Editing Tapping (section)

==History==
[[File:Nicolo Paganini by Richard James Lane.jpg|thumb|left|[[Niccolò Paganini]], the 19th-century [[violin]] master, one of the first innovators of musical instrument tapping.]]

[[File:HisPastimes.jpg|thumb|right|[[Jazz]] guitarist [[Roy Smeck]], seen in the 1926 short film ''His Pastimes'', was an early popularizer of tapping.]]

Tapping has existed in some form or another for centuries. [[Niccolò Paganini]] (1782–1840) used similar techniques on the [[violin]], striking the string with a bouncing bow articulated by left-hand pizzicato. Paganini considered himself a better guitarist than violinist,{{cn|date=October 2020}} and in fact wrote several compositions for guitar, most famously the "Grand Sonata for Violin and Guitar." His guitar compositions are rarely performed in modern times, though his violin compositions enjoy multiple performances. Some musicologists believe he wrote his 37 violin sonatas on guitar and then transcribed them for violin. Well known to frequent taverns, Paganini was likely exposed to gypsy guitar techniques from Romani, "gypsies." He preferred playing his guitar for tavern customers instead of concert hall audiences.<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Paganini, Nicolo |volume= 20 | page = 449 }}</ref>

Similar to two-hand tapping, ''selpe'' technique is used in Turkish folk music on the instrument called the ''[[bağlama]]''.<ref>{{Citation|last=subutayarikan|title=Erdal Erzincan & Erol Parlak -- KAYTAGI|date=2006-09-15|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkDPYpY9XCM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/XkDPYpY9XCM| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|access-date=2018-08-11}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Tapping techniques and solos on various stringed acoustic instruments such as the banjo have been documented in film, records, and performances throughout the early 20th century. Various musicians have been suggested as the originators of modern two-hand tapping. While one of the earliest players known to use the technique was [[Roy Smeck]] (who used a tapping style on a [[ukulele]] in the 1932 film ''Club House Party''), electric pickup designer [[Harry DeArmond]] developed a two-handed method as a way of demonstrating the sensitivity of his pickups. His friend Jimmie Webster, a designer and demonstrator for [[Gretsch]] guitars, made recordings in the 1950s using DeArmond's technique, which he described in the instructional book ''Touch Method for Electric and Amplified Spanish Guitar'', published in 1952.

[[Image:Enver-izmailov-2009-hofheim-003.jpg|thumb|right|[[Enver Izmailov]], a strictly tapping Ukrainian [[Folk music|folk]] and [[jazz guitarist|jazz]] guitar player in 2009.]]
[[Image:Stanley Jordan 01 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|[[Stanley Jordan]], a jazz guitarist, relies extensively on tapping.]]
[[Vittorio Camardese]] developed his own two-handed tapping in the early 1960s, and demonstrated it in 1965 during an Italian television show.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/UmTQYquqxSY Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20130706203918/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmTQYquqxSY&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Citation|last=Roberto Angelini Official Page|title=Vittorio Camardese ospite a "Chitarra Amore Mio" (RAI-1965) LA NASCITA DEL TAPPING|date=2013-07-02|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmTQYquqxSY|access-date=2018-08-11}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Tapping was occasionally employed by many 1950s and 1960s jazz guitarists such as [[Barney Kessel]], who was an early supporter of [[Emmett Chapman]].

In August 1969, Chapman developed a new way of two-handed tapping with both hands held perpendicular to the neck from opposite sides, thus enabling equal counterpoint capabilities for each hand. To maximize the technique, Chapman designed a 9-string long-scale electric guitar which he called "the Electric Stick" (and later refined as the [[Chapman Stick]]), the most popular dedicated tapping instrument. Chapman's style aligns the right-hand fingers parallel to the frets, as on the left hand, but from the opposite side of the neck. His discovery led to complete counterpoint capability, and a new instrument, the [[Chapman Stick]], and to his "Free Hands" method. Chapman influenced several tapping guitarists, including [[Steve Lynch]] of [[Autograph (American band)|Autograph]], and [[Jennifer Batten]].

The tapping technique began to be taken up by rock and blues guitarists in the late 1960s. One of the earliest such players was [[Canned Heat]] guitarist [[Harvey Mandel]], whom [[Ritchie Blackmore]] claims to have seen using tapping onstage as early as 1968 at the [[Whisky a Go Go]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thehighwaystar.com/interviews/blackmore/rb199102xx.html|title=Ritchie Blackmore, Interviews|website=www.thehighwaystar.com|access-date=2018-08-11}}</ref> [[George Lynch (musician)|George Lynch]] has corroborated this, mentioning that both he and [[Edward Van Halen]] saw Mandel employ "a neo-classic tapping thing" at the [[Starwood (nightclub)|Starwood]] in [[West Hollywood, California|West Hollywood]] during the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://themetalden.com/index.php?p=198|title=ROCKET Interviews George Lynch|last=Cody|first=Randy|date=15 March 2009|website=The Metal Den|access-date=2018-08-11}}</ref> Mandel would use extensive two-handed tapping techniques on his 1973 album ''Shangrenade.'' Another early example of the tapping technique can be heard in [[Terry Kath]]'s "Free Form Guitar" from [[Chicago (band)|Chicago]]'s [[Chicago Transit Authority (album)|debut album]] in 1969. 
[[File:Adt sized.jpg|thumb|[[Greg Howe]] using a [[hair tie]] on the first fret to mute the open strings while tapping with two hands]]
[[Randy Resnick]] (of the band [[Pure Food and Drug Act (band)|Pure Food and Drug Act]], which at one time also featured Mandel) used two-handed tapping techniques extensively in his performances and recordings between 1969 and 1974. Resnick was mentioned in the Edward Van Halen biography<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sanchez|first1=Abel |title=Van Halen 101|date=13 September 2005 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=9781467850117 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0GRwmDdFE8IC&q=van+halen+101}}</ref> for his contribution to the two-handed tapping technique. In reference to Resnick's playing with [[Richard Greene (musician)|Richard Greene And Zone]] at the Whisky a Go-Go in 1974, [[Lee Ritenour]] mentioned in ''Guitar Player'' magazine January 1980 that  "Randy was the first guitarist I ever saw who based his whole style on tapping."{{Citation needed|date=July 2018}} Resnick also recorded using the technique in 1974 on the [[John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers]] album ''Latest Edition'' and has said that he was attempting to duplicate the legato of [[John Coltrane]]'s "Sheets of Sound".
 
[[Steve Hackett]] of [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] also claims to be an inventor of tapping as early as 1971.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/steve-hackett-how-i-invented-finger-tapping-542029|title=Steve Hackett: How I invented finger tapping|date=30 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/15-prog-rocks-best-guitarists-through-years|title = 15 of Prog-Rock's Best Guitarists Through the Years|date = 13 September 2017}}</ref>

Some players such as [[Stanley Jordan]], [[Paul Gilbert]], [[Buckethead]], and [[Steve Vai]] were notably skilled in the use of both hands in an almost piano-like attack on the fretboard.
 
In the mid 1970s two-handed tapping started to break into the mainstream, when Frank Zappa started incorporating it into his songs, and performing them to large TV audiences. [[Edward Van Halen]] went on to popularize the two-handed tapping technique in the late 1970s, originally being inspired by [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] guitarist Hackett's use of the technique.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-07 |title=The 25 Best Classic Era Progressive Rock Albums » PopMatters |url=https://www.popmatters.com/best-classic-progressive-rock-albums/3 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=www.popmatters.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Van Halen himself also claims that his inspiration came from [[Led Zeppelin]] guitarist [[Jimmy Page]]: "I think I got the idea of tapping watching (Page) do his "[[Heartbreaker (Led Zeppelin song)|Heartbreaker]]" solo back in 1971… He was doing a pull-off to an open string and I thought… I can do that, but what if I use my finger as the nut and move it around?"<ref>Eddie Van Halen quoted from Bosso, Joe. “VH1.” In Guitar World Presents Van Halen, ed. Jeff Kitts, Brad Tolinski, and Chris Scapelliti, 14-25. New York: Backbeat Books, 2010. Originally published in ''Guitar World'', April 2008.</ref>