Guitar Techniques I - Hammer-On Techniques

Michael Johnson >> Guitar Techniques I >>


Teacher: Welcome class to the series on Guitar Tricks. In this lesson you will learn several "Hammer-on" techniques you can practice over and over. Hammer-ons, like the pull-offs you learned in the last lesson are very important techniques to develop. These technique and tricks can greatly enhance your speed and dexterity. In fact players like Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai,... rely greatly on these techniques Teacher: Let's get started, first let's go over the basic hammer-on technique. Part 1 - Basic Hammer-on 1 Part 1 - Basic Hammer-on 1 Teacher: This first example uses your 1st finger on the 2nd fret/3rd string. First you pick the open string and then hammer-on the 1st finger on the fretboard with out picking again. The trick is to develop enough strength in your hand to produce a note without having to pick the string. In this next example you will hammer your other fingers as well. Part 1 - Basic Hammer-on 2 Part 1 - Basic Hammer-on 2 Teacher: As you might notice your other fingers will need strength as well to play hammer-ons, notice in this example I pick the open string and then hammer. Here's another example using all hammer-ons. Part 1 - Basic Hammer-on 3 Part 1 - Basic Hammer-on 3 Teacher: So basically you have 2 variation on this technique, 1. picking a note and then hammer, the other picking a note and playing other hammer-on notes without picking in-between the notes. Let's try a hammer-on using chromatic notes. Part 1 - Basic Hammer-on 4 Part 1 - Basic Hammer-on 4 Teacher: Remember you can incorporate using hammer-ons and pull-offs as well. OK, let's get into some practice techniques to develop your skills. phil: If on #3 you go in reverse without picking is that a pull-off? Teacher: Yes Phil, if you reverse the order you will be using pull-offs. This next section will use hammer-ons on a single-string. The scale used is the G Major. Part 2 - Single-String Hammer-on 1 Part 2 - Single-String Hammer-on 1 Teacher: Notice in this exercise you ascend the G Major scale 3-notes at a time. The fingering adjusts to the patterns as you move up the scale. You switch using the 1st & 3rd fingers and 1st & 2nd fingers. This will really help develop strength in your hand as well. Remember this technique works with any number of scale patterns. Now you can use the same technique on the same scale pattern, only this time you use 3 fingers at a time to ascend the scale. Part 2 - Single-String Hammer-on 2 Part 2 - Single-String Hammer-on 2 Teacher: Now this exercise will really help your 4th (pinky) finger. Be patient while your little finger develops strength. Also it takes time to develop coordination in your hand. You can also jump back and forth in the pattern, instead of ascending and descending the scale patter. Try this exercise using mostly the 1st & 3rd finger. Part 2 - Single-String Hammer-on 3 Part 2 - Single-String Hammer-on 3 Teacher: You might notice how some guitarists use this technique to play fast solos. You can also use the 3-finger pattern as well, that jumps around in the scale pattern. Part 2 - Single-String Hammer-on 4 Part 2 - Single-String Hammer-on 4 Teacher: Your hands will get tired after awhile, make sure you take breaks, stretch out and continue to practice. Most great guitar players I know have a warm-up routine going through scales, pull-offs, hammer-ons,... You should develop your own routine as well. You can also hammer-on using scale patterns on all 6-strings. Here's the first example. Part 3 - 6-String Hammer-on 1 Part 3 - 6-String Hammer-on 1 Teacher: The scale pattern used is box 5 of the A Minor Pentatonic scale. Notice how the open notes relate. The A Minor has A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and the A Minor Pentatonic has A, C, D, E & G. The open notes are all relative to the A Minor scale, so that is why playing open notes work out harmonically. You can also use the other box patterns for the A Minor Pentatonic as well. Try these patterns. Part 3 - 6-String Hammer-on 2 Part 3 - 6-String Hammer-on 2 Teacher: You can see know how you can play a flurry of notes, using the various scale patterns and hammer-ons can really help to increase your speed. Now you can use diatonic scale patterns as well, like the A Minor (Aeolian). Part 3 - 6-String Hammer-on 3 Part 3 - 6-String Hammer-on 3 phil: It doesn't really matter if you use a pick does it - i like the sound it gives without one. Teacher: Phil, not really, the picking starts the pattern, but the hammer-ons carry the sound afterwards. The next exercise will use dual-string patterns. Part 4 - Dual-String Hammer-on 1 Part 4 - Dual-String Hammer-on 1 Teacher: This run is used by Van Halen. Notice how you pick the beginning of each run and the hammer-ons carry the pattern. Knowing the pattern is very important when playing these hammer-ons. You can also use this same pattern and jump around the scale pattern as well. Part 4 - Dual-String Hammer-on 2 Part 4 - Dual-String Hammer-on 2 Teacher: You might notice these runs start to have a classical type sound. This is commonly used in classical compositions. Now I will give you a few licks, this first example has a Ozzy/Tesla sound. Part 4 - Hammer-on Lick 1 Part 5 - Hammer-on Lick 1 Teacher: This next lick has a Ozzy/Van Halen type sound. Part 4 - Hammer-on Lick 2 Part 5 - Hammer-on Lick 2 Teacher: Notice the wider intervals and how the same basic pattern is used on each string. Here's another lick using a Ozzy/Van Halen type sound. Part 4 - Hammer-on Lick 3 Part 5 - Hammer-on Lick 3 Teacher: Well hope you see how working on these techniques can enhance your playing. Make sure you practice them often and set up your own warm-up routine to warm up on. Time to go, see you next lesson! skip: Happy Halloween msg: thanks! phil: thanks Teacher: Bye!	<< load notation from left
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