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A hammer-on is a playing technique performed on a stringed instrument (especially on a fretted string instrument, such as a guitar) by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on to the fingerboard behind a fret, causing a note to sound. This technique is the opposite of the pull-off.

Passages in which a large proportion of the notes are performed as hammer-ons and pull-offs instead of being plucked or picked in the usual fashion are known in classical terminology as legato phrases. The sound is smoother and more connected than in a normally picked phrase, due to the absence of the necessity to synchronize the plucking of one hand with the fingering on the fingerboard with the other hand; however, the resulting sounds are not as brightly audible, precisely due to the absence of the plucking of the string, the vibration of the string from an earlier plucking dying off.

The technique also facilitates very fast playing because the picking hand does not have to move at such a high speed, and coordination between the hands only has to be achieved at certain points. Multiple hammer-ons and pull-offs together are sometimes also referred to colloquially as "rolls",^{[citation needed]} a reference to the fluid sound of the technique.

A hammer-on is usually represented in guitar tablature (especially that created by computer) by a letter h.

A rapid series of alternating hammer-ons and pull-offs between a single pair of notes is called a trill.

The term hammer-on was first invented and popularized by Pete Seeger in his book How to Play the 5-String Banjo. Seeger also invented the term pull-off.^[2]^[3]

In the Banjo tutor book "Ellis's Thorough School For 5 String Banjo" published prior to 1900, the term 'Hammer on' is used to describe the action of performing an embellishment called 'the Shake'. The description is "The Shake, which is marked 'tr', is played in the following manner. Strike(pick) the first note only with the right hand & the remainder of the passage with the 2nd finger of the left hand, by 'hammering on' the string while it is vibrating". In the same tutor book, the action 'pull off' is termed the 'snap'. ^[4]

References

^ Traum, Happy (1974). Bluegrass Guitar. Oak Publications. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-8256-0153-8.
^ PBS Documentary Give Me the Banjo
^ Erbsen, Wayne (2010). Southern Mountain Banjo. Mel Bay Publications. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-60974-047-4.
^ Ellis, Herbert J. (1898). Ellis's Thorough School for the Five Stringed Banjo (PDF). J.A. Turner. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-05-11.

[Traum-1] Traum, Happy (1974). Bluegrass Guitar. Oak Publications. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-8256-0153-8.

[seeger-2] PBS Documentary Give Me the Banjo

[3] Erbsen, Wayne (2010). Southern Mountain Banjo. Mel Bay Publications. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-60974-047-4.

[4] Ellis, Herbert J. (1898). Ellis's Thorough School for the Five Stringed Banjo (PDF). J.A. Turner. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-05-11.

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+{{Short description|Stringed instrument playing technique}}
-[[Image:G run in G.png|thumb|300px|[[G run]] in [[key (music)|G]] [[major and minor|major]] variation<ref name="Traum">Traum, Happy (1974). ''Bluegrass Guitar'', p.25. ISBN 0-8256-0153-3.</ref> {{audio|G run in G.mid|Play}} contains both hammer-ons and a pull-off.]]
+[[File:G run in G.png|thumb|300px|[[G run]] in [[key (music)|G]] [[major and minor|major]] variation<ref name="Traum">{{cite book|last=Traum|first=Happy|title=Bluegrass Guitar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yZs7AQAAIAAJ|year=1974|publisher=Oak Publications|isbn=978-0-8256-0153-8|page=25}}</ref> {{audio|G run in G.mid|Play}} contains both hammer-ons and a pull-off.]]
+A '''hammer-on''' is a playing technique performed on a [[stringed instrument]] (especially on a [[fret]]ted string instrument, such as a [[guitar]]) by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on to the [[fingerboard]] behind a [[fret]], causing a [[Musical note|note]] to sound. This technique is the opposite of the [[pull-off]].
+Passages in which a large proportion of the notes are performed as hammer-ons and pull-offs instead of being [[pizzicato|plucked]] or [[plectrum|picked]] in the usual fashion are known in classical terminology as ''[[legato]]'' [[phrase (music)|phrases]]. The sound is smoother and more connected than in a normally picked phrase, due to the absence of the necessity to synchronize the plucking of one hand with the fingering on the fingerboard with the other hand; however, the resulting sounds are not as brightly audible, precisely due to the absence of the plucking of the string, the vibration of the string from an earlier plucking dying off.
+The technique also facilitates very fast playing because the picking hand does not have to move at such a high speed, and coordination between the hands only has to be achieved at certain points. Multiple hammer-ons and pull-offs together are sometimes also referred to colloquially as "[[banjo roll|rolls]]",{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}} a reference to the fluid sound of the technique.
-A '''hammer-on''' is a playing technique performed on a [[stringed instrument]] (especially on a [[fret]]ted string instrument, such as a [[guitar]]) by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on the [[fingerboard]] behind a [[fret]], causing a [[note]] to sound.  This technique is the opposite of the [[pull-off]]. Passages in which a large proportion of the notes are performed as hammer-ons and pull-offs instead of being [[pizzicato|plucked]] or [[plectrum|picked]] in the usual fashion are known in classical guitar terminology as ''[[legato]]'' [[phrase (music)|phrases]]. The sound is smoother and more connected than in a normally picked phrase, due to the absence of the necessity to synchronize the plucking of one hand with the fingering on the fingerboard with the other hand; however, the resulting sounds are not as brightly audible, precisely due to the absence of the plucking of the string, the vibration of the string from an earlier plucking dying off. The technique also facilitates very fast playing because the picking hand does not have to move at such a high rate, and coordination between the hands only has to be achieved at certain points. Multiple hammer-ons and pull-offs together are sometimes also referred to colloquially as "[[banjo roll|rolls]]",{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}} a reference to the fluid sound of the technique.
 A hammer-on is usually represented in guitar [[tablature]] (especially that created by computer) by a letter h.
-A rapid series of alternating hammer-ons and pull-offs between a single pair of notes is called a [[trill (music)|trill]].
+A rapid series of alternating hammer-ons and pull-offs between a single pair of notes is called a [[trill (music)|trill]].
-The term ''hammer-on'' was first invented and popularized by [[Pete Seeger]] in his book ''How to Play the 5-String Banjo''. Seeger also invented the term ''pull-off''.<ref name="seeger">PBS Documentary ''Give Me the Banjo'' and the book Southern Mountain Banjo, p. 24: http://books.google.com/books?id=EDaj1IzYA74C&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref>
+The term ''hammer-on'' was first invented and popularized by [[Pete Seeger]] in his book ''How to Play the 5-String Banjo''. Seeger also invented the term ''pull-off''.<ref name="seeger">PBS Documentary ''Give Me the Banjo''</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Erbsen|first=Wayne|title=Southern Mountain Banjo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EDaj1IzYA74C&pg=PA24|year=2010|publisher=Mel Bay Publications|isbn=978-1-60974-047-4|page=24}}</ref>
-In the Banjo tutor book "Ellis's Thorough Course For 5 String Banjo" published prior to 1900, the term 'Hammer on' is used to describe the action of performing an embellishment called 'the Shake'. The description is :- " The Shake, which is marked 'tr', is played in the following manner. Strike(pick) the first note only with the right hand & the remainder of the passage with the 2nd finger of the left hand, by ''''hammering on'''' the string while it is vibrating". In the same tutor book, the action 'pull off' is termed the 'snap'.
-<ref>(Ref. www.classicbanjo.com/tutors/Ellis5/Ellis5.pdf)</ref>
+In the Banjo tutor book "Ellis's Thorough School For 5 String Banjo" published prior to 1900, the term 'Hammer on' is used to describe the action of performing an embellishment called 'the Shake'. The description is "The Shake, which is marked 'tr', is played in the following manner. Strike(pick) the first note only with the right hand & the remainder of the passage with the 2nd finger of the left hand, by 'hammering on' the string while it is vibrating". In the same tutor book, the action 'pull off' is termed the 'snap'.
-It would appear that it's possible that Pete Seeger came up with the term independently rather than invented it as a totally new term. However he may very well have placed the term firmly in the public domain & popularized its use.
+<ref>{{cite book|last=Ellis|first=Herbert J.|title=Ellis's Thorough School for the Five Stringed Banjo|url=http://www.classicbanjo.com/tutors/Ellis5/Ellis5.pdf|year=1898|publisher=J.A. Turner|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511171504/http://www.classicbanjo.com/tutors/Ellis5/Ellis5.pdf | archive-date=2008-05-11 | url-status=dead}}</ref>
 == See also ==
+* [[Pull-off]]
 * [[Tapping]]
 * [[Guitar picking]]
 * [[Shred guitar|Shredding]]
-==Sources==
+== References ==
 {{Reflist}}
+{{Guitar techniques}}
 {{Shred Guitar}}

v t e Guitar shredding
Techniques	Alternate picking Economy picking Hammer-ons Hybrid picking Legato Pull-offs String skipping Sweep picking Tapping Tremolo picking Wide intervals Pick tapping
Genres	Classical Bluegrass Country Flamenco Power metal Hard rock Heavy metal Instrumental rock Jazz Jazz fusion Neoclassical metal Progressive rock