A Fast Finger-Tapping Pattern for Electric Guitar

A tapping pattern that allows one to produce a rapid succession of notes that sound exceedingly fast with only a modicum of effort is the following:

{ Tapped note, Middle note, High note, Middle note, Low note; Repeat ...}

What the pattern means is that although the exact frets involved may change, so long as the basic pattern of pitches above is retained, you will be able to produce a musical phrase that sounds incredibly fast, depending upon the natural movement and speed of your fingers, of course. There's just something special and unique about this particular tapping pattern that generates an abundance of speed for some reason.

As far as a guitar lick that follows the pattern, here is one example (all notes are either tapped, hammered-on, or pulled off to, and the tablature isn't normal since a fixed-width font can't be used in these articles, as far as I know):

High E string: {---14(t)-11-12-11-9-14(t)-11-12-11-9---}

Notice the small t's next to the 14s above. Those are the finger tapped notes. The entire lick is based on notes from the C# minor scale. You would normally play it more than twice, continuing it for maybe three or four bars. Another thing I should mention is that with this pattern you will sometimes be "cramming in" notes. That is, you won't be worried if some of the pitches are actually played out of order occasionally, since your fingers should be moving as fast as possible. With the pattern you will primarily be concerned with obtaining a maximum amount of speed, and don't want anything to interfere with that goal.
Here is another lick following the main pattern:

High E string: {---14(t)-8-10-8-7-14(t)-8-10-8-7-}

This one is based on notes from the B Phrygian scale (or mode), although other keys could be interpreted. Notice our original pattern is maintained {tap, middle, high, middle, low; repeat}, but that now we are simply using different notes.
Finally, here is an example using notes from the D minor scale:

High E string: {--13(t)-10-12-10-8-13(t)-10-12-10-8--}

It is interesting that when one taps notes that are close in proximity, say tapping at the 13th fret while the highest fingered note is on the 12th fret, as in the lick above, it seems to sound even faster.

I first ran across this tapping pattern in an Yngwie Malmsteen solo. He played it in the key of E minor using the last fingering combination, executing the lick so fast it sounded like angry bumblebees circling a potential victim.

Of course the thing to do with the pattern is, while still retaining the basic order of pitches, experiment with different tapped notes and fingering combinations until you find something that suits your particular improvisation, or the song you are playing. (You could even adapt the underlying pattern to a different fingering combination altogether if something else better fits the natural movement of your hands.) Also try the pattern using different strings.

Remember that the main thing to keep in mind with this tapping pattern is that if you are ever in the middle of a solo and feel an emotion such as anger, passion, jealousy, or frustration, you can play this quick tapping lick to hopefully express those emotions. And remember that
1) It can be adapted to fit any scale; 2) Don't be overly concerned with hitting every note in exact order, mainly focus on producing a lot of speed.