16th notes pull offs and hammer ons
Combine hammer ons and pull offs, end with a slide!
In this exercise you'll be performing pull-offs and hammer-ons.
A hammer-on is a way you play a certain note on a guitar. You perform a hammer-on by sharply bringing down a fretting finger on a string so that a note sounds without picking it with your picking hand.
The opposite of a hammer-on is a pull-off. You are fretting two notes on the same string and then strike the string. After the sound is made you pull the string with the finger that frets the higher note and lift it off the fretboard. The lower note on the same string and fretted by a different finger will sound afterwards!
You will practice three licks on different patterns of the A minor pentatonic scale.
The first pattern
Here's the first pattern of the A minor pentatonic scale. Take a good look at it. You'll be playing three licks on this pattern.
Lick #1 is a cool lick that you can play again and again and again. You'll also find it in many rock solos. Start practicing it slowly, raise the tempo when you're comfortable. Most of all just play it again and again and again and again. Be very careful when picking the strings - only pick twice - once on the first note and once on the fourth note. The first note is played with a downstroke and the fourth one with an upstroke. Your ring finger will be doing most of the work hammering and pulling off the 3rd fret.
The second lick is an ascending run that goes from the 5th string to the 2nd. Remember to finish this one off with a slide!
The final lick is a descending run, again from the 2nd to the 5th string. Mind the picking instructions on the tablature. Only strike the string with your pick when the tabs say so - any other time it's either a hammer on or a pull off. Go at it slow, so you don't practice any mistakes, then raise the tempo once you master a certain speed.
