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Chapter 10: Express Yourself: Making the Guitar Sing, Cry, and Wail
179
Track 57, 0:13
Figure 10-5:
A passage
with
rhythmic
slides
between
notes.
T
A B
7
shift
shift
8
5 7 9 9 7 5
7
shift
5 9
Slides with two strikes (with your pick, that is)
Some advanced players choose to strike the first note, slide up or down to a
specific note, and restrike the string just before they reach the second note.
This isn’t technically a slur (a general term for two notes played together
where the second note is not articulated), but it’s a common technique for
advanced players. In this case (where the second note is picked), the curved
slur line is omitted and just a straight line connects the two notes. A non-slur
slide (one where you pick the second note) gives more authority to the
second note but provides just a little bit of grease between the two, courtesy
of the slide.
It has been said that the organic quality of the blues encourages the sliding
into notes (and chords) from below or above. B.B. King is so skilled at the
technique that it sometimes sounds like he’s playing slide guitar, when in fact
he never has.
It’s hammer time — get ready
to strike a string!
A hammer-on is a technique for performing an ascending slur by sounding a
higher note on the same string with a left-hand finger without restriking the
string. This makes for a smoother connection between two notes than if both
notes were picked. A curved line indicates a hammer-on in notation.
The technique of playing hammer-ons
To play a hammer-on, strike the first note with your pick or right-hand finger
and fret the second, higher note with a left-hand finger without re-striking the
string. Figure 10-6 shows three types of hammer-ons: from a fretted note,
from an open string, and a skip (a minor 3rd) between two fretted notes.
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