3.1 Hammer ons, Pull offs
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Contents
................3.1.1 Background
................3.1.2 Hammer Ons
................3.1.3 Pull Offs
3.1.1 Background
As discussed before (2.6 Use Hammer ons and Pull offs), these are vital if you want to improve your playing. Both concepts are simple and requires hardly any explanation but are tricky to put into practice to begin with.
3.1.2 Hammer Ons
The above tab shows an example of a piece including hammer ons. The curved line with 'H.O' above it is the notation given in tabs and as you can see it spans across 2 notes. The last hammer on in this piece is on the top e string and is played by first picking the 2nd fret on the e string, and then literally hammering your finger onto the 4th fret. An audio clip of this being done is provided.
[ Listen ] 11kb
Give this tab a go and see how it goes.
3.1.3 Pull Offs
The notation for pull offs is similar to that for hammer ons. Pull offs can be done by first pressing down on a fret and picking it, then pulling your finger down quickly before letting go of the string (a motion a lot like scratching). Obviously before you let go of the string your other finger must be pressing down on the next fret to be played.
For example, at the start of the tab above you must press on the 4th fret and pick it. When you are ready to carry out the pull off, you must give the string a quick pull downwards before letting go of it while holding down the 2nd fret.
[ Listen ] 20kb
A pull off is harder to carry out than a hammer on so keep practicing and once you are quite comfortable with it, try playing the hammer on tab above, immediately followed by the pull off tab (i.e. combine the two).
Try variations if you want to improve quicker.
Please note that there are other notations for hammer ons and pull offs. An example of another notation that is commonly used is, '2h4' and '4p2', which means hammer on from the 2nd fret to the 4th fret and pull off from the 4th fret to the 2 fret respectively.
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