Guitar Hammer on n Pull-offs

Hammer-ons and pull-offs are also known as slurs. They help to create a smoother sound between notes. It is the equivalent of a saxophone player playing a group of notes with one breath, and not tonguing each note. Or a violin player playing some notes with one bow stroke. That is the way that those instruments slur and get a smoother sound. Below you will learn how to apply slurs to the guitar.

Hammer-ons

A hammer-on will involve 2 different notes. A note is plucked, then a second note is sounded by slamming or "hammering" another finger onto the same string at a higher fret.

Notation used for hammer-ons

Internet tablature

In Internet tablature hammer-ons are represented by an "h" placed between the 2 different notes. Another way that you may see a hammer-on represented in Internet tablature, is this symbol between 2 different notes ^. This is similar to the graphic arc used in published tablature (see below). If the second of the 2 notes is higher, the ^ represents a hammer-on. Sometimes the addition of an h above the ^ symbol helps clarify things.

E:-----------or-------or----------
B:--------------------------h-----
G:-----5h7-------5^7-------5^7----
D:--------------------------------
A:--------------------------------
E:--------------------------------

Published tablature

In published tablature that you will find in books and magazines, you will see a curved line or arc over the 2 or more notes involved.

Sometimes there is the addition of an "H" above the arc.

Standard notation

Standard notation uses the arc, but usually not the addition of the "H" above. Pull-offs A pull-off can be thought of as the opposite of a hammer-on. There are 2 notes involved. Before starting, you will need to have both left hand fingers that are involved already placed in their perspective frets. The first note is plucked, then a second note is sounded by pulling that finger off of the string with force. You are basically plucking the string with the left hand finger that you used for the 1st note first note. You will need to pull both towards the floor, and out away from the neck of the guitar. Notation used for pull-offs In Internet tablature, pull-offs are represented by a "p" placed between 2 different notes. Like the hammer-on, you may see this symbol between 2 notes ^. The way you can tell pull-off apart from a hammer-on, is that the second note is lower than the first for a pull-off. Sometimes the addition of a "p" above the ^ symbol helps to clarify things. E:-----------or-------or---------- B:--------------------------p----- G:-----7p5-------7^5-------7^5---- D:-------------------------------- A:-------------------------------- E:-------------------------------- Published tablature In published tablature that you will find in books and magazines, you will see a curved line or arc over the 2 or more notes involved. Sometimes there is the addition of an "P" above the arc. Standard notation Standard notation uses the arc, but usually not the addition of the "P" above. Hammer-on and pull of exercise Below is an exercise that will not only help you with hammer-ons and pull-offs, but also help develop your overall left hand technique. Even though this exercise is written in tablature format starting at the first fret, you may want to play this exercise a little higher on the neck of the guitar. So consider the number that you see as the fingers you should use, rather that necessarily having to play this in the first position. Each hammer-on and pull-off combination should be played at least 2 times. Of course more repetitions are better.