Pick tapping is a legato

Legato

In musical notation the Italian word legato indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, in transitioning from note to note, there should be no intervening silence...

 playing technique for the guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

, in which the edge of the pick

Plectrum

A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick, and is a separate tool held in the player's hand...

 is used to sharply trill

Trill (music)

The trill is a musical ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes, usually a semitone or tone apart, which can be identified with the context of the trill....

 notes on the instrument's fretboard

Fingerboard

The fingerboard is a part of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument and above which the strings run...

 at a fast tempo

Tempo

In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...

. Whilst trilling can be performed with the fingers of either the fretting or picking hand, using the pick enables faster speeds by means of 'vibrating' (or effectively seizing up) the wrist. The technique should not be confused with regular tapping

Tapping

Tapping is a guitar playing technique, where a string is fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion of being pushed onto the fretboard, as opposed to the standard technique being fretted with one hand and picked with the other...

, which always makes use of both hands and involves playing at least three or more note

Note

In music, the term note has two primary meanings:#A sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound;#A pitched sound itself....

s.

A well-known example of pick tapping can be heard near the beginning of Randy Rhoads

Randy Rhoads

Randall William "Randy" Rhoads was an American heavy metal guitarist who played with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. A devoted student of classical guitar, Rhoads often combined his classical music influences with his own heavy metal style. While on tour with Ozzy Osbourne, he would seek out...

' guitar solo

Solo (music)

In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

 on Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne

John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...

's "Crazy Train

Crazy Train

"Crazy Train" is a song written by Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads and Bob Daisley. It was released as the first single in 1980 on Osbourne's first solo studio album, Blizzard of Ozz. The song was recorded in 1980, a year after leaving Black Sabbath, and later included on the live album Tribute,...

", where rapid trills using the pick are performed on the third string whilst the left hand slowly bends and releases a fretted note lower down on the same string (the latter having an effect similar to that of a whammy bar being depressed and released). Other examples include "Surfing with the Alien

Surfing with the Alien (song)

"Surfing with the Alien" is the first song in Satriani's second album.The song refers to the comic book character Silver Surfer. The song was considered the 30th greatest guitar solo ever by Guitar World Magazine readers and is one of his faster shred guitar style tracks...

" by Joe Satriani

Joe Satriani

Joseph "Joe" Satriani is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, with multiple Grammy Award nominations...

, and various songs by DragonForce

DragonForce

DragonForce are an English power metal band from London. Formed in 1999, the group is known for its long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-based lyrics, and electronic sounds in their music to add to their retro video game-influenced sound. Guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman are the only two...

.