TWO-HAND TAPPING SERIOUS ROCK-OUT!

You can forget speed battles and pointy guitars as Paul Bielatowicz shows how to use tapping to create a hot-riffing, classic rock style piece.

For his third and final tapping piece, Paul Bielatowicz sets to it with a blistering solo rock workout guaranteed to get you sweating!

This month we complete our series on two-handed tapping with a classic rock-style piece. For many guitarists, the words ‘two handed tapping’ conjure images of speed battles and pointy guitars, but there’s a whole lot more to the technique – even when playing rock. Aside from its face-melting solo applications, tapping can give us a huge pallete of new sounds for rhythm parts and classic rock riffs. Using two hands instead of one gives us access to wider intervals, inspires unexpected note choices and can offer your groovy riffs a smooth legato sound otherwise unachievable with only one hand on the fretboard.

As has been discussed in previous columns, two-handed tapping is by no means a new technique. Neither is it exclusive to the electric guitar or any specific style. In fact, musicians have probably been experimenting with it for as long as the instrument has existed. There are some great examples of guitarists using it in the most creative ways over the past 60 years; many of these examples can be found with a quick Google or YouTube search. It might be argued that the creative possibilities of the guitar are doubled when you add another fretting hand into the equation; perhaps that’s why people are still finding new ways to use the technique today.

With this in mind, I’ve written a classic rock style instrumental piece that contains something for everyone - and there’s not a picked note in sight! There’s a moody Led Zeppelin-style ballad intro that uses tapping rather than finger picking – giving you the advantage of being able to sustain notes in one hand while the other hand changes position. There are also some juicy classic rock riffs, which again make good use of digits from both hands. And, of course, there’s the obligatory blistering solo tapping licks too – how could we resist? So, put your picks away, trim those finger-picking nails, flex those digits and let’s get stuck in.

two-hand tapping is by no means a new technique. neither is it exclusive to the electric guitar or any specific style

NEXT MONTH Will McNicol begins a two-parter with acoustic genius Antonio Forcione

Paul Bielatowicz challenges us to a stonking two-handtapped rocker!

Paul Bielatowicz arranges and tabs his own solo rock tapping workout

To recreate the kind of sound I used for this piece you’ll need a nice crisp, clean tone for the intro and outro sections and a moderate amount of gain for a classic rock distorted riff. A splash of reverb or delay will add ambience and make it all...