What Are Hammer-Ons?
Hammer-ons are a super common guitar technique that adds additional flavor to your playing. It's often used alongside pull-offs as part of the legato technique.
Musical Example:
For a sample of what this can sound like in a musical context check out the intro to “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC:
Featured Lesson:
To learn the basics of hammer-ons check out this lesson by Nate Savage from Guitareo:
Important takeaways from the lesson are:
- Playing a scale “legato” style (with hammer-ons and pull-offs) (0:30)
- The technique behind a hammer-on (0:50)
- Make sure to land right behind the fret on a hammer-on (2:00)
- Mixing hammer-ons with pull-offs exercise (3:30)
Acoustic Guitar Hammer-Ons
Tony Polecastro of Acoustic Life shows hammer-on technique with an acoustic guitar.
Heavy Hammer-Ons
Alex Skolnik of Testament showing his hammer-on and pull-off technique.
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