Legato

Playing in which notes are sounded and joined by the fretting hand alone, using hammer-ons and pull-offs, with the pick touching only the first note of a phrase.

The result is a smooth, connected line with no pick attack between notes, which gives a flowing quality impossible with picked articulation. Volume balance is the constant challenge, since each successive note depends on the strength of the hammer or the snap of the pull, and sloppy technique produces uneven notes that die away. Efficiency of movement is what allows the long, fast lines associated with the technique.

Example: a three-note-per-string scale played entirely with hammer-ons and pull-offs after the first note produces the fluid, singing sound heard in a lot of modern lead playing.

Legato

See also