Does your playing seem flat and ‘samey’?  Do you want to add depth and colour to make it sound more interesting?. Can you hear that when you’re trying to strum like Paul Simon or Bob Dylan it seems like something is missing? 

There are a few techniques you can add into your playing using your chord/fretting hand that will spice it up nicely!

 

1. Hammer ons (the legendary..) HO

We can use these in melodies or chords in a few different ways.  They’re a great way to add an extra rhythmic layer. 

The way to play a basic Hammer-on is to pick the string first and to create a second note by hammering or tapping a fretting hand finger firmly onto the string that’s already ringing out.

A good example: pick the open G string and as it rings out hammer the index finger on your fretting hand onto fret 2 of G string (make sure your finger makes contact with the fretboard and stays there).  Because we’re using the fretting hand to tap onto the string and create the second note here it has a much smoother sound. This is called legato.

Technique Tips:  

• Pressure – the right amount of pressure is necessary. At first you will maybe hit harder than you need to when actually not a lot of pressure is needed. However, you’ll need enough to make sure that note rings out clearly and when you keep that finger in place it keeps on ringing until it fades. If you get a buzz you’re not being clean enough. 
• Fret position – the same principle as when you play chords. Land just next to the fret wire. Optimum. 
• Timing – there are different rhythmic timings you can achieve with Hammer –  ons. To start with just make sure you can get a clean 1, 2.  (1 is the open string, 2 is the HO note). 

We have quite a few options with Hammer ons:

1. Hammer-on within a chord:

• Open C chord  (Middle finger HO) – fret the C chord but have the middle finger raised off the string, strum the 5 strings in the chord with your strumming hand and hammer the raised middle finger onto fret 2, D string. 
• We can HO within different chords eg Am, G, Em…  Experiment with different finger HOs eg Fret the Am chord and lift your Index finger off the B string. Strum the chord and Hammer the index finger back onto fret 1.  Do it again with the other fingers within the chord and listen to the different effect it has.  Do this with different chords and see what works.

Tips: You wouldn’t want to hammer on every chord in a sequence because it starts to lose its effect if it’s overdone. Be selective.  You can also HO a full chord eg Em. It creates a real rhythmic push.

2. Hammer-on within a melody:

• Do this between chords (or within a walk-up or walk-down). eg Play open A string, Hammer your middle finger onto fret 2, A string. Then fret the full C chord and strum the strings with your strumming hand. The smoother these movements are the more effective it sounds.

 

3. HO an additional note to a chord:

• eg Fret a full Am chord and as the string ring out Hammer your pinky onto the 3rd fret of the B string.  You can do this with most chords. See what notes you can find that you like the sound of.

 

2. Pull offs (PO)

These are often coupled with the HO but they deserve their own space to start off with. 

A PO is the opposite direction to a HO. We pick the string with a note already fretted. We then, using the fretting finger, slightly pull the string it holds down, then take the finger off the string to create a second pick / note eg hold down fret 2 of G string, pick the string with your picking hand so the string rings out,  use the finger on the fretting hand to pull the string down slightly and move your finger off the string.  

Again, we can add that into a chord eg D to Dsus2 – Fret the full D chord. Strum it with your picking hand so the strings ring out. Using your ring finger on the chord hand to pull the string it sits on (e string) down slightly and move the finger off the string so the open e rings out.    

Technique Tips:

• Timing – Practise being able to do this in a controlled timing.  When we first start it feels like we have no control. Practise 1, 2.  First note, second note. 
• Light touch – you don’t want to bend the string (not yet anyway). This means holding the chord in place and moving just the finger you’re using to PO. Don’t let the other fingers in the chord move. 

We can use these also to add melody or walk downs within chord sequences.

 

Hammer on – Pull off

Tying what we’ve covered together we can couple the HO & PO  to double up on what we have already.  eg Am chord – fret the chord with the index finger raised off the string, strum the whole chord with the strumming hand, HO the index finger to fret 1 then immediately PO the index finger.  Experiment with different chords. 

A further development of this is the trill  for a quick flourish. 

 

3. Slides 

A slide is where we pick a fretted note, while keeping the fretting finger pressed down, we then slide this finger to another fret (higher or lower). This is great for smooth transitions, joining chords and notes together eg fret the 3rd fret of e string. Pick it so it rings out. Keeping the finger of the fretting hand pressed on the string slide it up to fret 5 on the e string and hold your finger there. 

Technique Tips:

If you take any pressure off the fretboard it will break the note. Practice keeping your finger pressed down. Start with a 1 fret slide then more frets. . You will feel a bit of burn as you get used to these. Work on timing and look at where you’re aiming to land. After a while you’ll get used to the feel of the distance. 

2 slides to look at:.

• A quick slide (grace note)  that creates a nifty little start to a note
• An equal slide from one note to the next.  

We can use slides as an entry point to a chord or to add something melodic between chords or a melody.

 

Enjoy playing around with these techniques.