How to hammer on a guitar note

Download Article Download Article A hammer-on is a technique almost every guitarist uses to greatly boost their playing speed, no matter what style of music you play. Hammer-ons are simply when you hit the string with your fretting hand, pressing down quickly so that the note rings out without ever having to strum. When combined with pull-offs, hammer-ons allow you to play many more notes without changing your picking rhythm or speed.

Steps

1. 1Play one note, then use your fretting hand to rapidly smack another note for a hammer on. Start by just practicing this motion. With your hand around the guitar, quickly land a finger on the fret, as if you were about to play it. Practice making the note really sound out when you hit it. Get used to making the guitar sound out like this by «playing» several notes without ever picking.^[1]
2. 2Start with your index finger on a note. Simply play one note on the guitar, using your index finger so that the rest of your hand is open. It is much easier to hammer on to a note if it is nearby a note you’re already holding down. Pick this note, letting it ring out.^[2] Advertisement
3. 3Land your ring finger two frets down to hammer on. Simply place the finger firmly down on another fret, staying on the same string as the note you picked. This note should sound out, but because you only picked the string once it will seamlessly transition from the first note you played.^[3]
  - Try to land your hammer on as close to the back of the fret (the side away from your strumming hand) to get the best sound.
4. 4Adjust the power of your hammer on so that the picked and hammered note of the same volume. If you over-hit the note it will go sharp, sounding out with a weirdly higher pitch. Too soft and you can’t hear it at all. The perfect middle ground is found by aiming for the same volume as a normally picked note.^[4]
  - You can use any finger to hammer on. However, it is usually easiest to learn with the ring and index fingers.
5. 5Incorporate hammer-ons anywhere across the neck to increase your playing speed. Hammer-ons can come after notes, can «roll» down two or three notes at once (rapidly hammering on three frets with three fingers), and can be combined with pull-offs for dazzling speed.
  - A pull-off is simply the reverse of a hammer on. While on two different frets on the same string, you slightly pluck as you remove your ring finger, sounding out the next fret you’re holding or an open string.^[5]

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QuestionHow do I hammer-on and pull-off repeatedly without losing the sound of the notes after a few seconds? Typically, that can only be done by sheer practice.

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Get all the best how-tos! Sign up for wikiHow’s weekly email newsletter Subscribe You’re all set! From the October 2017 issue of Acoustic Guitar | BY JEFF GUNN THE PROBLEM
You want to enhance your rhythm playing by adding hammer-ons and pull-offs to chords—an essential technique used in all styles on the acoustic guitar. THE SOLUTION
Brush up on your fretting-hand technique, using single notes as well as chords, before tackling some typical examples. 1. Start with Single Notes and Double Stops
Remember: To execute a hammer-on, first pick a fretted note or an open string. Then sound a higher note on the same string by fretting it with a hammering motion instead of picking it. To do a pull-off, simultaneously fret two notes on the same string. Pick the string and, keeping the finger on the lower fret in place, pull downward on the finger at the higher fret, causing the lower note to sound. (You can also pull off to an open string.) Whether you’re doing a hammer-on or pull-off, the goal is for both notes to sound smoothly articulated and at equal volume. Try Example 1—a repeated hammer-on (as indicated by the curved line in notation and tablature) from the open A string to the third-fret C. Fret the C with your third finger, and make sure not to accidentally sound any of the adjacent strings in the process. Once you’ve got that down, move on to Example 2, which adds a second note, E, best fretted with your first finger. With a bit of careful practice, you should be able to play these hammer-ons at the exact same time. 2. Add Some Chords
Things get a little trickier with three-note chords. In Example 3, hammer on a C/G chord with your second, third, and first fingers on strings 6, 5, and 4, respectively. The concept is extended up and down strings 6–4 in Example 4. Take it very slowly at first and gradually increase the tempo as you gain confidence. Hammer on the major chords (C/G, F/C, and G/D) with the same shape you used in Ex. 3; for the minor chords (Dm/A and Em/B), use your third, fourth, and first fingers, lowest note to highest. 3. Repeat the Process Using Pull-Offs
Like a hammer-on, a pull-off is also notated with a curved line connecting two or more notes. In bar 1 of Example 5, repeatedly pull off the third-fret C to the open A string. Use your third finger to fret the C. Be sure to avoid yanking the string sharp as you execute the pull-off, and remember to strive for smoothness. In the following measure, add the second-fret E with your first finger, and then in Example 6 add the third-fret G with your second finger. Example 7 advances the pull-offs through the same basic chord progression as Ex. 4. Be sure to keep steady time as you work through this one; use a metronome if needed. Also, heads-up on the last bar, which contains a combination pull-off/hammer-on. Pick only the first beat of this measure. 4. Put It All in Context
Now try some more context-based examples of chords decorated with hammer-ons and pull-offs. Example 8 illustrates the common progression of A–D/F#—the sort of embellishment heard often in songs like Simon and Garfunkel’s “I Am a Rock.” On the A chord, bar strings 5–2 with your index finger, and keep it held as you hammer on the third and fourth frets with your second and third fingers. Similarly, Example 9 toggles between C and G chords. Fret the C chord with fingers 3, 2, 1, and 4 on strings 5, 4, 2, and 1, and the hammer-ons with fingers 1 and 2 on strings 2 and 4. Example 10 demonstrates soulful embellishments on a single chord, Em7—an idea used often in R&B. Fret the Em7 with your first finger barring fret 7 across strings 5–1, and hammer on the eighth- and ninth-fret notes with your second and third fingers. Example 11 develops these variations further by adding single-note embellishments over the ringing Em7 chord. Keeping the barre held in place at the seventh fret, use your fourth finger to hammer on and pull off the 10th-fret D and your third finger for the ninth-fret notes. Once you’re familiar with these basics, try adding hammer-ons and pull-offs to spruce up your favorite chords and progressions. hammer Jeff Gunn is author of Hidden Sounds: Discover Your Own Method on Guitar series, guitarist/musical director for Emmanuel Jal, and composer of All the Roads We Take (2017). jeffgunn.ca. This article originally appeared in the October 2017 issue of Acoustic Guitar magazine. This article is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce! Make a pledge to support the site (and get special perks in return.) LEARN MORE… In guitar tablature, a hammer-on is denoted by the letter “H” as seen in Figure 1 below, which starts with a hammer-on from the fifth fret to the eighth fret on the low E string. hammer-on-2x Pull-offs are denoted by the letter “P” as seen in Figure 2 below, which starts with a pull-off on the eighth fret to the fifth fret of the high E string. pull-off-2x When you start learning to play guitar or bass, you’ll quickly discover that there are useful ways to sound notes other than just plucking them. Two of the most useful ways are those dexterous twins of fingering technique, the hammer-on and the pull-off. Hammer-ons and pull-offs complement each other nicely, and are so instinctive and ever-present in guitar music that we wouldn’t even call them tricks. They’re just simply a part of how guitar is played, both acoustic and electric. Physically, there’s nothing to it—when you’ve learned one, you’ve pretty much learned the other, too. So let’s begin with a simple hammer-on, and the pull-off will follow. Hold a note down on a fret with your index finger. Any fret on any string. Pluck the note, and then tap your middle finger down sharply on the same string a fret or two up from the first fretted note. There—you’ve now sounded two notes even though you only plucked the string once. You’ve done a hammer-on. You, musical friend, have hammered on. Now, it doesn’t matter which fingers you use—you can hammer-on with your index and middle fingers; index and ring fingers; middle finger and pinkie; whatever you need to do to get the job done. Nor does it matter how many frets apart the two notes are—you are bound only by the reach of the fingers of your fretting hand. Most hammer-ons are one, two or three frets apart, but if you can do several frets apart (easier on the upper frets), more power to you. A pull-off is basically a hammer-on in reverse. Once you’ve done a hammer-on with your other finger on the other fret, now just pull that finger off the fret, pulling on the string a little with that finger as you do so and letting the note ring. There—you’ve pulled off a pull-off. You can see from these basic instructions that it’s possible to sound a note, hammer-on and then pull-off, thus sounding three notes despite only plucking the string once. This musical seesawing can in theory go on indefinitely, as long as you can keep up sustain and volume (easier on electric guitar than acoustic) A rapid such series of hammer-ons and pull-offs between a single pair of notes is called a trill. A trill is denoted by the letters “tr” and a wavy line as seen in the last note of Figure 3 below. The note number in parentheses indicates the note to hammer-on and pull-off. If no note is shown in parentheses, just hammer-on and pull-off the note directly above in the given scale. trill-2x Hammer-ons and pull-offs let you tie notes together smoothly, cleanly and quickly, with no silence between them. Both are note articulation methods referred to in formal musical notation as legato (Italian for, literally, “tied together”). Want to learn more about hammer-ons? Check out these videos from Fender Play. And if you’re not a Fender Play member yet, click here for a free trial.

Whether your playing acoustic or electric guitar, hammer-ons and pull-offs can be a dynamic addition to your repertoire.

Part of developing as a guitarist is learning how to dress up chord progressions so they don’t sound stale and boring. One way to make your chord playing more dynamic is to incorporate hammer-ons and pull-offs. Hammer-ons and pull-offs use the fretting hand instead of the picking hand to articulate notes. They allow you to play more notes faster, and with a smooth, flowing sound that transforms tired chord progressions into catchy, melodic phrases. Here’s what you need to know about hammer-ons and pull-offs and how to apply them to your chord work:

Legato

Hammer-ons and pull-offs are part of a technique called legato, which means “tied together” in Italian. Legato allows you to pick the strings a lot less, which makes for a more fluid sound, especially when playing fast. One note flows directly into the next with no intervening silence.

How to play a hammer-on

The vibration from a hammer-on is generated from the force of your finger hitting the string. To execute a hammer-on, strum a note with your picking hand (say an open fourth string D note) and use a finger on your fretting hand to hit the desired higher note on the same string (try a fourth string, second fret E note). The sound is different to that produced by picking both notes individually. The hammer-on produces a quick transition between the two notes and slurs them together.

Adding a hammer-on to a chord

Strum a D chord and immediately hammer on a first string, third fret G note with your pinky finger. Come down with enough force to make the note sound clearly without having to pick it with the picking hand.

How to play a pull-off

Think of a pull-off as the opposite of a hammer-on. A pull-off can generate vibrations, whereas a hammer-on will only carry on the leftover vibrations from a previous note. To execute a pull-off, strum a note with your picking hand (try a fourth string, second fret E note) then pull your fretting finger off with a down and out motion to a lower fretted note (try pulling off to the open fourth string D note). Don’t just lift your finger off, actually pull it slightly in toward your palm and down just before you release it so that when the finger leaves the string, it performs a kind of pluck of its own. And if you’re pulling off to a fretted note (a fourth string, third fret F note to a fourth string, second fret E note for instance), you need to finger that note (the E note in our example) in advance before pulling off (the F note).

Adding a pull-off to a chord

Let’s try a Dsus4 to a D chord pull-off. Strum the Dsus4 chord and immediately pull your pinky finger off the first string, third fret G note with enough force to sound the first string, second fret F# note of the D chord. Remember that you must “pre-fret” the F# note with your middle finger before initiating the pull-off. You are basically using your pinky that is fretting the G note to pull-off and “pick” the F# your second finger is fretting.

Hammer-on/pull-off combos

Now let’s try putting both techniques together. Again, working with the Dsus4 and D chords, strum the Dsus4 chord and immediately pull your pinky off the G note. After the F# note sounds, lift your second finger up off the F#, strum the chord with the first string open E note, and then hammer the F# back on. You will have strummed two chords for a total of four chords sounded.

Start slow and build speed

The trickiest part about legato technique is getting the notes to sound clean and even in volume and time. If you have a metronome, use it to work on your hammer-ons and pull-offs. Start out slow. The cleaner and easier it gets for you, the faster you can go. If you are having trouble with a particular finger, isolate that finger and practice with it until the finger gets stronger. Remember to play up on your fingertips.

Work the pinky

You’ll probably notice that hammering on with your pinky is a bit more difficult than it is with your other fingers. That’s because the pinky is typically a little weaker. It’s a good idea to spend a portion of your practice hammering on with just the pinky. This will help to build up strength in that finger. Hammer On Notation

Hammer-on and pull-off notation

Hammer-ons and pull-offs are written on notation and tab with the word legato or with a little arc, or slur, over or under the notes that are to be played using this technique.

Binding

Multiple hammer-ons and pull-offs together are sometimes also referred to colloquially as “rolls,” a reference to the fluid sound of the technique. A rapid series of hammer-ons and pull-offs between a single pair of notes is called a “trill.” Image via ShutterStock.com. Kathy Dickson works at Guitartricks.com, an online subscription service that has provided online video guitar lessons since 1998. The site has more than 11,000 video lessons with 600+ song tutorials and more than two million members. With an unending appetite for improvement, via ongoing course production and licensing negotiations, the site continues to expand and progress. Learn How to Make a Great Master Read More
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