Satch's Pick Tap Technique Thingy. What motion would this be?

Playing Technique
#1

Until earlier today, I had completely forgot about this little technique Satch has used a couple of times. Mostly notably in the beginning of the Surfing solo and in a section in Raspberry Delta Jam V. I’m sure he’s used it once or twice in later albums but I’m not as familiar with those. Here’s my crappy version of those 2:

I’m not too sure what it would be considered, but it does seem like it’s similar to one of the tapping tests. It’s a bit of a cheat for that since you’re using the string to bounce off of, sort of like a drumstick bouncing off of a head. It’s probably not usable in any other picking context but as an exercise, perhaps it can help with wrist strengthening and/or endurance? I do notice that since I hadn’t done it in… 20 years, that part of me wants to pick it in a regular motion, which itself has a pretty cool texture. Kind of like EJ’s Koto thing…

Either way, it’s a fun thing to do, lol

#2

Not just Satch, its a cool technique overall. Extremely under used. It sounds like Dave Mustaine did it as well on some earlier Megadeth solos.
Herman and Sam sneak it in in a few places in the later solos on this classic. They use this in a couple other songs as well to make those super fast chiptune type video game sounds while tapping.

There’s a trick to this technique as well. If you have your nails grown out for fingerstyle you can tap with the nail on your picking hand middle finger by adjusting the knuckle of the tapping finger. It’s a lot of fun.

With pick in hand I’d describe the motion as a variation on door knocker.

#3

I think there’s another thing Satch used it for but he didn’t tap so much as he rubbed the strings with the side of the pick in a strumming kind of way. Really cool sound.

I’ve honestly never heard DragonForce…. But I have watched his twitch stream quite a few times and would love to see a closeup of his guitar collection. He had a Chrome Boy that I’d always catches my eye when I tune in.

#4

Dragonforce is awesome.
Herman has a killer collection of Ibanez guitars.
That sweep tap solo at 3:20 ish is awesome stuff.

They got a lot of crap for some hit or miss performances in the late 00s when there was a little too much pre gaming before concerts but they are a fantastic band.

#5

I think Kirk Hammett uses this in some solo, and he almost definitely got it from Satch, of course. It’s pretty much pure wrist flexion/extension, hence the speed.

If I remember right, Troy had some video in the past that showed a player (can’t remember who) doing some fast pick-edge tapping, I think perhaps as evidence of the speed capability of flexion/extension.

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#6

Tab books always said the One solo was played like this but I’ve never seen live footage of kirk doing this in that solo its just regular tapping. Even in the music vid it’s just regular tapping.

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#7

Didn’t Randy Rhoads do this in the crazy train solo?

#8

Sounds like regular tapping to me. He double tracked the solo in the studio so it has like a chorusing effect. No idea if theres video of him playing it. The one live vid I know of the camera man decided to film Rudy Sarzo during the most of the solo instead of Randy :upside_down_face:.

#9

I’m getting some memories back. I recall Kirk Hammett’s Guitar World column where he mentioned that he (i.e. Kirk) would sometimes tap with the edge of his pick like his teacher, Satch. Then he mentioned something about Randy being known to do thisl.

Also, I bought a detailed VHS lesson from Kurt Mitchell where he broke down all the riffs/licks in Crazy Train. He mentioned the tapping with the pick edge too and even said some silly corny thing (like he tended to do lol) where it makes it easier to “chic and freak out” when you tap that way lol! I guess he was referencing this hit?

So that doesn’t help us know if Randy tapped that way or not, just more hearsay. At least it helps me remember why I always thought Randy tapped with his pick: Players I looked up too like Kirk and Kurt saying that’s how it was.

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#10

And Yngwie picks every note :wink:
And EVH invented tapping in rock.

#11

I remember this guy! haha Curt, with a C. Can’t quite recall which tape I had of his…

#12

This is dart thrower (i.e. non-reverse) wrist motion. As you correctly guess, it’s exactly the same motion used in snare drumming with an American grip. It’s easy to do for most people, which is why we use it in this lesson in the “blade of death” tapping section. We explicitly discuss the bouncing off the string aspect and how it is different from actual picking:

The goal is just to get any fast tapping happening on a string, then to make minor form changes to turn it into reverse dart picking motion. Not everyone wants to be a death metal player, but this is the easiest “fast” picking motion you can do on a guitar, so for anyone having trouble, let’s start here.

#13

Ah yes, it was Curt with a C. My bad. He’s a good Van Halen imitator too. Very underrated player. During those days I was (still am really) a big Kurt Cobain fan :wink: I guess between that and references to Kirk H are where the K came from lol

We’ve been teaching my son to read the past few years and I’m so often reminded just how stupid the English language is. So many exceptions all over the place. Half the time I only know when things are grammatically correct because of “how it sounds/looks”. Same with spellings. The letter “C” is totally redundant too. We’ve got an S, we’ve got a K. We could totally axe it. Then of course, someone will complain saying we need it for the “Ch” sound. How about we just use a C for that sound then? I know, these are radical ideas. Sorry for the off top rant.

Back on topic, I just tried the Satch tapping and the way I do it just uses the whole arm lol! I guess on that axis it’s rotator cuff movement. That’s the best way for me to “chic and freak out”

#14

The entire phylum of Cnidaria would probably agree… or maybe they like it ncomplicated.

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#15

I just happened to watch this old John Sykes solo from '84 last night, and lo and behold, there’s pick edge tapping (cued up. He also uses “normal” tapping at the beginning of the vid).

There are also a lot of great shots of the picking hand in general, if anyone’s curious.

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#16

Joe from Gojira does the whole tapped solo section from Silvera with the edge of the pick.