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AMAZING Lap Guitar Demonstration..How does he do this?? watch!

5min.com — Guitarist shows off his special talent of playing guitar on his lap.

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  • furbyboy, on 03/24/2008, -1/+63As old as the hills themselves.......but still cool!
  • Butlerlev, on 03/24/2008, -9/+2Epic.
    • sharpie05, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2Its a shame, because Im willing to be most of you will never actually buy his album, and will forget about him in the next week or so. He deserves the support- ALL of his music really is amazing.
  • theysayjump, on 03/24/2008, -12/+19AUGUST RUSH!
    • imashmuck, on 03/24/2008, -3/+1I just watched that movie yesterday. One heck of a movie and that kid was phenomenal. Robin Williams was great in it as well.
    • gr4yscale, on 03/24/2008, -2/+2I ***** love that movie
    • HOTM, on 03/25/2008, -0/+2That was the most unrealistic movie ever......

      That's what I thought of first though, haha
    • jcani, on 03/25/2008, -0/+1needs moar Keri Russell
  • registrateduser, on 03/24/2008, -9/+5Who is this guy?
    • Puppetx, on 03/24/2008, -2/+15eric mongrain
    • om3ga, on 03/24/2008, -1/+13*Erik
    • k1dN1c, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2he recently put out his first album 'fates'.. its got this song and some other great stuff on there if you're in to guitar or just a music enthusiast.
      • om3ga, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1I love "Fusions". He's put the tab with his notes for that song on his website!
  • borez, on 03/24/2008, -4/+28Next up... bum flute.
  • dangerousLEH, on 03/24/2008, -7/+43Seriously? Erik Mongrain again? I mean the guy's amazing but if anything buy his CD and quit "digging" the song airtap over and over again.
  • davidwasman, on 03/24/2008, -3/+55"How does he do this??"

    uh...with his hands?
    • dpcamp, on 03/24/2008, -1/+10just tune your guitar to an open tuning and tap away!

      • ayeroxor, on 03/24/2008, -3/+1for about 5 years or so. Then at least you might sound like you're trying to sound like this.
    • bbardlbradd, on 03/24/2008, -1/+1 Yeah, I used to do this all of the time w/ my electric guitar. I never made music with it, but I already had the idea... I'd imagine this is a lot harder than it looks though.
      • ayeroxor, on 03/24/2008, -1/+8It's about 100x easier to tap on an electric guitar than an acoustic.
        • capiCrimm, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1not really, it's just easier to do it incorrectly hammer and let the amp do the work for you.

          Plus, most of these lap guitars have a lower action and a higher amp volume anyway so that it's easier to tap.
    • davidrools, on 03/24/2008, -12/+1and with some lame external effects to make his acoustic guitar sound like a keyboard
      • ayeroxor, on 03/24/2008, -0/+14Um, no, dumbass. That's called a harmonic. Who's lame again?
        • cruzer2727, on 03/24/2008, -1/+6Harmonics it is. He just taps the strings so that they vibrate a lot faster which increases the pitch giving it that "keyboard sound". 5th 7th and 12th frets are the best for them.
          • capiCrimm, on 03/24/2008, -0/+3if you only want open notes, yes. However, you can play a natural harmonic on any fret. For example, if you fret the first fret there is now a natural harmonic on the 13th fret. There are also pinch or artificial harmonics which can be played at any note and the obvious tap harmonics.
    • Aldrenean, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1If it's an acoustic electric, that would explain the odd tone, but it would be just as easy to get those sounds by playing lots of harmonics.
  • travbrack, on 03/24/2008, -2/+27If you like this style of playing, I suggest Andy Mckee http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddn4MGaS3N4
    The indie label he's on has all kinds of awesome guitarists like him too: http://www.youtube.com/profile_play_list?user=rpol ...
    • bbardlbradd, on 03/24/2008, -3/+3Andy looks like he's making love when he plays. Good stuff though, if it didn't sound like something straight out of NPR.
      • ayeroxor, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2Yeah I hate that NPR sometimes recommends good music. That's the only down-side...?
    • lysdexic, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1Stanley Jordan also plays with a two handed tapping technique. He's one of the best at it, imo.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvMrBYlwHqU
    • jeib, on 03/25/2008, -0/+1I didn't really like Andy Mckee as much as Antoine Dufour, now THAT is some good stuff - his new cd is awesome, I've been listening to it nonstop for the past three days (really, nonstop - it's always on my stereo whether I'm awake or not...).
  • Kallahan, on 03/24/2008, -5/+851. This is not a lap guitar
    2. He's just tapping harmonics
    3. It is really really good though.
    • mnkby, on 03/24/2008, -1/+254. and its in an open tuning.
      5. and ya, its really good. :D
    • adamglazier77, on 03/24/2008, -2/+1There are a few harmonics, but it's more of an open tunning being played with a tapping style. Tapping notes on the neck was made popular by Eddy Van Halen's guitar solo Eruption: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=z_lwocmL9dQ
    • davidrools, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2Here's a pedal steel guitar (a 13 string, btw) which is an evolution of the lap steel guitar. Note that he makes it look easy while rocking out, rather than trying to make it look difficult to sell the gimmick.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4zpzEIdoPc (promise not a rick roll) (Jump to 2:18 for the solo.)
    • lazydrumhead, on 03/24/2008, -2/+4It's not only harmonics being tapped...
    • lysdexic, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2He's pressing the strings down hard enough to vibrate against the frets just like they'd vibrate if picked or strummed (with a different attack characteristics of course). It's not just harmonics. Here's an article that discusses the technique with electrics.

      http://www.stanleyjordan.com/Technique/starting.ht ...
  • ssj4vegita2002, on 03/24/2008, -4/+23Amazing playing skills, though I wouldn't call this a "how-to", hehe.
    • NeoCortex, on 03/24/2008, -5/+4The submitter didn't call it a "how-to", either. So I guess we are all in agreement here.
      • ssj4vegita2002, on 03/24/2008, -1/+9From the video description: " Demonstration of how to play the lap guitar"
        • NeoCortex, on 03/24/2008, -1/+1"Demonstration" doesn't mean "instructional".
  • gitrplaya4u, on 03/24/2008, -6/+1yea thats pretty AMAZING
  • tibbon, on 03/24/2008, -1/+19Open tuning, two handed tapping, lots of practice.
    • Crimsoid, on 03/25/2008, -0/+0agreed, open tuning, also making sure your strings are as tight and close to the fret board as possible. Simple stuff, loads of practice, though.
  • MrHands, on 03/24/2008, -3/+1Looks like he does it with his hands and fingers.
    • fwertz, on 03/24/2008, -0/+5No it's actually smoke and mirrors. Most of it is achieved with his penis.
  • OSUTodd23, on 03/24/2008, -1/+1More popular earlier performance by Erik: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM6HH6wdgSQ
  • zmigliozzi, on 03/24/2008, -1/+5A lot of hammer-ons.
  • kevinduckworth, on 03/24/2008, -4/+9I clicked on this thinking I was going to see some sweet slide playing on the dobro, but it's more of this damn tapping that seems to fascinate the internet. Granted this guy is very talented, but nothing like a bunch of tapping on an acoustic to turn the guitar into some cheesy new age instrument.
  • quietbob, on 03/24/2008, -1/+1Regenerative power grows back a man's finger, plays guitar on his lap.
  • wafflesomd, on 03/24/2008, -1/+14Much better acoustic tapping: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwm-vxGgFf4
    • adamglazier77, on 03/24/2008, -0/+3Great link! Now this guy can play. The music from the original post gets old, since it stays in the same key.
    • JohnnyRhino, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1Yeah the one open tuning got old after the novelty of the percussive guitar effects wore off...
      The link from youtube has much better technique, love the way he doubles a lot of the parts.
      far better,
  • smockk, on 03/24/2008, -5/+0I like the American History X haircut he's rockin'
  • DeFex, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1Very cool. i think you need to start with retuning the guitar to an open chord.
  • kotrin, on 03/24/2008, -3/+4So so old. WTB new internets
  • Overmind12812, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2You should see him on a Dulcimer.
  • archiegaff, on 03/24/2008, -4/+6More 5MIN SPAM forcing old stuff to the front page
  • jakobmakob, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2If I could find his albums anywhere, I'd be ecstatic. Erik Mongrain is one of my favorites.
  • revjustin2, on 03/24/2008, -1/+3This is rocks. What he does is an interesting variation on what Micheal Hedges was doing (although he did it standing up and spinning).
    • davidlow, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1Hey, I was gonna say that. I didn't think I'd ever hear anyone else make that sound with a guitar, since Michael Hedges died in 1997.
  • alexmensen, on 03/24/2008, -0/+8Seriously you just have to hit the buttons when the tops of the notes are white
  • Monarch818, on 03/24/2008, -0/+3Wonder if one of his influences was Jeff Healey? Now he was an amazing guitarist, too bad he died recently.
  • RyanOC, on 03/24/2008, -1/+15Amazing for sure, I still like the blind blues guitar player that plays in his lap better!

    R.I.P. Jeff Healey, March 2, 2008
  • spankr, on 03/24/2008, -1/+11Uh, try it blind - Jeff Healey anyone?
    http://www.jeffhealey.com
  • elscorcho717, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2Woulda been more impressive had there been a key change at the end :)
  • havocjaw, on 03/24/2008, -1/+4now Activision will exploit Southern music... Lap Guitar Hero: Southern Boogaloo
  • weeczar, on 03/24/2008, -1/+6The guys good, but it is all a little too atonal for me. The drone goes on forever and there are no real chord changes, just up and down. Also I appreciate his skill but this sounds like nothing more than a drummer beating on an open tuning.
  • YamiJim, on 03/24/2008, -4/+2it sounds hard, yes.
    good? no.
  • aajjcckk, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2How does he do this?

    A shocking suggestion - PRACTICE ?
  • devdavad, on 03/24/2008, -0/+3ollllld
  • DonHuannDon, on 03/24/2008, -1/+0WOW!!
    cool!
  • alexpigment, on 03/24/2008, -1/+3yes, the guy is very good and the song is good, but nothing new as far as technique. Kaki King, for example, has been doing this for years and does it even standing up (harder). The only thing that this guy does is add a chorus pedal that makes it sound better.
    • HydrogenY, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1How far back does the style go? The first I saw was it Stanley Jordan. Were there others before him or did he invent it?
      • weeczar, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1That depends on what you mean by "the style". The first sort of tapped harp harmonics that country bad asses employ today was first caught on tape in 1924 by jazz guitar father Lonnie Johnson. In terms of modern tapping guitarists from the fifties and sixties including most notably Jimi Hendrix, were known to sometimes vamp tap, though in a very casual sense. Also notable are guitarists like Chet Atkins and Ted Greene who were doing this stuff years before people like Van Halen stylized it. Though there is a difference between tapping, pinching harmonics and tapping ala Stanley Jordan who actually depresses the frets. So in actuality there are several styles of slapping, tapping, pinching and plucking harmonics. Personally Ted Greene is the master in my book.
  • xasx, on 03/24/2008, -2/+1crashed, here is the cached: http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:TdAt9UTy4CEJ: ...
  • dmadip, on 03/24/2008, -0/+2open tuning and some skills are the main ingredients
  • digitalpencil, on 03/24/2008, -4/+1lap-tapping is one of the hardest techniques to master. it's the precision with which each individual string is struck that sounds harmonics. There's no official tab for this tune although Erik's been on his own forum helping people with the technique, it's in FACFCF.

    If you like this though, as travback says further up, Andy McKee does some amazing percussive fingerstyle and Jon Butler's acoustic rendition of Oceans is simply mind-blowing: http://youtube.com/watch?v=5xZw9D9c18E
    • badbadmike, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2"lap-tapping is one of the hardest techniques to master." You are incorrect.
  • isaactwito, on 03/24/2008, -1/+3people can stop submitting these "amazing" guitar vids, youtube's not going anywhere.
  • HydrogenY, on 03/24/2008, -1/+1Pretty Damn Awesome! If I have one complaint it's only that he slapped open DGBE strings too many times.
    • mrhedges, on 03/24/2008, -0/+0That's pretty hard to do, since it's not in standard tuning.
      • HydrogenY, on 03/25/2008, -0/+1They're still DGBE strings no matter what way he tunes them.
  • rkef, on 03/24/2008, -1/+3older than the arpanet
  • dracflamloc, on 03/24/2008, -1/+8AMAZING. Seriously... stop digging ***** up that starts with AMAZING in caps..
  • vincenzo7, on 03/24/2008, -0/+3andy mckee is bettter
    • Ellrick, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1Writes better music, fo sho.
    • dhVyse, on 03/25/2008, -0/+1Oh, without a doubt. McKee is a better songwriter as well.
  • p014k, on 03/24/2008, -1/+2Again? Really? This has been on digg at least 4 times.
  • curiousgrge, on 03/24/2008, -1/+0Must be a bitch for him to strum that way in Guitar Hero. I'd like to see him try Jordan or TTFAF that way.
  • Malnilion, on 03/24/2008, -0/+3That's not a lap guitar...
  • adamwho, on 03/24/2008, -1/+3I would be interested to know what his tuning is
    • canUdi9it, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1tuned to a natural E
    • MyExSucks, on 03/24/2008, -0/+1probably something like E B E G# B e
      it's definitely in E and it's definitely an open tuning
  • ClevelandBrown, on 03/24/2008, -3/+2I've heard/seen better
    • canUdi9it, on 03/24/2008, -1/+1exactly. I want to see someone play guitar like that with their toes.
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