How can I tap on my guitar (like Eddie Van Halen or others)?!!? HELP!?

Question

I want to get faster. I've mastered speed picking, hammer ons and a little bit about pull outs. How can I tap. I've tried that while playing Eruption (I've got about 10 seconds of it down) but I want to know the rest so I can impress my friends, and learn how to do other songs.
HELP!

Answer 1

There is no real easy way to do this but the basics are this, while you play as normal with your fret hand you tap and do like a slightly sideways tap with your pick hand on the appropriate note. Do it sideways because you will get a stronger note out of it and for those of us who cannot afford a guitar with infinite sustain it is the easiest way to aplify this effect.