Hello, my name is Don Lappin and I am thrilled to be writing this four article series for Mel Bay's "Guitar Sessions". I am a rock guitarist/composer/instructor and I teach on the Guitar Department at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

At Berklee, each faculty member (there are roughly 65 of us!) is known for his or her area of expertise. My area of expertise is a two-hand tapping technique that I have developed over the past 20 years or so. I thought it would be fun to talk about this technique in this article series.

This article is devoted to the melody of one of my tunes, "Fine Lines". The entire melody is tapped. Go ahead and check out the tune.

Before we dive into the tune, we need to talk about proper hand positioning of the right hand. First, place your right hand thumb on top of the neck as an anchor point. The anchor point is important for both accuracy and leverage. Hold your hand at a 45 degree angle in relation to the neck. The 45 degree angle is important because it will allow you to execute your hammer-ons and pull-offs correctly. This angle is also important when playing across adjacent strings. We will talk more about that later. Finally, keep your right hand fingers arched. This also helps with accuracy and strength.

I tap using the index, middle, and ring finger of my right hand. These are labeled T1, T2, and T3 respectively in the music notation. All of my attack and tone come from my hammer-ons and pull-offs. The goal is to sound as though I am using a guitar pick; even though I am not using one. My hammer-ons are executed by tapping firmly on the fretboard just behind the intended fret. My pull-offs are executed by pulling off in an upwards motion. In fact, I am "almost" plucking the string as if I were playing fingerstyle guitar. This upwards style of pull-off is essential because the vast majority of my technique involves pulling off from one right hand finger to another right hand finger. We will be talking much more about that in future articles.

The melody of Fine Lines can be broken down into three sections; measures 1-8, measures 9-12, and measures 13-16. I thought it would be best to look at each section one at a time. Let's begin with measures 1-8.

This section involves the use of an ostinato which is played with the right (tapping) hand. Overall this is the easiest section to play and involves all hammer-ons. Start off with the first two measures and repeat them until you have it down. Be especially careful with the second measure; it is a bit tricky at first. The notes of each hand should be equally strong and all of the notes should be separated without any notes held over into other notes. Be sure to stick to the indicated fingerings; they are important and will help you. Measures five and six are identical to the first two measures.

This section is essentially the same as the first section except it modulates up two frets into the key of D minor. This section is also a bit trickier because the right hand ostinato is a bit more involved. Be sure to study the notation closely and listen to both the slow and fast audio examples. Once again, the indicated fingerings are important so be sure to stick to them. Practice everything slowly and in time to a metronome. Slowly increase the speed as you become more comfortable with the line. Combine both sections together once you feel ready. You may find it necessary to temporarily slow things down again until you feel comfortable.

This is the most difficult section to play. It involves an arpeggiated line that is played through the chord progression. All of the playing is divided equally between both hands. Take your time and learn one measure at a time. The challenge of this section is that it is necessary to play across adjacent strings with the right hand. This is a little tricky if you are not use to doing that. Be sure to stick to the indicated fingerings no matter what. They are very important; especially in this section. Make sure that all of your pull-offs are in an upward motion; as though you are plucking the string. They should sound as strong as your hammer-ons. Begin connecting the measures together as you get comfortable with the line. Once you feel ready, begin putting the enter melody together. Again, make sure that all of your notes ring out nice and strong. The entire melody should be played in time to a metronome.

If you are interested, you can see a video clip of me playing the entire tune. It is on my website, www.donlappin.com. It is located on the video page. I believe that seeing me play the tune will help you out tremendously. Anyway, that's it for now. Next time we will continue on with some more tapping ideas. See you then!