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EXAMPLE 17-1: Lesson 17 - Hammer-Ons, Pull-Offs, and "Tweedlies"

The document discusses using hammer-ons, pull-offs, and tweedlies when playing blues guitar. It defines these techniques, provides musical examples of licks that incorporate them, and advises practicing the licks slowly to perform them cleanly at faster speeds.

Uploaded by

Anthony D. Fratto
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108 views3 pages

EXAMPLE 17-1: Lesson 17 - Hammer-Ons, Pull-Offs, and "Tweedlies"

The document discusses using hammer-ons, pull-offs, and tweedlies when playing blues guitar. It defines these techniques, provides musical examples of licks that incorporate them, and advises practicing the licks slowly to perform them cleanly at faster speeds.

Uploaded by

Anthony D. Fratto
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Blues Guitar Unleashed

Griff Hamlin

Lesson 17 Hammer-ons, Pull-offs, and Tweedlies


In This Lesson: By the end of this lesson you will be able to play several blues licks which
contain hammer-ons, pull-offs, and tweedlies.
One of the easiest ways to speed up your playing, and add a little variety to your phrases, is to
articulate your notes in different ways. Instead of picking every single note, try using some slurs. A
slur is a generic term for a note that is not articulated with a pick, but is still played. On a guitar
this can be done by hammering-on a note, or pulling-off a note.
A Hammer-on is quite simply where you push down with your finger very quickly and hard, so as to
hammer it onto the note. Hammer-ons can only go from a lower note to a higher note.
A hammer-on is notated with an arc (slur mark) like this in TAB:

EXAMPLE 17-1
Pull-offs are basically the opposite of hammer-ons. Pull-offs go from a higher note to a lower note.
The nice thing about a pull-off is that you can give the note a little flick to the side with your finger
as you pull it off. This technique will keep the volume consistent.
A pull-off is notated with a slur mark like this in TAB:

EXAMPLE 17-2
Some of my students get confused when looking at the TAB as to whether to do a hammer-on or a
pull-off. Make sure you understand the difference. Hammer-ons can only go from lower notes to
higher notes, and pull-offs can only go from higher notes to lower notes.
If you combine a hammer-on and a pull-off, you get what I call a tweedly, so named because of
what it sounds like to me. Youll pick the first note, then quickly hammer-on the second and pulloff to the third. Usually these are pretty quick, and add some coolness factor to your solos.

2008, all rights reserved

Page 55

Blues Guitar Unleashed

Griff Hamlin

EXAMPLE 17-3
Here are a couple of licks that use hammer-ons, pull-offs, bends, and tweedlies all together.

EXAMPLE 17-4

EXAMPLE 17-5

2008, all rights reserved

Page 56

Blues Guitar Unleashed

Griff Hamlin

EXAMPLE 17-6

EXAMPLE 17-7

EXAMPLE 17-8
As with most licks, the key is to play these slowly and perfectly many times before you try to
increase the speed. Most people try to do hammer-ons and pull-offs too fast which will make them
out of time. Keep them evenly spaced just like they were picked notes. Use the audio examples to
help you stay on track.
Before you move on, be able to play along with the recorded examples of all of the licks.

2008, all rights reserved

Page 57

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