Pick tapping (or pick trilling) is a
legato playing technique for the
guitar, in which the edge of the
pick is used to sharply
trill notes on the instrument's
fretboard at
fast speeds. Whilst trilling can be performed with the fingers of either the fretting or picking hand, using the pick enables faster speeds by means of 'vibrating' (or effectively seizing up) the wrist. The technique should not be confused with regular
tapping, which always makes use of both hands and involves playing at least three or more
notes.
A well-known example is "
Satch Boogie" by
Joe Satriani, in which there is a section that uses pick tapping to produce trills at 22.2 notes per second. Other examples include "
Surfing with the Alien", also by Satriani; "
Inca Roads" by
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...
; and various songs by
DragonForce.
Guitar performance techniques
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