Skip to main content
MusicRadar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
UK EditionUK US EditionUS AU EditionAustralia SG EditionSingapore
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Music Gear Reviews
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Controllers
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Guitar Amps
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • Seven Nation Army
  • Avril Lavigne
  • Prince and The Beatles
  • 95k+ free music samples
Don't miss these
Harley Benton ST-80 FR MN
Electric Guitars “Some might say a guitar at this kind of price point has no business resonating so well”: Harley Benton ST-80 FR MN review
Man holding acoustic guitar in front of a silver laptop
Guitar Lessons & Tutorials What are the best online guitar lessons in 2025? I review guitar gear for a living and these are my favourite lessons platforms
Side profile of a person playing a drum kit
Drum Lessons & Tutorials 13 easy drum songs every beginner should learn
Overhead shot of electronic drum set plugged into a laptop running a VST
Drum Lessons & Tutorials “At certain points in music history it became fashionable to place accents on certain beats”: How to score a drum part
Creating chord progressions in Ableton Live
Digital Audio Workstation Creating chords for electronic music: 3 ways to generate more interesting progressions in Ableton Live 12
Logic Drums
Music Production Tutorials How to think like a human drummer when building software beats
James Hetfield plays his white Gibson Explorer live with Metallica in 1986. He wears a black Metallica longsleeve.
Artists Metallica’s Master Of Puppets has been to the Upside Down but this backwards version might be the Strangest Thing you’ll hear this year
Jeff Porcaro
Artists Exploring the genius of Jeff Porcaro's Rosanna Shuffle
Drummer
Drummers 10 tips to help drummers to develop better timing
Paul Gilbert
Recording Four big-name guitarists spill their recording secrets
Bass
Music Production Tutorials 37 heavyweight bass production tips
Music Production Tutorials How to program MIDI drums that sound like the real thing
Greg Mackintosh of Paradise Lost plays his custom 7-string V live onstage with red and white stagelights behind him.
Artists Greg Mackintosh on the secrets behind the Paradise Lost sound and why he is still trying to learn Trouble’s tone tricks
Rick Graham is photographed in a dark setting with a warm stagelight in the background; he holds his new signature electric guitar, a shell-pink S-style with a reverse headstock
Artists Charvel and Rick Graham team up for Pro-Mod signature model with relic'd nitro cult colour finish
pink floyd on stage
Artists "Pink Floyd plays slower than any other mainstream rock band": A music professor breaks down Wish You Were Here
  1. Tutorials
  2. Guitar Lessons & Tutorials

Quick licks: intermediate #8

News
By Guitar Techniques ( Guitar Techniques ) published 21 November 2011

Classical counterpoint and two-hand tapping

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Intermediate lick one: classical counterpoint

Intermediate lick one: classical counterpoint

This short classical etude will help to develop the concept of playing two independent lines at once. The trick is to play both parts in a strong enough manner that they have equal volume and importance. Follow the picking and fretting hand fingerings faithfully for the best result.

Page 1 of 2
Page 1 of 2
Intermediate lick two: Two-handed tapping

Intermediate lick two: Two-handed tapping

The tapping in this line is focused on a single string and the melodic content is reminiscent of JS Bach. All of the notes are on the fourth string except the first note of the third bar. Tap smoothly but percussively so the open string sounds as evenly as the fretted notes and crank up the metronome to 208bpm!

Page 2 of 2
Page 2 of 2
Guitar Techniques
The worlds best high-quality guitar tuition from the UKs foremost teachers and players image
The worlds best high-quality guitar tuition from the UKs foremost teachers and players
Subscribe and save today!
More Info
Read more
Side profile of a person playing a drum kit
13 easy drum songs every beginner should learn
 
 
Overhead shot of electronic drum set plugged into a laptop running a VST
“At certain points in music history it became fashionable to place accents on certain beats”: How to score a drum part
 
 
Creating chord progressions in Ableton Live
Creating chords for electronic music: 3 ways to generate more interesting progressions in Ableton Live 12
 
 
Logic Drums
How to think like a human drummer when building software beats
 
 
James Hetfield plays his white Gibson Explorer live with Metallica in 1986. He wears a black Metallica longsleeve.
Metallica’s Master Of Puppets has been to the Upside Down but this backwards version might be the Strangest Thing you’ll hear this year
 
 
Jeff Porcaro
Exploring the genius of Jeff Porcaro's Rosanna Shuffle
 
 
Latest in Guitar Lessons & Tutorials
Close up of a person holding an acoustic guitar bathed sunlight
Ignite your inner guitar god for just 27 cents a day with TrueFire’s July 4th sale - save 60% on online lessons
 
 
MusicNomad fret tuition
Can you fix your guitar's frets yourself? We try three innovative approaches from MusicNomad to investigate how they might conquer a major cause of fret buzz
 
 
George Harrison
How to play like George Harrison on The Beatles' Abbey Road
 
 
MusicNomad guitar fret cleaning
"You owe your guitar the chance to be its best": How to clean and polish your guitar frets a better way
 
 
Jimmy Page
Play like Jimmy Page! Exclusive video lesson
 
 
Music Theory
How learning and understanding chord symbols can prove a major benefit for sharing your musical ideas
 
 
Latest in News
Musician's Friend Holiday Sale
Musician's Friend just showed patience is overrated with their early Black Friday sale - save up to 50% on D'Angelico, Casio, Shure, Gretsch and more
 
 
Paul and Linda McCartney, plus dog, on their farm, black and white photo
“I was just doing this because it was fun”: Paul McCartney on how he kickstarted his solo career in a remote Scottish farmhouse
 
 
Johnny Marr, English singer Morrissey, English drummer Mike Joyce and English bassist Andy Rourke of The Smiths pose for a portrait before their first show in Detroit during the 1985
“You’d go round the house and Johnny would play some riff in his jimmy-jams”: Mike Joyce remembers the early days of The Smiths
 
 
AUSTIN, TEXAS - OCTOBER 04: Olivia Dean performs in concert during the 2025 Austin City Limits Music Festival at Zilker Park on October 04, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images)
Olivia Dean on writing Man I Need and the Michael Jackson hit that helped to inspire it
 
 
Udio and UMG logoes
Universal and Udio lay down their arms to collaborate on new legal AI music platform
 
 
sds-3
"This analogue synth will blow your mind": Behringer unveils SDS-3, a $249 clone of the classic Simmons drum synth
 
 

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google
  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...