Hammer-ons

Let’s dig deep into the hammer-on technique! This is one of the most important techniques you must learn. I use hammer-ons a lot, and it’s one of the major reasons for my speed and control. Pull-offs is of course another one – it’s basically the opposite of hammer-ons.

The benefits with hammer-ons and pull-offs:

1. Control – less issues with synchronization between your two hands
2. Speed – it’s easier to play fast lines
3. You get stronger fingers
4. Smoothness – pleasing sound and less choppy compared to picked notes

Drawbacks:

1. You need some gain or compression/sustain to get enough “oomph” for the note to ring with enough energy
2. It’s hard at first to control exactly where the finger lands
3. It can be tiring for the fretting hand

However, I believe the benefits by far outweighs the drawbacks.

Let’s focus on hammer-ons and go through some useful exercises:

Hammer-ons Course