16.

Hammer-on and Pull-off

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Before going on, another technique needs to be introduced. This is the legato, which utilizes the
“hammer-on” or “pull-off” techniques.

16.1. Legato
Legato (equivalent to the flamenco term, “ligado”) translates to “tied together.” In musical terms,
it means that the notes are played without any intervening silence between them, resulting in a
smooth-sounding performance. On the guitar, hammer-on and pull-off techniques (see below)
are used to achieve the legato effect. In traditional musical notation, legato is indicated with a
curved line connecting the notes that are to be played together. For example, two notes played
together using the legato technique look like this:

16.2. Hammer-on and Pull-off

Hammer-on and pull-off are techniques used to play legato without using the right hand. The
hammer-on is performed by playing a note and then hitting another note on the same string with
one of the fingers of the left hand to sound the second note. The pull-off is done by playing a note
and then pulling the finger off the same string to sound the second note. In TAB, the hammer-on
looks like this:

And the pull-off looks like this:

Although the line connecting the two notes can be shown either above or below the fret numbers
(as shown above), the technique that is used to play them is determined by the sequence of the
notes. If the two notes are in ascending direction, the hammer-on technique is used. If they are
descending, the pull-off technique is the correct one to use.

16.3. Exercises
Exercise 16.3.1. Hammer-on and pull-off exercise
The first exercise consists of passages employing the hammer-on technique (from bar 1-5) and
the pull-off technique (from bar 6-10).
TAB 16.3.1. Hammer-on and pull-off exercise
Exercise 16.3.2. Legato exercise
Sometimes the hammer-on and pull-off techniques appear together in music, as in the following
exercise. In this case the line connects all the notes together, indicating which notes are played
with these two techniques. In this TAB, the first two bars are played with the index and middle
fingers of the left hand (if you are a right-handed player). The third and fourth bars are played
with the index and little fingers. It can take some time and practice to develop sufficient strength
to do pull-offs with the little finger – the pull-off with the little finger consists of not merely raising
the finger from the string, but also flicking the string with that finger to pluck it as it is being raised
to sound the note.

TAB 16.3.2. Legato exercise

Exercise 16.3.3. “The empty”
The next exercise combines the muted rasgueado and the legato technique. The last bar can be
played in a rumba rhythm while the strings are muted, adding a nice percussive ending to the
song.

TAB 16.3.3. “The empty”