------------------------------t9p6t7t9------------------------------------------------

|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

|-------------t5p2t4t5----------------------------------------------------------------------

Example III:

The Hard Bit Deciding to take things yet a step further up the difficulty ladder, I've provided one of my

favorite solos... Tender Surrender, by Steve Vai. Now, this is a challenge in itself conventionally...

but, yup... you guessed it... I want you to play it... tapping only. There, I said it. This is only the

first bit (the legato downwards bit), but it should provide a mammoth challenge. Try the rest if you can

be arsed. I've excluded performance notes (such as h\p's) for the sake of visibility - there are far too

many notes here. Tips? Get it slowly and in uniform speed - try all the same exercises that you would use

to strengthen your fretting hand, only this time with your other. You'll find yourself getting tired and

running out of steam, but you'll remember the same feeling when you were training your other hand, all

that time ago. Remember how long that took? Ages. But persevere; all in all, the information here can be

both the useful and useless lesson you've ever seen, but in the right hands (harhar) can take a player in

a new direction. Enjoy. Tender Surrender by Steve Vai Extract tabbed by Daz [Tapping hand ONLY - mute at

nut with fretting hand]

|-15tr17-19-15-17-15-19-15-17-15-19-15-17-15-19-15-17\12tr15-14-12-15-12-17-12-15-12-14-12-15-12-17-12-15-

|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(plant index finger on the G - fret 15) (plant index finger on the E - fret 12)

|12-14-12-15-12-17-12-15-12-14-12-15-12\10tr12-14-10-12-10-14-10-12-10-14-10-12-10-14-10-12-10\

|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(plant index finger on the D - fret 10... etc...)

|7-10-7--10-7--10-7--10-7----------------------------------------------

|------10----10----10----10-8-7-8-10-8-7\5-7-5\4-5-7-5-4\3-5-7-5-3~~~--

|----------------------------------------------------------------------

dazmalekpour@hotmail.com