Most people exploring new bass techniques usually come over one thing or the other. Tapping or slapping. Well this is a tapping lesson so forget about the slapping for now. They work well togeather but that is much later on. The simplest and most common type of tapping is percussive tapping. Unlike contrapuntal (which I covered in a previous lesson) in this type your two hands work togeather to form one melody. Depending on how far you want to take it these melodies can be extremely fast and complex, espicially when combined with other techniques such as hammer-ons and pull-offs. Anyone ever hear Eddie VanHalen's Eruption guitar solo? That solo utilizes percussive tapping combined with pull-offs. Since the ActiveBass line builder doesn't have a feature for pull-offs I will use an original bass tune for the example, later on in the lesson.
In my last lesson I discussed using open string notes to allow for a jump to a higher part of the neck. Unfortunately that technique cannot be accomplished in all songs. That is where percussive tapping comes in handy. You can use your left-hand to tap a low G and your right hand to tap a high B# or whatever the case may be.
The technique for tapping is the bring a finger down on the note which is to be voiced. The note should ring out clearly if you've done it right. Eventually you should be able to do this with 8 of your fingers, some can do it with all ten, not me. Go to the next page to learn the example.