Two-Hand Tapping on Guitar: Van Halen Style and Beyond

1 What Is Tapping?

Tapping (also called two-hand tapping) is a technique where you use one or more fingers from your picking hand to tap notes on the fretboard, in addition to your fretting hand. By combining tapped notes with hammer-ons and pull-offs from both hands, you can play wide-interval arpeggios, lightning-fast scale runs, and patterns that would be impossible with conventional fretting and picking alone.

While tapping existed before Eddie Van Halen, it was his explosive use of the technique on "Eruption" in 1978 that brought it into the mainstream and changed electric guitar forever. Since then, tapping has been developed further by players like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Randy Rhoads, and in more extreme forms by Stanley Jordan and Tosin Abasi.

The core concept is simple: your picking-hand finger acts like an extra fretting finger, hammering onto a fret and pulling off just like your fretting hand does. Because your picking hand can reach frets that are far from your fretting hand's position, tapping enables wide interval leaps—spanning an octave or more in a single fluid motion—that give the technique its distinctive, dramatic sound.

Tapping works best on electric guitar with some gain or distortion, which helps sustain the tapped notes. It is possible on acoustic guitar but requires much more finger strength because there is no amplification to boost the quieter tapped notes. If you are just starting out, practice on an electric with moderate gain.

2 Basic Single-Finger Tapping Mechanics

Most tapping starts with a single finger from the picking hand—usually the index or middle finger. To prepare, you can either hold the pick between your thumb and middle finger (freeing the index finger to tap), tuck the pick into your palm, or simply set the pick down. Many players prefer to tap with the middle finger so they can keep holding the pick normally.

The tapping motion is essentially a hammer-on performed by your picking hand. Bring your finger down sharply onto the fret, making contact just behind the fret wire. The strike should be quick and decisive—the faster the tap, the louder and cleaner the note. After tapping, you pull off by flicking the string sideways (usually downward, toward the floor) as you lift your finger, which sounds the next note held by your fretting hand.

Basic Tap and Pull-Off:
e|--T12p7---T12p7---T12p7---T12p7--|
   (T = tap with picking hand)
   (p = pull off to fretting hand)

Tap, Pull-Off, Hammer-On:
e|--T12p7h8---T12p7h8---T12p7h8---|

Three-Note Tapping Sequence:
e|--T12p8p5---T12p8p5---T12p8p5---|
   (tap 12, pull to 8, pull to 5)
        

String muting is absolutely essential when tapping. Without it, the open strings and adjacent strings will ring sympathetically, creating a messy wall of unwanted noise. Use the palm of your fretting hand to mute strings below the one you are playing. Some players also use a hair tie or cloth wrapped around the nut to dampen open strings.

Start on the high E string, which is the easiest string to tap on because it requires the least force and produces the least sympathetic noise from other strings. Once your technique is clean on the high E, gradually work across to the B and G strings.

3 The Classic Van Halen Tapping Pattern

The most famous tapping pattern in guitar history is the one Eddie Van Halen used in "Eruption." It is a three-note pattern on a single string: tap a high note, pull off to a lower fretted note, then pull off (or hammer on) to an even lower note. Repeated rapidly, this creates a dazzling cascade of notes that sounds impossibly fast.

"Eruption" Style Pattern (A Minor):
e|--T12p8p5---T12p8p5---T12p8p5---T12p8p5--|

Moving the Tap Note (over Am chord):
e|--T12p8p5---T15p8p5---T17p8p5---T19p8p5--|

Moving the Pattern Down Strings:
e|--T12p8p5------------------------------|
B|----------T13p8p5----------------------|
G|------------------T12p7p5-------------|
D|--------------------------T12p7p5------|
        

The three notes in this pattern form a triad arpeggio. By changing the tap note while keeping the fretting-hand notes in place, you can outline different chords and move through chord progressions at blinding speed. For example, tapping the 12th fret over a 5-8 fretting pattern gives you an A minor arpeggio. Moving the tap to the 15th fret gives you a C major arpeggio.

Practice the basic three-note pattern slowly at first. Set a metronome to 60 BPM and play the pattern as eighth-note triplets (three notes per beat). Focus on making all three notes equally loud and clean. The tap should not be louder than the pull-offs, and neither pull-off should be weaker than the other. Evenness is everything.

Once the pattern is clean and even at a slow tempo, gradually increase speed. The pattern becomes truly exciting at fast tempos, but only if every note is articulate. A sloppy, uneven tapping pattern at high speed just sounds like noise. Take the time to build it right.

4 Tapping Arpeggios Across Strings

Once you are comfortable tapping on a single string, the next step is moving the tapping pattern across multiple strings. This allows you to play full chord arpeggios that span the entire range of the guitar. The basic approach is to perform the tap-pull-off-pull-off pattern on one string, then move to the next string and repeat with a different set of fret positions.

Am Arpeggio (tapped across strings):
e|--T12p8p5-----------------------------|
B|----------T12p8p5---------------------|
G|------------------T12p9p5-------------|
D|--------------------------T12p10p7----|

Em Arpeggio Tapping:
e|--T12p7p5---T12p7p5------------------|
B|------------------T12p8p5---T12p8p5--|

Full Am Sweep Tap (ascending):
e|--------------------------T17p12------|
B|-------------------T13p8-------------|
G|------------T14p9----------------------|
D|-----T14p10-----------------------------|
A|--T12p7---------------------------------|
        

Cross-string tapping requires careful muting. When you move from one string to the next, the previous string needs to be silenced immediately. Use a combination of your fretting hand's fingers lying flat across the unused strings and your tapping finger naturally muting the string it just left.

Tapping arpeggios are closely related to sweep picking, and many advanced players combine both techniques. A sweep across strings followed by a tap at the top of the arpeggio creates a dramatic, climbing effect that is a staple of neoclassical and progressive rock guitar.

5 Multi-Finger Tapping

Once single-finger tapping is solid, you can expand to using multiple picking-hand fingers to tap. This opens up possibilities for tapping melodies, chords, and even independent two-hand parts on the guitar. Players like Steve Vai, Tosin Abasi, and Stanley Jordan have pushed multi-finger tapping to extraordinary levels.

Start by adding a second tapping finger. If you normally tap with your middle finger, add your index finger (or ring finger) to tap a second note. A common exercise is to alternate taps between two picking-hand fingers on the same string at different frets, combined with fretting-hand notes.

Two-Finger Tapping:
e|--T1-12--T2-15--p8--p5---T1-12--T2-15--p8--p5--|
   (T1 = index tap, T2 = middle tap)

Four-Note Tapping Pattern (two tapping fingers):
e|--T15-T12-p8-p5---T15-T12-p8-p5---|

Chord Tapping (tap two strings simultaneously):
e|--T12---------------------------------|
B|--T13---------------------------------|
   (both fingers tap at the same time)
        

Multi-finger tapping requires even more attention to muting than single-finger tapping. With multiple fingers flying around near the fretboard, it is very easy to accidentally brush adjacent strings. A fret wrap (a dampening band placed over the strings near the nut) becomes almost essential at this level.

The most extreme form of tapping is "touch style" or "eight-finger tapping," where both hands tap on the fretboard simultaneously, like playing a piano. The fretting hand handles bass notes and chords while the picking hand handles melody and harmony. This approach, pioneered by players like Stanley Jordan and developed in instruments like the Chapman Stick, represents the furthest evolution of the tapping concept.

Even if you never pursue full eight-finger tapping, learning to use two or three picking-hand fingers to tap will dramatically expand your musical vocabulary and give you options that most guitarists do not have.

6 Common Problems and Solutions

The number one tapping problem is unwanted string noise. Open strings ring sympathetically, adjacent strings get bumped, and the result is a messy, chaotic sound. The solution is aggressive muting: use every available part of both hands to dampen strings you are not playing. Your fretting-hand index finger should lay flat across the lower strings, your tapping hand's unused fingers should hover close to the strings (or lightly touch them), and consider using a fret wrap at the nut.

Weak tapped notes are the second most common issue. If your tapped notes are significantly quieter than your fretted notes, you are not striking the fretboard with enough speed and precision. The tap should be a quick, sharp strike directly behind the fret wire. Practice tapping individual notes in isolation until they ring as loudly and clearly as a normally picked note.

Uneven rhythm in tapping patterns is another frequent problem. The tap-pull-off-pull-off sequence should be evenly spaced in time, but many players rush the pull-offs. Use a metronome and slow the pattern down until all three notes are perfectly even. Record yourself and listen back to check for rhythmic accuracy.

Accuracy is also a challenge, especially at higher frets where the frets are closer together. Many players miss the target fret, landing between frets or on the fret wire, which produces a buzzing, dead sound. Practice accuracy by tapping slowly and deliberately, hitting the sweet spot behind the fret wire every time. Speed will come after accuracy is established.

7 Practice Exercises and Lick Library

Here is a progressive set of tapping exercises, from basic to advanced. Practice each one with a metronome and do not move to the next exercise until the current one is clean and even.

Exercise 1: Basic Tap (high E string only)
e|--T12p7p5---T12p7p5---T12p7p5---T12p7p5--|

Exercise 2: Moving Tap Note
e|--T12p7p5---T14p7p5---T15p7p5---T17p7p5--|

Exercise 3: Cross-String Arpeggio (Am)
e|--T12p8p5--------------------------------|
B|----------T12p8p5------------------------|
G|------------------T12p9p5----------------|
D|--------------------------T12p10p7--------|

Exercise 4: Repeating Tapping Lick
e|--T12p7h8p7---T12p7h8p7---T12p7h8p7----|
   (4 notes per cycle: tap, pull, hammer, pull)

Exercise 5: Two-String Tapping Lick
e|--T15p12---T15p12--------------------------|
B|----------T13p10---T13p10------------------|
e|--T15p12---T15p12--------------------------|
B|----------T13p10---T13p10------------------|
        

Exercise 1 is your starting point. Get this three-note pattern completely clean and even before anything else. Exercise 2 moves the tap note to different frets while keeping the fretting-hand notes the same, which is how you change chords in a tapping context.

Exercise 3 takes the pattern across strings, building the cross-string coordination needed for tapped arpeggios. Exercise 4 adds a hammer-on to the sequence, creating a four-note repeating pattern that sounds incredible at speed.

As your tapping develops, combine it with other techniques you have learned. A tapping section in the middle of a solo that otherwise uses conventional picking, bends, and vibrato creates maximum dramatic impact. Tapping is most effective when used as a contrast to other techniques, not as the only trick in your bag.