Hammer-on
A legato move up to a higher note: you pick the first note, then a fretting-hand finger hammers the string to sound the second one, without picking again. Two notes for one pick stroke: your playing gets smoother, more connected, and faster.
- Notation:
- h (5h7).
- Hand:
- Fretting hand.
- Difficulty:
- Beginner.
- Style:
- All styles.
- Taught in:
- Beginner course, step 6.
Listen
e|---------5h8-| B|-----5h8-----| G|-5h7---------| D|-------------| A|-------------| E|-------------|
What it’s for
A hammer-on ties two notes together: the second one has no pick attack, it comes from your finger hitting the string. It sounds a little softer, glued to the first note, and the phrase flows instead of moving one note at a time. It’s also a speed boost: your picking hand only plays every other note.
You hear it everywhere. In blues and rock solos, where it makes the pentatonic scale sing. In open-position riffs, where the finger hammers straight from an open string. In bluegrass and folk, where bass runs climb in hammer-ons. Jimi Hendrix uses it to dress up his chords, in the intro to “Little Wing” for example. And it’s the building block of legato, the trill and tapping.
How to do it
Here’s the move from the example at the top of the page, on the G string.
- Play the first note normally: the 5th fret of the G string, with your index finger.
- Get your ring finger ready about half an inch above the 7th fret, finger curved, no farther.
- While the note rings, hammer the string sharply with your fingertip, right behind the 7th fret wire. The finger drops like a little hammer.
- Don’t pick a second time: the hammering finger is what makes the note sound.
- Keep both fingers pressed down. If your ring finger lets up, the note dies. Your index stays put: it anchors your hand and it’s ready for a pull-off.
The hammer-on
- Your index plays the first note and stays put.
- Your ring finger hits the string sharply, right behind the fret: that’s what makes the note sound.
Drawn like tab: high E at the top, low E at the bottom.
In tab, 5h7 reads: play the 5th fret, then hammer on to the 7th. Some tabs replace the h with a small arc linking the two numbers. 0h2 starts from an open string.
Examples
The example at the top of the page climbs the A minor pentatonic on the three high strings: 5h7 on the G string, then 5h8 on the B and high E. One pick stroke per string, two notes each time.
Here, the finger hammers from an open string: no index needed to hold the first note. This is the hammer-on of open-position riffs, in the E minor pentatonic.
e|-----------------------------| B|-----------------------------| G|-----------------------------| D|---------0h2-----------------| A|-----0h2-----2-0-----0-0h2---| E|-0h3-------------0h3-------0-|
Faster: a hammer-on on the G string, then the 5th fret of the B string picked, over and over, six notes per beat. Your index stays flat across both strings at the 5th fret; only your ring finger and pinky move. The phrase ends on the A on the D string, with some vibrato.
e|-----------------5-----5-5h8----------------| B|-----5-----5-5h8---5h8-------8-5h8----------| G|-5h7---5h7-------------------------7-5h7----| D|-----------------------------------------7~-| A|--------------------------------------------| E|--------------------------------------------|
Licks
A rock riff in E: the low E chugs along palm-muted, and the hammer-ons come off the open strings without palm muting, so they jump out.
PM-- PM PM---- e|-------------------------------| B|-------------------------------| G|-------------------------------| D|-------------------------------| A|-----------0h2-----------------| E|-0-0-0h3-0-----0-0-0-0h3-3h5-0-|
A country lick in G, on an acoustic: the bass line climbs in hammer-ons on the A and D strings, bluegrass style, and lands on the low G.
e|-----------------------------| B|-----------------0-----------| G|-----------0-0h2---2-0-------| D|-------0h2-------------0h2---| A|---0h2-----------------------| E|-3-------------------------3-|
A blues lick in A, with a shuffle feel: the hammer-on from the 5th to the 6th fret of the G string takes you from C to C♯, from the minor third to the major third of the A7 chord. That little rub is what gives the blues its color.
e|-5------------------------| B|---8-5--------------------| G|-------5h6-------5-5h6----| D|-----------7-5h7-------7~-| A|--------------------------| E|--------------------------|
Practice routine
Play position 1 of the A minor pentatonic with one hammer-on per string, from the low E to the high E: 5h8 on the low E, 5h7 on the A, D and G strings, 5h8 on the B and high E.
- Start at 60 bpm, in eighth notes: the picked note falls on the click, the hammered note between clicks.
- Go up 5 bpm each time you play the scale three times in a row without a hitch, every note at the same volume.
- Goal: 120 bpm in eighth notes. Then drop back to 60 bpm in sixteenth notes (four notes per click) and work up to 90.
Record yourself now and then: if the hammered note is clearly quieter than the picked one, slow down. Once everything is even, do the exercise again hammering with your pinky, your weakest finger.
Common mistakes
Second note too quiet? It’s speed that counts, not strength. Hammer with a short, quick motion, with your fingertip, as close to the fret wire as you can.
Finger starting from too far away? Keep it within half an inch of the string: the shorter the trip, the more accurate and even the hammer-on.
Hammered note sounds muffled or buzzes? You’re landing in the middle of the fret space, or flat on the pad of your finger. Aim right behind the fret wire, finger well curved, and keep it pressed after the hit.
Other strings starting to ring? With fewer pick strokes, nearby strings start vibrating on their own. Rest the edge of your picking hand on the low strings, and let the underside of your index lightly touch the high strings.
Variations
From an open string (0h2). No finger holds the first note: the string rings open and the finger hammers. It’s the easiest version, used all the time in riffs and bass lines.
Several hammer-ons in a row (5h7h8). One pick stroke, three notes: that’s the start of legato.
The hammer-on “from nowhere.” The finger hammers a string that wasn’t ringing yet, with no pick attack at all. You have to hit harder, but it’s what lets you change strings in legato.
Inside a chord. You hold a chord and a single finger comes in with a hammer-on. For example: play a D chord without your middle finger on the high E (Dsus2), then hammer the 2nd fret of that string to get the D chord back. It’s a very common embellishment in folk and pop.
Looped with the pull-off. Hammer-on, pull-off, hammer-on, as fast as you can: that’s the trill.
With your picking hand. A picking-hand finger hammers the string on the neck: that’s tapping.
Acoustic or electric
On an electric guitar, light strings and low action make hammer-ons easy, and distortion keeps the hammered note almost as loud as the picked one. The flip side: distortion also brings out every noise, so you have to mute the neighboring strings well.
On an acoustic, the strings are heavier and tighter: hammer more firmly, and accept that the second note will be a little softer; that’s part of the charm of folk playing. Hammer-ons from open strings sound especially good there. On a classical guitar with nylon strings, the hammered note is round and subtle.
Going further
- The opposite move: the pull-off. The two chained together give you the trill and legato.
- The lesson where the hammer-on first comes in: Your first solo: hammer-on, pull-off, slide.
- The scale in the examples: the A minor pentatonic, and the one in the open-position example: the E minor pentatonic.
- To turn it into a system, one pick stroke per string: the Legato lesson.