Hi gang! We talked earlier about "hammer-ons". The opposite of a hammer-on is a "pull-off".
What a pull-off is is just what the name says it is. It is the flicking off (pull-off) of a string with your finger to produce a sound.
As an example, place your 1st finger on the 3rd fret of the 1st string. Pick the note, then "flick" (pull-off) your finger off of the fret so that you now can hear the open string.
Next try this:
Place your 2nd finger on the 2nd fret of the 1st string. Now place your 3rd finger on the 3rd fret of the 1st string. You now have both your 2nd and 3rd fingers down on frets.
Now pick the 1st string. You will hear the note that your 3rd finger made.
Now flick your 3rd finger off of the 3rd fret, and then flick your 2nd finger off of the 3nd fret.
You should hear 3 different notes. The note that you picked, followed by the note produced from flicking your 3rd finger, followed by the note produced from flicking your 2nd finger.
Cool, huh?
Look at the picture below that has all of the pentatonic forms. Let's use Form I starting from the 1st high E string.
In order for this to work, you have to put both fingers down from this form first (1, and 4). Then pick the string while the 4th finger is down, and flick it off so that you hear the note from the first finger.
Do this for all of the strings in the form to get used to doing this.
But this is not how this thingy is really used. Here's what I want you to do with this form...
With your 1st finger, bar the 1st two strings. Now add your 4th finger to the 4th fret on the 1st string. When you're ready, pick that note where your 4th finger is. Then flick off that 4th finger to hear the note played by the 1st finger on the 1st fret.
Then up-pick the 2nd string.
You hear this type of stuff all the time in lead guitar.
Now let's go back to the "hammer-on" for just a sec...
Bar the 1st 2 strings on the 1st fret. Pick the 2nd string, hammer the 4th finger onto the 4th fret of the 2nd string.
Now up-pick the 1st string.
Now put the two together. Start with the hammer-on just like we did it and follow with pull-off the way that we did it.
You hear stuff like this all the time too.
Fool around with the pentatonic scale using both of these tricks. But also, make up your own stuff.
For example:
Put all 4 fingers on the 1st string as if you were just showin' off the 2nd position.
Now Pick the 4th finger, and flick (or peal) fingers 4, 3 and 2 off rapidly giving the note played on the 1st fret.
That was 4 notes for the price of 1 pick!
Now wait just a cotton-pickin' minute! Fingers 2 and 3 are NOT part of the pentatonic scale on that string!
So?
If ya can play this trick fast enough (though you don't have to be VERY fast), those 2 extra notes are merely what are called "passing tones" (connecting notes from 1 note to another). You are still creating a lick based off of the pentatonic scale. As long as you don't "sit" on any of these two notes, you will be fine -- in fact, it'll sound great!
Both hammer-ons and pull-offs are cool tricks. They not only help you to play faster, they can give ya some special sounding licks as well.
Well just don't sit there... Practice!
Professor Bruno Noteworthy
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Contributor's Note
Professor Bruno Noteworthy is a toon music professor who loves teaching the guitar to kids (and other humans).
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