I have been playing the acoustic guitar for some time now as I had it bought for me a long time ago, I put it down after about an hour of playing with it, and when I saw it in the attic it made me feel really bad, so I set out to learn it, and I'm glad I did, when you learn it the right way it can be really fun. I'd say I'm fairly good at playing it, although I was planning on buying an electric guitar so I can produce the kind of music I am into, I planned on becoming good with this guitar I have at the moment so that I wont have much to learn when I do buy one. The main problem I'm having trouble with is the hammer ons and pull offs, I've heard the strings have to be pushed down on an acoustic guitar harder than on the electric, but I can't seem to get them to work. I've practiced for hours with both of them, with the hammer ons the problem is that it just seems to kill the note, and with the pull offs it plays the different fret but the sound gets quieter, so doesn't have much of an effect. I just wondered whether I am doing something wrong or if it will be easier on the electric. Thanks.
It is possible to get a good hammer on and a good pull off on an acoustic, but it is much harder though. Pull-off's are especially difficult to get right I find, although to be honest, the majority of my acoustic orientated music doesn't call for that technique. Hammer ons are more frequently used, just seems to be a case of ramming your finger down precisely and pretty hard. Having good callouses helps too here as the harder skin doesn't tend to damp the string as much in the instant between it first touching the string and pushing it down to the fret.
As for using these techniques on an electric guitar, yes they are far easier. The strings are lighter and the generally the action is much lower too, so you're not actually having the string-damping effect of your finger on it for as long as you do on an acoustic as you're simply not pushing the string through as greater distance. In addition to this, running through the amplifier, the sound can get compressed a bit, so the pull-offs and hammer ons are "levelled out" a bit more in relation to the normal picked notes.
Hope this helps. :)
Incidentally, if you've been learning solely on an acoustic with a mind to get an electric . . . you'll find it very easy I think! Finger strength required on an acoustic is many times greater than that needed with an electric. Let us know how you get on! 8)
Rob
If something's not worth doing it's worth forgetting about.
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First off, welcome to GN Prizm. Like anything else, hammer-ons and pull-offs are simply made easier with practice. IMHO they are two very valuable tools in playing no matter which type of guitar you have. With acoustic guitar it does require a little more pressure than with an electric, but not so much so that it is a problem. You do need a good set-up on the acoustic so that the strings aren't really high off the fretboard. After that, it's just like every other aspect of playing. It just takes practice. I know this suggestion sounds like a broken record sometimes, but everything about the guitar takes practice.
Denny
yashicamat - you just outlined why I forsake my beloved elecrtics quite often in favour of acoustics. but then, I'm blues tone hound, so I also advise things like pretty high action and heavy strings (though my puny girl-hands only allow 10s or 11s :oops: ).
OP- take this with a grain of salt, since it does depend on which acoustic and electric you own, but....playing any given riff/solo/whatever on acoustic is generally harder than on electric for the following reasons. (1) the action is higher - so you have to apply more pressure to fret the note correctly, (2) the strings are thicker, again meaning more finger-work in playing well, (3) there's less sustain - this obviously depends on your acoustic/electric matchup, but generally, amps can be cranked up to increase the sustain of an electric guitar, thus allowing notes to ring out more clearly, and as yashimacat noted, there's a certain amount of levelling out that occurs through using an amp. (3) the neck is wider - again, this is a general point, but my experience is that, by and large, acoustic guitars have wider and thicker necks, thus requiring more effort to grip the guitar and fret notes than an electric. (4) wider frets - again, debatable, but acoustic often have larger frets, necessitating more work.
I would thoroughyl advise keeping the acoustic for practising on, even if you buy an electric guitar for any gigs/fun/whatever. I often practise any difficult pieces on acoustic a lot, simply because I then find playing it on electric a doddle.plus, it prevents you from hiding poor technique behind an array of stomp boxes.
and yes, the second note on hammer ons/pull offs is generally quiter than the first note. think about it, on the first note you used the pick and got the full force/energy change from hitting the string with the pick.on the second note, you're simply utilising the sound/energy already generated by that first note to create the second note. naturally, some of that energy has been transfered/lost so the second note sounds quieter. also, its more difficult to hammer on/pull off with consistent sound levels the further the gap you're hammering on/pulling off across (try hitting the 1st string at the 5th fret and hammering on at the 6th fret, then try hitting the firt string and hammering on at the 8th or 9th fret and you'll get the point).
finally, I sincerely apologise if this post sounds at all bullish, but I'm a little drunk. :oops: it wasn't meant to be in any negative. hope it helps.
You just need to build up the finger strength to do them quickly and with enough force, as well as the accuracy to get a direct hit on the string at the next fret so that it rings clearly (on the hammerons at least). But if you can master this on the acoustic by the time you play a decent electric you'll be amazed at how easy it will be, you'll feel like you can keep hammering/pulling off forever without the note fading.
I've been working on hammer-ons and pull-offs on my acoustic for a bit, and I've been wondering if there's a good technique for practicing them. I've just been running 3 and 4-note coils up and down my pentatonics using hammer-ons and pull-offs but find that no matter how much time I put into practicing them, they just don't sound totally...right. The hammer-ons are much easier and better-sounding than the pull-offs, and this leads me to the following question about pull-off technique: When doing a hammer-on I understand you just fling down your finger accurately and forcefully to sound the note and there's not much to it. But when doing pull-offs, is there any additional "plucking" you need to do with the finger being pulled off? I find that when I just pull the finger off it doesn't give a very striking or distinct sound, but when applying a sort of plucking motion, I get a better sound but it slows me down substantially and lowers the cleanliness of my playing. Any comments or suggestions? Thanks.
-Woody
yes, on pull-offs you need to do more than just simply take your finger off the string. you pull it down. i think of it like a rest stroke on the right hand. the action on the left hand finger is not away from the guitar but down to the next string. it's hard for me to explain it without showing it, but it took me a while to get it and i'm much better at it now.
pab
A good pull-off is generally accomplished using a modified "plucking" motion with the fretting finger; pull off to the side so you can snap the string a bit. To enhance the effect, firmly pre-fret the string, pressing it into your calloused fingertip so the string is "grabbed" by your fingertip during the sideways pull-off.
Contrary to what is written above, it is possible to achieve greater acoustic volume on a well executed pull-off, than on a hammer-on.
-=tension & release=-
Acoustic Guitar magazine's March 2008 issue, there is 30-Minute lesson on Hammer-Ons and Pull-Offs
