tapping
A guitar technique where both hands tap notes directly on the fretboard.
In Depth
Two-handed tapping allows guitarists to play rapid, wide-interval passages impossible with conventional picking. The right hand taps notes on the fretboard while the left hand provides hammer-ons and pull-offs, effectively turning the guitar into a keyboard-like instrument. Eddie Van Halen popularised the technique in rock with Eruption (1978), though jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan had explored it independently.
Eddie Van Halen was so protective of his tapping technique that he would turn his back to the audience during solos so other guitarists could not steal his method.