Articulating the 3-4 hammer on

[JonJon]

@tommo

@JonJon

and the alternative is? lol

The alternative is for me to admit that the 3-4 combination will always sound so-so, and for anatomical reasons, practice can only bring it to “ok-ish”. If that is the case I should train myself to use 1-2-3 instead I admit that makes the whole discussion I started a bit useless

thats one way to look at it. Another way is to say “is ANYONE (with similar hand size to me) showing great skill on 3-4 stuff. if they can do it, I can do it”

of the two alternatives, id say shifting over to 1-2-3 fingering is WAY more radical than just slightly and gradually increasing the workload and intensity of the 3-4 stuff

and did someone mention tone? obviously tone/distortion etc matters a huge amount. I mean with a modern high gain setup its not like u have to slam down on the note.

also, what about the guys who do the legato thing where they dont pick ANYTHING. Surely they do some pretty strong 3-4 stuff and also of course getting plenty good tone from the pinky

[tommo]

@JonJon

shifting over to 1-2-3 fingering is WAY more radical than just slightly and gradually increasing the workload and intensity of the 3-4 stuff

In a way I think you have exactly captured my dilemma - except I’m not sure which one of the two involves more work - so the topic has again a reason to exist thank you

[JonJon]

@tommo

@JonJon

shifting over to 1-2-3 fingering is WAY more radical than just slightly and gradually increasing the workload and intensity of the 3-4 stuff

In a way I think you have exactly captured my dilemma - except I’m not sure which one of the two involves more work - so the topic has again a reason to exist thank you

all for one lick too lol. Is that one note THAT important? lol Can it be refingered?

reminds me of the old story of the millipede and the other insect asked him how he could control all those legs at once. The millipede said “dunno, never thought about it”. Then he starting thinking about it and got so confused he never could walk again lol

[Drew]

Guthrie suggested trilling between the third and fourth fingers in order to strengthen them and gain independence. Its very difficult to do though.

This is what I would do (and, occasionally, what I DO do, when I feel like finger strength and independence is lagging).

[JakeEstner]

thats sort of the equivalent of saying “gee im a bit out of shape, I think ill go straight into a 6 day/week fitness routine”. Next thing u know dude has shin splints, elbow issues etc.

Slow and steady is a good way to go for this stuff. There is only so much improvement that will take place in a period of time…cant rush mother nature

Stimulate. Rest. Grow

haha hilariously I’ve injured myself badly in the past from not taking this advice BOTH with guitar playing AND exercise!

[Drew]

@JakeEstner

haha hilariously I’ve injured myself badly in the past from not taking this advice BOTH with guitar playing AND exercise!

Yup, same here!

[Andjoy]

Some more advice from my side:

Use the minimum amount of force necessary.
Often when you think you are already very realxed and play with just the force that is necessery, it is still to tense.
Stop…take a deep breath and try to relax your whole body from head to toe. Then try again with a very light touch on the strings, tha always helps me.

Also the pull-off force is more difficult ( especially the pinky) when you have shorter fingers. What you can try is playing legato with just hammer-ons.
It is the way Allan Holdsworth was doing it most of the time. It takes some time to get used to, but you need less force and it sounds even more fluid once mastered.

Using a very low action with 009 strings will also help of course, but then you will have to pick and strum very light to avoid string rattle.

If non of this helps after months of practice…then just alternate pick

[Drew]

…also, I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, but the single best thing I ever did to even out my legato playing was start practicing legato unplugged. It’s sort of the anti-Holdsworth approach, because it helps you develop clearly articulated attacks on your pull offs and hit ons whereas his is more slurring everything into everything else… But, if you can get clear, defined attack out of an unplugged guitar for your legato playing, then you can get articulate legato lines out of ANY gain structure.