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Tapping mini-course

Drake Kennedy said:
Alvaro, you rock. I've been wanting to learn how to tap for a while, but never got around to it in lessons, nor have found anywhere to buy a DVD, but this has really helped. Gracias!

On another note, how long have you been speaking English? Your pronunciation and grammar is a lot better than some native speakers I know :rolleyes:

I'm glad you find the videos useful, Drake. About my English, well, I took my first lessons at primary school when I was 7 (2nd and 3rd grade). Then my family moved to another city -my hometown, actually- and my new school didn't have English for primary levels, so I had to wait until I got into high school. Those were four years studying English and two more studying French, but I think that what really helped me is that I like languages a lot. In fact, I feel very disappointed to see that so few musicians here can handle the English language decently since that isn't just a "hobby" nowadays. It's a true necessity. I feel so happy that I've been able to take advantage of the true power of the Internet thanks to my interest in English. Unfortunately, my listening skills are really weak compared with my reading and writing (both of which need improvement, of course). Thanks for your comments on my pronunciation! I know I can do it fine, but lack of practice makes my tongue to twist so often.
 
Drake Kennedy said:
Wow! I just saw the last 'lesson,' where you play Cathedral. I don't know how Van Halen himself played it, but I would suggest a volume pedal of some sort for the last part. Thanks again!

As I said in the video, the really hard part of that piece is swelling the volume knob. That's how Eddie plays it (no volume pedals of any kind). Still have problems synchronizing that movement with my left hand. The weird thing is: I only have problems with the effect activated. When I play "Cathedral" without the delay, I can get the fade-in effect for each note pretty easily.
 
Alvaro!

You ruined my day! :)

I sat down to take a quick look a today's messages and ended up blowing my whole morning learning your example (I'm not very coordinated, so it took a while).

Lol!

I was supposed to be getting some work done. Doh!

Thanks for the great lesson!

Tony


ps. In case it helps any of the independence challenged out there like me, I learned the Piano Riff example playing the left hand part along with only a single note on the right hand part (I just played the top note of each chord). Once I had the coordination of the two hands working I then added the double stops in the right hand part. This seemed to make it easier for me. Your mileage may vary....
 
Tony Oppenheim said:
Alvaro,

I'm a sucker for those latin rhythms! If you post them I'll be playing them. Or trying to anyway. Lol!

Thanks!

Tony

Hey Tony, nice to see you here! Remember the hangs at that 48th street store, Art & something or other ... Anyways, hope your good.

Easy,
Ruben Rodriguez
 
Hey Rubén! Glad to hear from you!


Tony Oppenheim said:
Alvaro,

I'm a sucker for those latin rhythms! If you post them I'll be playing them. Or trying to anyway. Lol!

Thanks!

Tony

OK. Try this one:

Tappedclave.jpg


Use your index and ring fingers for the left hand taps. You can listen to it Link Removed (and Link Removed is a slower version).

Please notice: I want to upload the audio files to PutFile.com, but it's undergoing maintenance right now and uploads aren't working. I had to use YouSendIt.com instead, so these files will be available for one week only. Anyway, I'll upload them to PutFile as soon as it is working again.

Have fun! :)
 
Alvaro, como estas? Everything here is OK, considering I've lost some VIP's in my life. Victor Venegas, my first bass teacher and Ray Barretto, who I'd been working with on/off for some 20+ yrs. You know, I'm going to start practicing my tumbao/guajeo tapping thang again .... if I can only find the time:-\ Stay well.

Easy,
RR
 
Rodriguez said:
Alvaro, como estas? Everything here is OK, considering I've lost some VIP's in my life. Victor Venegas, my first bass teacher and Ray Barretto, who I'd been working with on/off for some 20+ yrs. You know, I'm going to start practicing my tumbao/guajeo tapping thang again .... if I can only find the time:-\ Stay well.

Easy,
RR

I saw the news about Ray Barretto's death. What a loss, man.
 
Alvaro Martín Gómez A. said:
Tappedclave.jpg


Use your index and ring fingers for the left hand taps. You can listen to it Link Removed (and Link Removed is a slower version).

Please notice: I want to upload the audio files to PutFile.com, but it's undergoing maintenance right now and uploads aren't working. I had to use YouSendIt.com instead, so these files will be available for one week only. Anyway, I'll upload them to PutFile as soon as it is working again.

...and here they are:

Link Removed

Link Removed