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Figure 10-6:
Three types
of hammerons.
T
A
B
2
0 2
0 2 0
7
5 7 5
5 6 6
180 Part III: Beyond the Basics: Playing Like a Pro TEAM LinG
5 5 8
5 8 5 8
Hammer-ons sometimes perform cleaner at faster tempos. So don’t practice
these passages too slowly when first trying to hear the effect.
Playing hammer-ons like an old hand
Figure 10-7 is a short blues break in a medium shuffle feel containing various
types of hammer-ons, including multiple hammer-ons, where two or more
successive notes are hammered. You can use multiple hammer-ons in fast
passages where it may be difficult to alternate-pick a rapid series of notes. If
you have trouble at first, try playing the figure slowly, omitting the hammerons,
and apply alternate picking so you can hear the sound. Then go back
and substitute the hammered notes for pick strokes.
Exposing a note by lifting a digit: Pull-offs
A pull-off is a downward slur where the second note is sounded by the quick
removal of a left-hand finger that exposes the second, lower note.
A pull-off also has a little twist to its technique that sometimes helps the
second note to sound more clearly: Peel away your left-hand finger to the
side slightly instead of lifting it straight off the fingerboard. This technique
produces a subtle attack sound courtesy of the skin on the left-hand fingertip
that grips momentarily and then releases the fretted string.
The technique of playing pull-offs
To execute a pull-off to a fretted note, play the lick in bar two of Figure 10-8
by placing the third finger on the seventh fret and the first finger on the fifth
fret. Apply and keep pressure on both fingers. Pick the first note (the seventh-fret
D) and then, while the note rings, pull, lift, or peel the third finger off
the string, allowing the fifth-fret C (fretted by the first finger) to sound.