Legato (Hammer-on, Pull-off)
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.
Contents
PreReqs
Hammer-on
A hammer-on is a technique where you quickly fret a note with the left hand. It is most commonly used on a string that already has a sustaining note, repurposing that resonant energy to sustain the new note.
Open String Hammer-ons
fig 1
--0-h1----0-h2----0-h3----0-h4--
i m r p
Figure 1 shows some open string hammer-ons in first position. First pluck the open string. While the open string is sustaining, quickly fret the first fret. Notice the "h" in front of the fret number - this indicates to hammer-on instead of pick that note. If done quickly and accurately, you will now be sustaining the first fret's note. Repeat for all fingers as indicated in the tab. Repeat for all strings.
fig 2
--0-h9----0-h10---0-h11---0-h12--
i m r p
Figure 2 is the exact same exercise, but in 9th position. This is just to give you a different feel for hammering-on open strings higher up the fretboard.
The main points to watch are the quality, speed, and accuracy of your hammer-on fretting. If you fret right behind the fret using the tip of your finger quickly, you should have no trouble sustaining the prior note.
Fretted Note Hammer-ons
fig 3 --1-h2----1-h3----1-h4-- i m i r i p
Figure 3 is the same exercise, but in first position - now we're hammering-on between index and the other fingers, one at a time. The index-pinky hammer-on might be difficult right now, particularly in 1st position. Work on stretching and strengthening that pinky!
Move this exercise to different positions over the fretboard, and try it on all strings.
fig 4 --1-h2----1-h3----1-h4----2-h3----2-h4----3-h4-- i m i r i p m r m p r p
Figure 4 is our inter-finger hammer-on exercise. This covers hammering on from each finger to every other possible finger. Practice all of them, identify the ones you are worst at performing and practice those the most. Move up and down the fretboard and use all the strings.
2 Hammer-ons per String
fig 5 --5-h6-h8--5-h6-h8--5-h7-h8--5-h7-h8--5-h7-h9--5-h7-h9 i m p i m p i r p i r p i m p i m p
Figure 5 introduces two hammer-on's in a row, for our most common 3 note per string shapes (half-whole or middle, whole-half or ring, and whole-whole or stretch). So now you are not just carrying over a picked note into a hammer-on, but a picked note that has already been hammered-on. If your technique is good, you shouldn't have any trouble getting the pinky to sustain the note.
Once you are decent at getting the notes to sound smoothly and consistently, try using a metronome. You want each note to have equal duration. Practice slow and build up speed.
fig 6 -----------5-h6-h8-----------5-h7-h8-----------5-h7-h9 --5-h6-h8-----------5-h7-h8-----------5-h7-h9--------- i m p i m p i r p i r p i m p i m p
Figure 6 is the same as figure 5, but uses two strings.
Hammer-on from Nothing
fig 7 --h1--(x)--h2--(x)--h3--(x)--h4-- i m r p
Figure 7 displays another hammer-on technique. Here the string is muted - it has no resonant energy. Your hammer-on will supply that energy. To get a good-sounding note, you have to be accurate, fast, and strong. But don't fret the note too hard, which will cause it to go sharp. You want to hammer-on strong, but sustain the note with as little force necessary to maintain a clean fret-job. This exercise uses all fingers - try moving it around the fretboard and try all strings.
Notice the x's. In tab, these typically indicate a muted stroke - you would pick the string while muting it with the left hand to get a percussive sound. Unfortunately, tab does not have any rest notation, so I'm using (x)'s to indicate unpicked mutes. It just means mute the string, but do not pick it.
fig 8 ----------h5-h6-h8----------h5-h7-h8----------h5-h7-h9 -h5-h6-h8----------h5-h7-h8----------h5-h7-h9--------- i m p i m p i r p i r p i m p i m p
Figure 8 is a repeat of figure 6 but uses no picking at all - every note is hammered-on. It should sound nice and smooth - much different than if you were to pick each note.
Again, once you get the technique fundamentals, practice against a metronome - make sure each note has equal duration, starting slow and building speed.
Pull-Off
A pull-off is similar to a hammer-on in reverse. Here you are removing your fretting finger, allowing the resonant energy of the string to sustain on an open string or lower fret. But there is a slight twist:
Simply removing your fretting finger quickly is usually not good enough. As you move your finger away, it is still touching the string and dampening it, causing the next note to be weak. A good pull-off applies a very slight bend to the note before removing the fretting finger. It is almost like a very subtle finger pick. If done too strongly, the next note will get too much attack and sound more like a picked note than a legato pull-off. The sustain of the first note and entirety of the next note should be consistent dynamically, like the first note flows into the next one.
Another key aspect to remember: the lower fret (if not an open string) must be fretted before the pull-off is executed. If you try to basically hammer-on the next note as you pull-off, you may hear some open string, muted string, or other noise between the two notes, which is not true to a legato tone.
Open String Pull-offs
fig 9 --4-p0----3-p0----2-p0----1-p0-- p r m i
Figure 9 contains first position, open-string pull-offs. In the tab, like the h's for hammer-ons, the p's indicate the note is pulled-off, not picked. Remember the sustain of the picked note should flow smoothly into the pulled-off note. Practice on all strings. Try other positions.
Fretted Pull-offs
fig 10 --4-p1----3-p1----2-p1-- p i r i m i
Here's the basic exercise to practice pulling off onto fretted notes. It's the exact same mechanic as figure 9 - just remember to fret the index finger before pulling off.
fig 11 --4-p1----3-p1----2-p1----4-p2----3-p2----4-p3-- p i r i m i p m r m p r
Here's the tough exercise that practices each finger combination. Take it slow and make sure you are getting consistency between each pair of notes. Practice all strings and various positions on the neck.
2 Pull-offs per String
fig 12 --8-p6-p5--8-p6-p5--8-p7-p5--8-p7-p5--9-p7-p5--9-p7-p5 p m i p m i p r i p r i p m i p m i
Figure 12 introduces two pull-off's in a row, for our most common 3 note per string shapes (half-whole or middle, whole-half or ring, and whole-whole or stretch). So now you are not just carrying over a picked note into a pull-off, but a picked note that has already been pulled-off. If your technique is good, you shouldn't have any trouble getting an even tone for both pulled off notes equal to the sustain of the first picked note.
Once you are decent at getting the notes to sound smoothly and consistently, try using a metronome. You want each note to have equal duration. Practice slow and build up speed.
fig 13 --8-p6-p5-----------8-p7-p5-----------9-p7-p5--------- -----------8-p6-p5-----------8-p7-p5-----------9-p7-p5 p m i p m i p r i p r i p m i p m i
Figure 13 is the same exercise but using two strings.
Legato Sliding
In addition to hammer-ons and pull-offs, legato can be performed using an unpicked slide. To perform this technique, simply hold whatever finger is fretting the current note, and slide it up or down to the new note while maintaining pressure of the string against the frets. If done slowly, you should hear each fret - like you are playing the chromatic scale, one half step at a time. To keep the note's strength, you must slide quickly and accurately. By accurately, I mean your finger is correctly fretting the new note, positioned right behind the fret, as usual.
fig 14 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 --4--/(5)--5--\(4)-|-4--/(6)--6--\(4)-|-4--/(7)--7--\(4)-|-4--/(8)--8--\(4)--
Notice the /'s and \'s and in the tab above. This indicates a slide. In tab, a slide is implicity a legato technique; however, there are numerous times when a slide should be picked. I put the ()'s around the next note to explicitly indicate legato. There's no simple way in tab to explicitly indicate to slide and pick.
Note, when / or \ are encountered and there is no previously played note on that string, it implies that the note should be picked while being slid into, either from above or below depending on whether / or \ is used.
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.
If done correctly, a slide should sound different than a hammer-on or pull-off, giving you another option in your legato arsenal.
Since / and \ are often used in relation to whammy bar techniques, often slides are written simply using s. The above example would be:
--4--s(5)--5--s(4)-|-4--s(6)--6--s(4)-|-4--s(7)--7--s(4)-|-4--s(8)--8--s(4)--
Fine-Tuning your Technique
Legato uses less energy per note than using the pick. This means the notes you are playing are more susceptible to ringing open strings, fretting sounds, or other unwanted noises. Distorted sounds are particularly prone to this - your pure-sounding legato notes (sounds like 'oooooo') clash with dissonant unwanted pitches. This is where excellent right and left-hand muting technique really helps out.
Take a wrist band or a small piece of foam and a rubber band and place it on top of the first 3-4 frets - this will act as a damper. This should completely mute all the open strings, so that if you strum the guitar, you hear a bunch of muffled muted percussive sounds, not anything resembling sustained notes. Now start playing legato phrases on any frets above the damper. It should be quite clean - the only sounds your guitar is making are the notes you are fretting with the left-hand.
Some guitarists will actually grab the neck with their right hand over the first few frets, using their entire palm as a damper like the wrist-band above. This works great for lengthy passages that are completely legato. But in real-life, legato is usually only used for parts of phrases - we won't be able to dedicate our right hand to dampening open strings.
This is where good muting technique comes in handy. You can use the right hand palm (the part nearest the wrist on the pinky-side of the hand) to dampen the thicker strings above the one you're playing. For the thinner strings, you can use the middle, ring, or pinky fingers of your right hand. Since legato involves no picking, this frees up the right hand to do so, albeit quickly and temporarily. For strings adjacent to the one you're playing, you can use the left-hand index finger to rest on them, at least partially. This works even if you are using that finger to fret a note - your finger-tip will fret the string you are playing, while your fingerprint can rest against the next string.
fig e--(mute with right middle finger)----- b--(mute with left-hand index finger)-- g---h6---h7---h9---p7---p6---h7---h9--- d--(mute with right-hand palm)--------- a--(mute with right-hand palm)--------- e--(mute with right-hand palm)---------
Putting them Together
Think you've mastered the above techniques separately? Let's try them together.
fig 14 --h6-h7-h9-p7-p6-h7-h9-p7---p6-h8-h9-p8-p6-h8-h9-p8---p6-h8-h10-p8-p6-h8-h10-p8-p6--- i m p m i m p m i r p r i r p r i m p m i m p m i
Figure 14 is straight step-wise motion up and down on a single string using all hammer-on and pull-offs for all three common 3 note per string patterns (half-whole, whole-half, and whole-whole). All notes should be equal volume and duration - use a metronome. Practice on other strings/positions.
fig 15 -----------h6-h7-h9-p7-p6----------------h6-h7-h9-p7-p6----------- --h6-h7-h9----------------h9-p7-p6-h7-h9----------------h9-p7-p6-- i m p i m p m i p m i m p i m p m i p m i
fig 16 -----------h6-h8-h9-p8-p6----------------h6-h8-h9-p8-p6----------- --h6-h8-h9----------------h9-p8-p6-h8-h9----------------h9-p8-p6-- i r p i r p r i p r i r p i r p r i p r i
fig 17 ------------h6-h8-h10-p8-p6------------------h6-h8-h10-p8-p6----------- --h6-h8-h10-----------------h10-p8-p6-h8-h10-----------------h10-p8-p6-- i m p i m p m i p m i m p i m p m i p m i
fig 18 -----------h6-h8-h9-p8-p6----------------h6-h8-h9-p8-p6----------- --h6-h7-h9----------------h9-p7-p6-h7-h9----------------h9-p7-p6-- i m p i r p r i p m i m p i r p r i p m i
fig 19 -----------h6-h8-h10-p8-p6----------------h6-h8-h10-p8-p6----------- --h6-h8-h9-----------------h9-p8-p6-h8-h9-----------------h9-p8-p6-- i r p i m p m i p r i r p i m p m i p r i
Excercises! Excercises! EXCERCISES!! Oh No!!!! Just stick with it and get through them.
- Fig 15 - half-whole pattern on both strings
- Fig 16 - whole-half pattern on both strings
- Fig 17 - whole-whole pattern on both strings
- Fig 18 - half-whole on bass string, whole-half on treble string
- Fig 18 - whole-half on bass string, whole-whole on treble string
Advanced Exercises
Here's some arthritis-inducing stuff if you really wanna get good:
fig 20 --6-|:h7--h9--p6--h9--p7--p6--h9--p6-:| i m p i p m i p i
Figure 20 alternates between step-wise motion and thirds, both ascending and descending.
fig 21 e-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| b-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| g-------------------------------------------------------------------------------h9--h10-h12-| d-----------------------------------------------h7-h9--h10-----------h9--h10-h12------------| a------------h5--h7--h8-------------h7--h8--h10-----------h8--h10-h12-----------------------| e-h5-h7--h8--------------h7--h8--h10--------------------------------------------------------| e---------------------------------------------------------h13-h15-h17-----------h15-h17-h19-|/20---- b------------------------h12-h13-h15-----------h13-h15-h17-----------h15-h17-h18------------|------- g------------h10-h12-h14------------h12-h14-h16---------------------------------------------|------- dh10-h12-h14--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------- a-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------- e-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------
fig 22 --3--h5--h7-/(8)--p7--p5-\(3)--h5--h7-/(8)--p7--p5-\(3)-- i m p p r i i m p p r i i --4--h6--h7-/(9)--p7--p6-\(4)--h6--h7-/(9)--p7--p6-\(4)-- i r p p m i i r p p m i i --4--h5--h7-/(9)--p7--p5-\(4)--h5--h7-/(9)--p7--p5-\(4)-- i m p p m i i m p p m i i --3--h5--h7-/(9)--p7--p5-\(3)--h5--h7-/(9)--p7--p5-\(3)-- i m p p m i i m p p m i i
Here's 4 exercises capturing two neighboring positions with 3 notes per position, played all with legato. Two hammer-ons, a slide-up, two pull-offs, and a slide down.
Notice the patterns:
- whole-whole, whole-half
- whole-half, half-whole
- half-whole, whole-whole
- whole-whole, whole-whole
Each higher position pattern matches the next exercise's lower position pattern. Let's put 'em all together!
--2--h4--h6--/(7)--p4--h6--h7--/(9)--p6--h7--h9-/(11)--p7--h9-h11-/(13)--p9-h11-h13-/(14)-- i m p p i r p p i m p p i m p p i m p p -14-p13-p11--\(9)-h13-p11--p9--\(7)-h11--p9--p7--\(6)--h9--p7--p6--\(4)--h7--p6--p4--\(2)-- p r i i p m i i p m i i p m i i p r i i
So that's a complete major scale on one string ascending and descending in groups of 4.
Grace Notes
Grace Notes are very quick, soft notes that lead into another note or phrase. They can hint at a tonality, and can add flair to a melody.
E--(11)/12------------------------ B-------------13------------------- G------------------14-----(12)/14
Why Legato?
Why legato? When should you use legato? What is its effect on the listener? These are rather big questions. As mentioned above, the effect of legato is a smooth transition between notes. So why would you want that?
Contrast
Consider a world where you cannot use these legato techniques. How do you play a melody that has a few accented notes, but otherwise contains lots of relatively unimportant notes? You have to use contrast in your picking style, softening your stroke for most notes but really emphasizing the accents. Now consider a melody that has a few accents, some normal notes, and a few soft notes. Again, you can use your picking strength to achieve contrast, but it begins to show its limits. How different do the normal and soft notes really sound?
Legato to the rescue. This gives you another obvious layer of contrast to give the appropriate amount of emphasis to each note.
Subtlety
If you are playing a part that requires subtlety, legato is a good technique to use. Consider the more subtle instruments in an orchestra - flute, clarinet, and sometimes strings. None of these instruments have a strong attack. A legato technique will make the guitar sound more like these instruments dynamically.
Speed
I don't endorse using legato technique as a crutch for bad alternate picking technique; however, legato requires little to no synchronicity between the left and right hand. Since that is one of the biggest obstacles in speed playing, legato may allow you to play phrases faster than otherwise.
Continuity
Even if the phrase you're playing isn't subtle, you may want to use legato to make it seem smooth and continuous. This can help differentiate phrases, especially if they run into each other. You'd pick the notes on the beginning or end of the phrase and use legato for the rest.
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.