Guitar Hero tapping

Tapping in Guitar Hero is based off of tapping on a real guitar. The object is to hit a long line of 'hammer-ons' and 'pull-offs' by using both hands to press the five colored buttons. Traditionally, the game is played with only one hand pressing the buttons, and the other hand strumming the guitar. Mastering the technique of Guitar Hero tapping can allow the player to play extremely difficult parts of songs, like the beginning of Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce.

Origin
It is possible that Guitar Hero tapping started off when Red Octane produced a series of hammer-ons and pull-offs that was extremely difficult. Some improvising to the normal style of play was needed to beat this particular song, and thus Guitar Hero tapping is born.

Methods
There are many different ways to tap on Guitar Hero, but there are a few very common methods that work.

2-3 Method
This is probably the most common method of tapping. The first strum ( required to complete the hammer-ons and pull-offs afterward without strumming) is played with the elbow. Position the left hand index finger on the green, and the middle finger over the red. On the right hand, the index finger covers the yellow button, the middle finger covers the blue button, and the ring finger covers the orange button. Hold down the first note, strum it with the elbow, then play the remainder of the notes with the fingers that are on the button that corresponds to the next note on the screen.

3-2 Method
This method is less common, but still effective. The strumming is the same (the elbow strum), and the fingers are all places the same, except the yellow note is played with the ring finger on the left hand.

1-4 Method
For this method, still use the elbow strum. The left index finger covers the green note, and the right index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and pinkie finger cover the red, yellow, blue, and orange notes, respectively.

Practicing Tapping
Starting off
To start off learning how to tap in Guitar Hero, one should always start in practice mode, playing on the "slowest" speed setting. This is give one's self time to get used to this style of play. Even if you're a veteran at tapping, you should still start as slowly as possible with a new song, because your fingers haven't yet worked out the pattern of notes.

Speeding up
Once a person masters the slowest speed, it's time to speed it up to "slower". "Mastery" is considered when one can consistently get a very high percentage (usually 85% or above) on the section being practiced. Each time one masters a section with tapping, move up to the next highest speed, until you have mastered the section on Full Speed.

Quick Note
After you master full speed in training mode, you may initially have difficulty playing the section on quick play or career mode, as there is more background noise to cope with, and the solid red fret board in training mode is replaced with a colorful, sometimes more distracting fret board. Just realize it's the same thing as what you've practiced, and you'll be in great shape.

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See Also

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