HAMMER-ON

A Hammer-on is simply hammering your finger down on a string hard enough that it rings-out as if it were picked. A hammer-on can also be done with your picking hand to achieve solos like Eddie VanHalen’s Eruption. Although this is more leaning towards a technique called Tapping.

Note: A hammer-on is usually preceded by a picked note, or a pull-off.

PULL-OFF

A Pull-off is when you remove your finger from a string and allow the open string, or the finger alongside of it (on the same string) to sound the note. A pull-off is like releasing a bow, on a bow and arrow.

Note: A pull-off is usually preceded by a picked note.

Also Note: just pulling your finger off a note is not enough to get it to ring-out. You need to slightly pull down at the same time you are pulling-off. It’s actually the tiny bit of flesh on the tip of your finger brushing against the string that causes the note to ring-out.

Putting this techniques to use

I play guitar for GAMMA, the classic rock band formed by Ronnie Montrose in 1979. One of my favorite singers in the world, Davey Pattison, is still at the helm and singing stronger than ever!

Besides working with Michael Schenker and others, Davey also toured as the lead singer for Robin Trower for over 20 years and 8 albums. So we always perform some Trower songs in our set alongside the GAMMA tunes.

 
One of those songs is the famous Trower tune called “Bridge of Sighs”. It opens up with a classic Hammer-on/Pull-off Trill in the key of E, just before the first chord of the song starts.

Listen to the first 15 seconds of the song below to hear example.

In the example above you can hear that sometimes Hammer-ons and Pull-offs are done with one finger.

 

Here’s what the TAB looks like for that riff
(note: H = Hammer-on, and P = Pull-Off. If you need a refresher see Advanced TAB)

E-----------------------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------------
D--0h2p0h2p0h2p0h2p0h2p0------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------

Other times hammer-on’s and pull-off’s are done with multiple fingers and are a components of riffs and solos (that are using the Legato technique – more on that in this lesson).

One of the more-challenging riffs I play at our GAMMA shows is in the song “Ready For Action”. This is one of the more difficult Ronnie Montrose riffs, because it covers 5 strings, two pull-off’s on each string, and its played at a very fast speed on guitar even before the band strikes their first note.

 

Listen to the first 15 seconds of Ronnie Montrose/GAMMA opening riff below

While it is really beyond the scope of this particular lesson, here’s what the riff above would look like in TAB. Note: The first note of each string is picked, then pulled-off.

 

E---5p2p0--------------------------------------------
B--------5p2p0-----------5p2p0-----------------------
G-------------4p2p0-----------4p2p0------------------
D------------------4p2p0-----------4p2p0-------------
A---------------------------------------4p2p0--------
E----------------------------------------------------

TRILL

Before “Trill” became a hiphop slang term for true/real, it was defined in music as “a rapid alternation between two notes on a single string”. A trill can be thought of as a non-stop seesaw between a hammer-on and pull-off. A trill usually lasts for a few seconds or more in a guitar solo and alternates between two notes.

Here’s what a trill would look like played back and forth between two notes
H = Hammer-on, and P = Pull-Off

E---h6p5h6p5h6p5h6p5h6p5h6p5h6p5h6p5------------------
B----------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------------------
A----------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------

Pretty Trill, right?

 

Back to hammer-ons

Here’s a final classic example of the hammer-on pull-off technique performed by Angus Young of AC/DC. It’s probably one of the first songs I’ve heard that has hammer-ons and pull-off’s going non-stop through the entire song (in the studio version – except for the choruses). Angus hammers this riff using only the B string. Even though he is mixing in picking with the technique – continuing this type of riff, this strongly, for this length of time is an extreme feat to pull-off (pun intended). 😉

 

Homework:

Start practicing this technique today, and keep your ear open for it while you’re listening to your favorite songs.

 

Final Note:

There are infinite ways to use Hammer-on’s, Pull-off’s and Trills in your songs and solos. Joe Satriani and Steve Vai use these techniques at the heart of their legato styles, performing amazing runs, tapping, and arpeggios with tapping. But hammer-on’s and pull-off’s are also used in blues, country western and bluegrass fingerpickin’.

 

As always, have fun with it!