Tapping – Descending Target Drill
Each measure the tapping hand drops one fret lower (from 17 down to 12), then climbs back up. The left hand stays frozen at fret 5. You cannot slide your way to the target — every tap must land accurately on a new fret from above. Trains right-hand spatial awareness and fret targeting.
Tablature
First few measures of the exercise.
How to Practice
- 1Lock your left-hand index finger on fret 5, string 1 — it does not move for the whole exercise.
- 2Measures 1–6: tap fret descends from 17 to 12, one fret lower each measure.
- 3Measures 7–12: tap fret ascends from 12 back to 17.
- 4Each measure: tap → pull-off, four times in 8th notes — two beats tap, two beats pull.
- 5Say the target fret number out loud as you enter each new measure to keep yourself oriented.
Tips & Techniques
- •Look at the fretboard when learning — there is no shame in visual targeting at first.
- •Notice which frets feel 'long' (12-17 area) versus 'short' (5-12 area).
- •As you descend, the tapping interval gets smaller — pay attention to pitch drift.
- •The pull-off snap should stay consistent regardless of how far up the tap is.
- •Challenge mode: close your eyes at slow tempo and count the frets by feel.
Ready to Practice?
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Ćwicz teraz →Related Exercises
Tapping – Simple Melody
An Am pentatonic melody on the high e string where both the tapped note and the pull-off target move independently. Every two notes form a melodic interval — a descending third, a fifth, a step. Quarter note pace so every note has room to breathe.
Tapping – Two-Voice Phrase
A two-string tapping phrase where both voices move independently — no note stays the same twice in a row. String 1 carries the upper melody, string 2 echoes a third below. Both the tap note and the pull-off target vary each half bar, so the hands are always doing something different.
Tapping Triadic Cascades
Two-handed tapping triads on strings 1-2. Tap the high note with your picking hand, then pull-off and hammer-on with the fretting hand. Builds clean articulation and muting control.
Melodic Tapping Compositions
Flowing melodic lines using tapping as the primary technique. Move beyond patterns into actual musical phrases across multiple strings.