Techniques: Part Two

Last week we talked about several different guitar-playing techniques, including the “hammer-on.” This week we will be talking about the counterpart to the hammer-on, the “pull-off,” and several other useful techniques.

To pull off the pull-off, you have to fret very carefully. Accuracy is the key to success in performing a clean pull-off. First you have to play a note, then you release that note, causing a lower note to sound. For example, you could fret an E at the twelfth fret on the high E string with your ring finger while fretting the D just below at the tenth fret with your index finger. Then play the E and pull off with your ring finger to allow the D sound. The trick is to get the lower note to ring as strongly as possible, because there is no actual pick attack to help the note ring. With a little practice, you can develop a kind of flick of the pulling-off finger that will get the lower note to ring a little louder and longer.

If you combine the hammer-on and the pull-off technique, you get what they call the “trill.” A trill happens when you have two fingers on two frets on the same string, and you alternate hammering-on and pulling-off between the two notes. The pick is never required in a trill. If you keep hammering-on and pulling-off between the two notes, you should be able to generate enough vibration to keep the sound alive without using your right hand at all. Hendrix liked to use this technique a lot, often voicing a monologue over the trill (see Hear My Train A’ Comin’(Electric Sky Church) from Blues).

The last technique that we are going to look at this week is the muted note. There are two major different ways to mute a note. The first way is to mute with the left hand. While picking an individual string or all of the strings at once, lay the fingers of your left hand gently over the string or strings. You want to put enough pressure on the strings so that they cannot vibrate, but not enough pressure that the strings are pressed against the fretboard and allowed to ring like normal. The result is a short, chunky sound that can be used very creatively, especially in syncopated rhythm sections.

The second way to mute is with the palm of the right hand. By placing the bottom edge of the right palm against the strings near the bridge, you can mute the strings without deadening them completely. The result is the chunky sound that has come to characterize thrash and metal bands like Metallica, Pantera, and Sepultera. Experiment with placing your hand at different positions on the strings and applying different amounts of pressure to get different sounds. Have fun with this one. It’s easy to learn, and there are a lot of things that you can do with the technique once you get the hang of it.

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