Basic Legato Technique

So next, I'd like to discuss with you a little bit of basic legato technique.

What is Legato?

Legato technique is simply hammer-ons and pull-offs. They are the two main types of legato technique we have on guitar.

Demonstration of the G Major Scale

I'm going to play for you now a G major scale descending down. I'll pick it all first, and then I'll play it legato so you can hear the difference.

The Meaning of Legato

The meaning of legato is smooth.

• When I pick it, although it sounds kind of clean, it doesn't necessarily sound smooth.
• When I play it legato, you'll agree that it sounds smoother with hammer-ons and pull-offs than when I play it all picked.

Playing the G Major Scale

Here's the G major scale.

1. If I play it legato:
   • I'm just picking with my right hand.
   • As I cross the strings, I pick the first new note on each new string.
   • All the power from the notes is generated from my left hand.

That was me descending the G major scale using pull-offs. Pull-offs are used when moving down a legato phrase. Hammer-ons are used when moving up.

Hammer-ons Demonstration

Let me just demonstrate hammer-ons real quick, and then we'll do some finer examples.

Ascending the G Major Scale

Here's the G major scale performed ascending using hammer-ons.

• Again, it sounds nice and smooth on the way up.

Practicing Hammer-ons and Pull-offs

There are a few ways of practicing the hammer-ons and pull-offs. Let's take a look at them in isolation.

Picking a String

Let's pick the D string and pick the open D note.

• Then, with any finger on your left hand (I'm going to use my second finger), I'm going to hammer on to the second fret.

When I say hammer on, it means my left hand is physically hammering onto the fretboard. My right hand will not touch the string after I've played that first note.

Hammer-on Technique

1. Really slow, I get this:

   • Pick, then hammer on.

   You can see that my right hand is well out of the way.

   • If I don't put enough energy into the string, I'll get a quiet hammer-on.
   • We want the hammer-on to sound the same volume as the picked note if possible.

Practicing Pull-offs

Now let's reverse that and practice pull-offs.

• I'll pick the second fret first, then remove my right hand (it's not going to do anything), and pull off to the open D string without picking it.

You get this.

• You can see that I'm actually pulling off to the side of the string.

  • If I come directly off the string, I won't get any energy into the open string, resulting in a quiet pull-off which is not ideal.

Treat the string like an elastic band that you're flicking back on itself to come off the side of the string. This will help you achieve a nice powerful pull-off.

Combining Hammer-ons and Pull-offs

If we put them together, we can get a hammer-on and a pull-off.

• I'm going to pick the open D string, hammer on, and then pull off to get this sound.

If we add lots of those together, we achieve a trill when done fast enough.

Trill Example

Here's a trill using the first finger.

That's something you can practice on any open string and any fretted note. You could also do it on two fretted notes if you wanted. For example, let's say the second fret on the G string, hammering on and pulling off from the fourth fret on the B string gives us this sound.

• This requires a little more strength from your left hand since we need to keep the back end note fretted all the time.
• The first finger stays nice and solid, while the third finger generates the energy for the hammer-on and the elastic pull-off off the side of the string.

Application to Scales and Melodies

As soon as you're comfortable with it on one string, start applying it to scales or melodies you may have learned.

Back to the G Major Scale

If we go back to our G major scale:

1. Start at the bottom and just pick the first note on each new string:

   • Pick, pick, hammer on, hammer on, pick, hammer on, hammer on, pick.

2. On the way back down, pick the first note on each string but pull off in the opposite direction.

You'll get that really smooth sound.

• Instead of all picks, this just sounds much smoother.

This is something you can apply to your everyday playing. Once you have a reasonable grounding in that technique, it's a cool thing to incorporate into songs that you may have learned.