Guitar World “Last Licks” Video Lesson on 2 Handed Tapping by Martin Goulding
For the April 2012 edition of Guitar World magazine which features the great Eddie Van Halen on the front cover, I put together my back cover column “Last Licks” showcasing some elements of the 2 Handed Tapping style, including examples in the style of EVH, Randy Rhoads, Reb Beach, Steve Vai and Greg Howe. For the audio I used an Axe FX II set up with a hot rodded Marshall JCM800 type sound with a TS808 type tubescreamer, then straight to an Apogee ensemble card into a Mac Pro. For Video, a Canon 60D and FCP X for editing. Many thanks go to my student and friend Irene Ketikidi for the loan of the guitar which is a EVH customised Charvel. Rock! The supporting video goes into some detail breaking down the examples in a way that will be accessible for intermediate level players and quick work for more advanced players! The main focus is muting the un-played notes to get good clarity on the notes played and generally checking the effectiveness of the muting techniques between the two hands, especially on the Vai and Howe examples, along with breaking down the ideas and counting through beat by beat, creating repetition fragments for any problem areas. Some licks can be broken down into complete practice routines, and you may find that practicing one technique in detail will have positive knock-on effects to the other areas of your playing.
