Changes

Legato is a technique where the notes seem to flow into one another. It is the opposite of staccato, where each note's attack is emphasized and sustain minimized. The primary means to achieve legato on guitar is through note-sounding techniques that do not use picking or plucking the strings.

==Hammer-on==

--4--/(5)--5--\(4)-|-4--/(6)--6--\(4)-|-4--/(7)--7--\(4)-|-4--/(8)--8--\(4)--

This exercise is simple - we are just sliding up and down 1, 2, 3, and 4 frets. You should only use one of your left-hand fingers for the entire exercise. Start on the index finger, but practice on all fingers. Also, repeat on all strings. Remember to slide quickly but more importantly accurately. Remember to maintain pressure against the string, so you can hear every fret (albeit extremely briefly) along the way. Once you have mastered this, try extending the number of frets you are sliding. And as the number of frets gets larger, it may help more and more to play along with a metronome. You don't want the slide transition to occur on the beat; you want to arrive at your destination note precisely ''on'' the beat.

i r p i m p m i p r i r p i m p m i p r i

* Fig 15 - half-whole pattern on both strings

* Fig 16 - whole-half pattern on both strings

So that's a complete major scale on one string ascending and descending in groups of 4.

== Why Legato?==

=== Tone ===

By effectively removing the transient from the attack of the sound, legato effectively sounds different than picking. Transients have lots of noise or other non-harmonic elements of the sound. This can make picking sound percussive and aggressive. But sometimes you want a cleaner, purer harmonic tone; and you can use legato to get it. It's the same reason a composer will arrange a certain part of a piece of music for flute as opposed to harpsichord.