Accenting Your Play Guitar Lesson

Chapter 1: (1:19) Accenting Your Play The first three lessons of this series focused primarily on the rhythmic role of the guitar in a bluegrass band. Steve demonstrated integral rhythmic concepts such as the bass/chop, alternating bass line, and walking bass line. Now, the focus of the lesson series will switch to the melodic aspect of bluegrass guitar. This includes playing the melodies to tunes as well as taking a solo break.

Steve plays his interpretation of the melody to “She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round the Mountain” at the beginning of this scene. What did you notice about how he plays the melody? To spice up the standard written melody, Steve embellishes it with various musical techniques. One such technique is the addition of hammer-ons and pull-offs (also referred to as “slurring”). Adding these techniques creates smoother, more legato phrasing of the melody. Hammer-ons and pull-offs enable a guitarist to play melodic lines much faster since each individual note is not picked with the right hand. In this lesson, Steve demonstrates some great hammer-on and pull-off exercises. Chapter 2: (6:49) Hammer-Ons and Bluegrass Before you dive into Steve’s exercises, take a look at these tried and true hammer-on rules:

1. Pay VERY close attention to the rhythm in which a hammer on is to be played. Many inexperienced guitarists cut the first note (the picked note) way too short. Consequently, the hammer on note is held for too long. For starters, practice all hammer-ons and pull-offs in an even eighth note rhythm.

2. Performing a hammer-on requires a forceful movement with a left-hand finger. The tone of a hammer-on is much clearer and louder when the hammering finger comes down fast and forcefully. If you bring your finger down to slow, the hammer-on will be weak or inaudible.

3. All rules regarding proper left-hand finger placement in relation to the frets become even more crucial when playing hammer-ons. Hammer the finger down right behind the fret. Hammering on top of a fret or too far from it will result in a poor tone.

4. Use the hard calluses on the tips of the fingers when making contact with the strings. This will help generate a louder tone.

A. Hammer-On Exercise No. 1

This exercise combines an open, picked note with a hammer-on. Watch carefully as Steve demonstrates a hammer-on on the low E string. Pay attention to the tone he creates as well as his left-hand technique. Practice hammering from the low E to the first fret. Ignore proper rhythm for now. Focus all of your attention on creating a clear tone.

Once you can consistently perform a hammer-on with this string, feel free to move on to Steve’s exercise. Start by setting your metronome to a relatively slow tempo. Make sure that the picked note and the subsequent hammer-on are exactly equal in length! Ascend the strings by playing an open string followed by a hammer-on to the first fret. It is much easier to perform a hammer-on on the fatter strings. Once you reach the high e-string, play the same pattern while descending down the strings.

Now, repeat this exercise using the second finger. Instead of hammering on at the first fret, hammer-on your second finger at the second fret.

B. Additional Hammer-On Practice

To ensure that you are creating the loudest possible tone with your hammer-ons, practice them without picking the open string first. Transcribers refer to this technique as a “hammer-on from nowhere.” Repeat the exercise demonstrated in letter A with this method. Notice how forcefully Steve brings each finger down in order to produce a loud, clear tone.

Note: Performing hammer-ons on an electric guitar with low action is much easier than playing them on an acoustic with high action. As a result, acoustic students may need to spend more time practicing the exercises in this lesson. Chapter 3: (6:54) Advanced Hammer-Ons Once you feel comfortable with hammer-ons involving the first and second fingers, repeat the same process with your third and fourth fingers. The finger number corresponds with the fret number it is hammering onto.

Hammer-On Exercise 2

This exercise forces you to play hammer-ons using all possible combinations of the left-hand fingers. This exercise is performed entirely in first position. As a result, the finger number used corresponds with the fret at which it plays. Practice hammer-ons up and down the strings using the following finger combinations:

1 and 2
1 and 3
1 and 4
2 and 3
2 and 4
3 and 4

The third and fourth fingers are significantly weaker than the first and second fingers. As a result, more time must be spent perfecting hammer-ons involving these finger combinations. Be careful that you do not over-exude the muscles in your hands! This could result in permanent injury!

Chapter 4: (2:02) Multiple Hammer-Ons Prior to this scene, all hammer-on exercises involved a single plucked note, followed by a single hammer-on. However, guitarists frequently perform multiple hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides on a single string after only picking it once. This technique is primarily used in rock guitar solos. However, it can be used to great effect in any genre. Steve demonstrates a couple great exercises that you will get you started with this process.

A. Pluck the low E string, then hammer-on to the 1st fret with the first finger. Next, hammer onto the 2nd fret using the second finger. You only need to pluck the very first note! Repeat this process on every string.

B. Pluck the low E string, then hammer-on to the 1st fret with the first finger. Next, hammer onto the 3rd fret using the third finger. Repeat this process on each string.

C. Devise your own exercises that involve multiple hammer-ons. Steve barely scratches the surface of all the possible finger combinations. Steve demonstrates another possible combination in the following scene.

Chapter 5: (2:59) Even More Hammer-Ons Instead of starting with an open, plucked string, fret and pluck the note at the first fret. Then perform two subsequent hammer-ons. The first hammer should be played with the second finger at the 2nd fret. Then, hammer onto the 3rd fret with the third finger. Chapter 6: (6:06) Pull-Offs The second form of a slur is called the pull-off. A pull-off is essentially a backward hammer-on. For this reason, a hammer-on is frequently referred to as a forward slur, and a pull-off is referred to as a backward slur. Follow these guidelines whenever you play a pull-off.

1. The plucked note and the subsequent pull-off must be equal in volume.

2. Pull the finger straight down towards the floor when playing a pull-off. This will create the best tone.

3. Be careful that you do not pull your finger down too far. This may cause one of the adjacent strings to vibrate.

Pull-Off Exercise

Start by fretting the low E string at the 1st fret with the first finger. Now, pull your first finger off the string towards the floor. Practice pulling off from the 1st to an open string on the other five strings as well. Repeat this process with the second finger at the 2nd fret. Once again, you will be pulling off to an open string. Then, practice pull-offs with the third finger and fourth fingers.

At this point, playing cleanly and accurately should be your primary focus. Do not increase the tempo until you can play these exercises perfectly! Be patient! It takes most guitarists several weeks before they begin to feel comfortable with hammer-ons and pull-offs. Remember at all times that speed is simply a means to a musical end.

Chapter 7: (2:50) Advanced Pull-Offs In this scene, Steve demonstrates how to play a pull-off between two fretted notes. When performing this technique, always fret the lower note first. Then, prepare the other finger for the pull-off. Playing a pull-off that involves two fretted notes is much more difficult than pulling off to an open string. The most common issue that beginner’s have is getting the pull off to sound loud enough. Playing any slur well requires sufficient force on the string. If you find that you are having this problem, you are most likely pulling your finger downward with insufficient force.

Advanced Pull-Off Exercise

Although Steve demonstrates this exercise in first position, it is recommended that you begin practicing this exercise at the fifth fret. Here are the left-hand finger combinations to use when practicing pull-offs. They should be performed in the following order. Once again, these exercises must be practiced on each string.

Pull off from finger 2 to 1, then:
3 to 1
4 to 1
3 to 2
4 to 2

Chapter 8: (4:56) Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs A. Hammer-On and Pull-Off Exercise No. 1

Essentially, this exercise combines the first hammer-on exercise and the first pull-off exercise into a new technical drill. Begin by plucking the low E string. Then, hammer onto the first fret just like you did in Hammer-On Exercise No. 1. Now, pull off from the first fret to the open string. The first note in this sequence is the only note that needs to be picked. Repeat this exercise with all four fingers.

B. Hammer-On and Pull Off Exercise No. 2

This exercise is quite similar to the other exercises in this lesson as well. Using the pull-off finger combinations discussed in Scene 7, perform a hammer-on followed by a pull-off. For example, for the first combination, begin by picking a note fretted by the first finger. Then, hammer onto the next fret with the second finger. Finally, pull off with the second finger back to the first note. Repeat this process with all possible finger combinations.

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