Free Hands is the name of
Emmett Chapman's two-handed
tapping
Tapping is a playing technique that can be used on any stringed instrument, but which is most commonly used on guitar. The technique involves a string being fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion. This is in contrast to stand ...
method of parallel hands used on his
Chapman Stick instrument, and on several other Stick-inspired instruments. Chapman first published his tapping lessons in book form in 1976, and called his method book ''Free Hands: A New Discipline of Fingers on Strings''.
Chapman's method of tapping was the first to facilitate equal access to the strings by aligning the right hand's fingers parallel to the frets, the same orientation as the left hand's, but coming from over the neck instead of under.
Guitarists
Notable guitarists that frequently utilize Free Hands or a similar technique include:
*
Enver İzmaylov
*
Andy McKee
Andy McKee (born April 4, 1979, in Topeka, Kansas) is an American fingerstyle guitar player who has released six studio albums, three extended plays, and one live album to date. A number of YouTube videos featuring McKee's highly-technical gui ...
*
Zack Kim
*
Stanley Jordan
Stanley Jordan (born July 31, 1959) is an American jazz guitarist noted for his playing technique, which involves tapping his fingers on the fretboard of the guitar with both hands.
Music career
Jordan was born in Chicago, Illinois, United St ...
*
Adam Fulara
*
T.J. Helmerich
*
Dominic Frasca
*
I Wayan Balawan
*
Buckethead
Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist. He has received critical acclaim for his innovative and virtuosic electric guitar playing.
Buckethead's extensive solo discography currentl ...
*
Michael Angelo Batio
Michael Angelo Batio ( ; born June 12, 1956), also known as Michael Angelo, Mike Batio or MAB, is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal guitarist. He was the lead guitarist for the glam metal band Nitro (band), Nitro in the late 1980s and ...
*
Chris Broderick
Christopher Alan Broderick (born March 6, 1970) is an American musician, best known as a former guitarist of the thrash metal band Megadeth. He is also formerly the lead guitarist for Jag Panzer, appearing on four albums between 1998 and 2004. ...
*
Michael Hedges
Michael Alden Hedges (December 31, 1953 – December 2, 1997) was an American acoustic guitarist and songwriter. He was known as a virtuoso who used unorthodox playing techniques, and much of his output was classified as new age music. Hedges ...
*
Phil Keaggy
Philip Tyler Keaggy (born March 23, 1951) is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 55 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the contemporary Christian music and mainstream markets. H ...
*
Pierre Bensusan
*
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...
*
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he founded with his brother Alex V ...
External links
Evolution of a Musical Art
* (patent)
Guitar performance techniques
{{guitar-stub