Once the basics have been mastered, fret tapping equips a guitarist to play impressively and sound like a professional.
He can use this method of playing in almost any song or instrumental piece and it will sound awesome. He should play it with a very fast tempo which will make the sound crisp and clear.
Hammering on a note means you impact with your left hand finger striking or "hammering" the string and then pushing it down to make contact with the fret. This causes the note to sound.
To execute a pull - off, instead of lifting the finger directly off the string, the finger is moved slightly across the string in a downward direction just before being lifted off the string.
The right hand hammer - on, also causes a note to sound exactly the same way as a right hand hammer - on. Although there are many different approaches, most guitarists using this technique prefer to rest their right hand thumb on the edge of the fretboard to provide a steady anchor for the hand.
As the right hand moves up and down the fretboard to reach different frets, the thumb simply slides along the fretboard.
The right hand pull off technique differs from the left hand version only in that the slight movement of the finger across the string as it is lifted off is in an upwards rather than in a downwards direction.
For other approaches to fret tapping, it is also possible to use the technique in chord playing. This is done by playing two notes on the same string.
First hold down any chord, preferably near the top of the guitar where the nut is when you first try this technique.
The basic idea behind this is to play a right hand hammer - on and pull - off with the right hand finger on each string in turn.
By executing the hammer - on and pull- off twelve frets above the fret for each note of the chord, you will be playing the same notes that are present in the chord, also the notes one octave higher.
If you are playing a G chord and fingering the first string at the third fret and hammering - on and pulling - off at the fifteenth fret the hammer on sound will sound the higher G note and the pull - off will sound the G one octave lower.
Right hand tapping opens a whole new world of playing for the guitarist in that it increases the melodic possibilities of the guitar.
There is fantastic information about these techniques further down if you wish to get serious about your guitar playing, then read on.