Derryl Gabel – Creative Tapping Techniques
(See also Pentatonic Passages , Cool Legato Phrases, Cool Legato Phrases 2 )
Derryl Gabel is of course no stranger to any fan of Fusion or Shred guitar and indeed, no stranger to this website as I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing other DVD’s of his in the past. I was very excited when Derryl himself contacted me to see if I were interested in reviewing other instructional DVD’s he had produced and in due course three DVD’s were winging their way to me from the USA. This is the first of a series of eviews I aim to write over the coming weeks and chose to start with a subject near to a lot of guitar player’s hearts -- tapping.
Creative Tapping Techniques is an examination of the so-called Spock technique -- the use of multiple picking hand fingers (typically the middle and ring fingers) in order to fret notes in the context of high-speed legato scale or arpeggio phrases.
The DVD starts with an introductory example of Derryl improvising over a fusion groove using both tapping, legato and economy picking techniques and one can’t help but be impressed with the control and speed he exhibits regardless of the technique employed, on top of his high degree of musicallity.
Before making headway into the instructional portion of the DVD he takes the time to comment on the various attributes of a guitar that would lend itself to this style of playing as well as the ubiquitous hair tie (although he makes the point that you should practice without it where possible!). He also gives us a little history of his development of this technique -- in particular his meeting with Derek Taylor and the foundation of the technique in his playing.
The first instructional segment of Creative Tapping Techniques deals with the mechanics of applying two fingers to the neck in terms of muting and hammering/pulling and then applies the technique to a number of simple single-string ideas in order to ensure that you are fully conversant with the how it is applied before moving onto the more complex examples. One thing I will note is that compared to many metal players Derryl really doesn’t use a great deal of gain but his technique is such that every note is absolutely clear regardless of how fast he chooses to play (and believe me, things get quite dazzlingly rapid before the end!
Developing the ideas from there he takes you through 50 examples covering a very wide range of theoretical approaches whilst taking the time to underline a very simple fact that many people forget -- these are not the “be all and end all” of the possibilities of the Spock technique but instead a very thorough foundation for you to build your own musical ideas on.
As a point in case one example mixes a Cm7#11 with an M13Add9 in alternating groups of 8 and 9 notes…another takes 6/9 arpeggios in 7 and 8 note groups, yet another sees you taking the dorian mode to demonstrate string and position shifting while ascending….and in every case he presents the examples with a chordal backing to provoide harmonic context.
Derryl is alone in my experience with providing a .pdf (with suggestions for the relevant chord voicings) Power Tab file and Power Tab itself with his DVD to ensure that as I have said before, you have access to the information in whatever format you wish, whenever you would like to. This is a brilliant feature I wish more people would take advantage of!
There are many DVD’s and book that deal with tapping in all it’s many forms but this particular style has remained somewhat underused by comparison to others. Creative Tapping Techniques is by far the most exhaustive reference library and examination of this technique to date and I can see it having a place in many guitarists library as a source of inspiration and instruction for some time to come - With all the features and depth of information it clearly not only represents great value for money but also a great insight into musical applications rather than dry technical renditions.
Although perhaps not a DVD for the average blues player Creative Tapping Techniques is invaluable for rock, metal and fusion aficionados and as such I have absolutely no hesitation in awarding in full marks alongisde noting a final caveat: You will need to warm up thoroughly and take care not to over-exert yourself if this material is new to you. Although Derryl makes it look easy and the right hand does provide a lot of the actual notes produced there are some wide-stretch and very fast legato lines that require a certain level of technique to get to speed -- so be careful and take regular breaks.
Rating: 
Leave a Reply