Hammer-on / Pull-off Guitar Lesson
Hammer-on / Pull-off
This lesson is all about improving speed by applying hammer-ons and pull-offs. Learn some exercises that sound great and boost speed.
Taught by Brad Henecke in Speed and Technique seriesLength: 11:27Difficulty: 2.0 of 5
Chapter 2: (03:29) Speed with Hammer-ons and Pull-offs The easiest way to play rapid lines with a smooth legato sound is to apply multiple hammer-ons and pull-offs. Triplet licks are typically the easiest to play, since most scale patterns feature three notes on each string in any given position. After picking the first note, use two sequential hammer-ons to reach the next two notes. When descending, two pull-offs must be used.
Lick 1
This lick is in C major. However, it can also be used over an A minor chord. The majority of the lick follows the fifth position pattern of the C major scale. However, the lick begins in fourth position. A position shift must be made to fifth position on the second beat of this measure.
Play this lick in a strict eighth note triplet rhythm. Make sure that every note receives the same rhythmic value. Adhering to the left-hand fingerings that Brad demonstrates will help greatly. Start at the slowest tempo you can stand. About 48 beats per minute is a great place to start. Then, speed up the metronome in very small increments as you feel more comfortable. Playing the lick at such a slow tempo provides you with an opportunity to ensure that all of the notes under the curved slur line are rhythmically equal.
Throughout this lesson, Brad is playing with some light delay and reverb. Notice how the notes that echo back create some interesting harmonies with subsequent notes in the lick. Chapter 3: (03:06) Pull-off Speed Brad demonstrates how to descend the C major scale pattern presented in the last scene. When descending this pattern, the first note on each string is still picked. However, the subsequent notes sound as a result of two pull-offs. Remember to pull straight down to the floor whenever you perform a pull-off. Stop your finger on the string below.
Chapter 4: (04:43) Hammer-ons and Pull-offs Together This lick is quite similar to the lick taught in Scenes 2 and 3. This time around, the lick is played in the 12th position of the C major scale. The fingering for this position of the scale is identical to the fingering of the most common fingering of the Phrygian mode. Once again, this lick works equally well over an A minor chord.
Supplemental Learning Material
Speed and Technique
Found in our Beginner Lesson SetsTechnique is extremely important to playing in any style of music. Perfect technique combined with blazing speed can take your playing to a whole new level.
Lesson 1
Series Introduction
Brad introduces his Speed and Technique series.
Length: 1:15 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
Picking and Timing
Brad Henecke covers proper picking technique and gives a basic lesson on notes/timing.
Length: 6:10 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
Picking and Downstrokes
This lesson is all about the downstroke. Brad discusses technique and shows you how to pick in different rhythmic groupings.
Length: 5:20 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
Upstrokes
Brad covers the proper way to perform an upstroke.
Length: 4:16 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
Alternate Picking
Brad Henecke covers alternate picking and how it can speed up your guitar playing.
Length: 5:00 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
Alternate Picking with Upstrokes
Brad Henecke presents alternate picking exercises that start with an upstroke.
Length: 3:26 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
Sweep Picking
Brad explains the basics of sweep picking in this fun speed building guitar lesson.
Length: 9:00 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Economy Picking
Brad explains the basics of a technique called economy picking.
Length: 5:33 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Series Review
Brad provides a brief review of this series. He gives information regarding why technique is so important.
Length: 2:00 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
String Skipping
Brad covers proper string skipping technique and gives you some exercises that will speed up your playing.
Length: 8:10 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Hammer-on / Pull-off
This lesson is all about improving speed by applying hammer-ons and pull-offs. Learn some exercises that sound great and boost speed.
Length: 11:27 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Hammer-On Lick
Brad Henecke demonstrates a speed building lick that makes heavy use of hammer-ons.
Length: 0:00 Difficulty: 0.0 Members Only
About Brad Henecke
View Full Biography
Brad Henecke was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on May 5th of 1963. He has been a fan of music for as long as he & his family can remember. You could always find him running around the farm wailing on his cardboard guitar, pretending to be a member of the rock band KISS. Additional inspiration came during his first concert when he got the chance to see Boston & Sammy Hagar in the early 1970's.
This opened up a whole new world of rock and roll music for him; his parents noticed his growing interest in music and enrolled him into guitar lessons when he was 13.
From there he jumped into two years of lessons at a local music store in Cedar Rapids. After discovering Eddie Van Halen, Brad knew that the
guitar would always be a part of his life. He took his love throughout the city as he played as a pit musician & jammed at parties for friends.
This made him thirsty for more. He enrolled classes at Kirkwood Community College & also took lessons from the one & only Craig-Erickson (www.craig-erickson.com).
His love for music landed him a gig opening for Molly Hatchet in Cedar Rapids with a band called "Slap & Tickle". He has also played in the Greeley
Stampede show for quite a few years with "True North".
Brad is currently playing in Greeley, Colorado with a rock band titled "Ragged Doll". They play a wide variety of music with an emphasis on
classic rock from the 60's to present, with Brad playing electric guitar in the five piece lineup.
He currently jams on his all-time favorite guitar: a Paul Reed Smith Custom 24. Beyond guitar, he plays also plays drums & bass guitar. He has
also been known to thrash a banjo from time to time. He is still actively playing & passing his 31 years of playing experience on to others (you!).
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Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.Brad, in order to get the notes to ring out for such an extended period of time, do you have to play with the gain really turned up? Can you still do sustained pull offs with an acoustic guitar?
Damn background noise from HOPOs.