This lesson will look at the advanced guitar techniques used by modern rock, metal and shred guitarists. Players such as Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Ywngie Malmsteen and Guthrie Govan are frequent users of these guitar techniques that include 2 hand tapping, pick slides,pinch harmonics, sweep picking and whammy bar dives/pull ups. These flashy techniques can impress your audience especially if they’re into 80s rock guitar and metal.
2 Hand Tapping
Eddie Van Halen is the player most associated with 2 hand tapping making a prominent technique in many Van Halen songs and a feature of the instrumental workout Eruption from the first Van Halen album. 2 hand tapping uses the fretting and picking hands to hammer on and pull off notes on the fret board with the picking hand fingers tapping out the higher pitched notes.
2 hand tapping is often used to play fastar peggios licks on a single string that would be very difficult if not impossible to play using just the fretting hand. Check out the example below in the style of Eddie Van Halen’s Eruption.
When tapping it helps to stabilise the tapping (right) hand by resting the thumb on the top of the guitar neck.
It also helps to have a guitar tone with overdrive or distortion as it will give the notes more sustain making them easier to tap out.
2 Hand Tapping With Bends
Another technique pioneered by Van Halen was to incorporate tapping into string bends. In the example below the note is bent then a higher notes are tapped with the picking hand higher up the guitar neck before the bend is released. This creates unexpected higher notes in addition to the bent note that people are used to hearing in blues and rock solos.
Pick Slides
Pick slides are a guitar technique that involves sliding the pick down the strings to create an abrasive sound. Players known for using this technique include Gary Moore, Angus Young, Eddie Van Halen and many more.
A pick slide is played by holding the edge of the pick against any of the three low wound strings (E A & D) and sliding it along the string. The pick edge scratches the string’s windings producing percussive sound, a bit like a guiro. The pick slide pitch lowers as the pick moves up to the neck towards the nut. Most pick slides are played in this direction and are used as a dramatic effect in a song.
Pinch Harmonics
Pinch harmonics (also called Artificial Harmonics)create a high squealing sound that is associated with players such as Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne/Black Label Society), Dimebag Darrell (Pantera) and others. Compared to natural harmonics which are played by lightly placing the fingers of the fretting hand over the 12th, 7th and 5th frets, pinch harmonics are played by having the edge of the picking hand thumb lightly touch the string as it is plucked. Check out the picture below to see how the pick is held and what part of the thumb touches the string.
Where the plucking hand is placed along the string will also vary the pitch of the harmonic note. If the hand is not in the right location it will not work! To help the pinch harmonics ring out clearly it is also recommend to have an overdriven or distorted guitar tone. Another tip is to use the bridge pickup as it is brighter than the neck pickup marking the harmonics ring out louder.
Pinch harmonics can be used on open string or fretted notes. They can also be used on bends to create cool effects. Another great thing about pinch harmonics is that they can create multiple pitches from one fretted note depending on where the plucking hand is placed. Experiment with various picking locations on a note while observing where your picking hand is to find the sweet spot. Check out the example below.
Sweep Picking
Sweep Picking is a technique where multiple notes (often creating an arpeggio)are played quickly across multiple strings of the guitar with the pick moving in one direction with a sweeping motion. The challenge of this technique is ensuring that the notes are played separately with none of them overlapping or ringing out simultaneously. To do this the fingers must move quickly releasing pressure once the note has been played to mute it. The movement of the fretting hand must exactly match the movement of the picking hand sweep. Check out the example below and when practicing ensure that you follow the correct fingering.
Whammy Bar Dives & Pull Ups
This extreme sound uses the guitar whammy or tremolo bar to pitch shift single or multiple notes. Traditionally the tremolo bar was used to create a vibrato effect on chords and notes. Bands such as The Shadows from the 50s/60s are a great an example of this.
Jimi Hendrix expanded the use of the tremolo bar further by adding distortion/overdrive for longer sustain which allowed him to create dive bomb effects and other sounds never heard out of a guitar before. To get an idea of what this sounds like just listen to his version of Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock.
Building on this rock players such as Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Kirk Hammet used harmonics and the locking tremolo system to a greater extent – pulling notes up as well as down in pitch.The advent of the locking tremolo/whammy bar such as the Floyd Rose System helped to keep the guitar in tune after such extreme string abuse!
Once you get these advanced guitar techniques down see how you can incorporate them into your own lead guitar playing to knock the socks off the audience at your next 80s rock/shred/metal gig.