Hey there, today you're going to learn hammer-on strumming. This is an extremely
useful and popular technique. I'm Tomas Michaud from Real Guitar Success. Let's do this.
Let's start off with an E major chord. Now I like this chord for teaching this
kind of thing because we've got some good bass notes to work with.
We're going to establish a basic strum to work with and add on to. We'll use the bass
note and then strum the rest of the chord so do that with me. Start with the bass note, strum.
Okay. Sounding good.
Now we're going to add a second base note. We need something a little more interesting
before we get to the hammer-ons so we'll use this fifth string right here. Now
it'll alternate. Start with this bass note, the low sixth string onto the fifth string.
Just do the best you can. Don't worry if you miss a note.
Now it's starting to sound like something, alternating bass note.
Now I think we need some kind of groove here.
It'll be easier to keep track of where we're at. Let's add a drummer.
Let's go ahead and get started with a basic groove. We'll do a bass strum.
Get ready. Here we go 1 2 ready, hit it. Base, strum. Okay, yeah.
So let's do the groove there and we're gonna add something. Let's add the other bass note. Ready,
here we go. Now bass strum, alternate. Good, okay.
Now we're gonna add the hammer on. Let me show you the hammer on is going to be on that second
base note so now instead of just going pam, pam, we're going to go lift the second finger off and
hammer it down quickly. Don't lift it too far so listen.
Okay, you try. Ready, now. Hammer on. Yes.
Now we're going okay. I think we're ready to add another chord. We need to get somewhere.
Okay, ask the drummer to hold off for a minute. We're gonna add the B7 chord. It looks like this.
So we're going to need some base notes. To start off,
we'll catch that B bass note that's on the fifth string second fret there, right. But like the E,
we're going to want to do some kind of alternating bass note. We'll use the low E string for that.
That doesn't sound good. What we're gonna do is move that second finger over to the second fret
to catch a bass note that fits with this chord so listen for a minute.
This one now watch my finger move over.
Better, huh. Yeah. Okay and I'll give you a little heads up. We're going to
add that hammer on right there so hit this base note and then hammer on like that.
It's consistent rhythmically with what we do with the E chord.
Okay, let's call the drummer back in and we'll try it with some rhythm.
Okay we got the drummer back. Let's form that B7. Got it. Let's start off with the first bass
note that'll be on the fifth string. Here we go. I'll count you in 1 2 ready, hit it.
Okay, sounds okay. Ready to add that second base note? Let's do it now. Change.
That's interesting, isn't it? Stressing the figure over. Okay, now let's up the
game a little. We're going to add that hammer on. Base, hammer on. How was that?
Let's go back to the E chord now, now
and back to the B7 and back to the E now. Got the hammer on. There we go.
Now to kind of tie this up, I'm going to add one more chord
optional. An A chord would fit nicely in here and the bass note could be the fifth string
and the alternate could be the fourth string and we could do a hammer-on on the fourth string
not as rich as those D bass notes in the sixth string or fifth string but it works. Listen.
Okay, try with me. Here we go 1 2 ready hit it - fifth string, fourth.
Okay, it works. Let's go to E. Here we go ready E to A 1 2
ready hit it
and back to E now,
going to B7
now and finally to the E.
A good place to see this in action is in the song Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain by Willie Nelson.
He does a live version on YouTube. I'll put a link to that so you can see how he uses the hammer-ons.
You'll notice he also uses a combination of what we call bass note walks between the chords. It's
cool. I've made a video that will show you how to do that as well and if you'd like, I'll put a link
so you can get to that. Eventually you'll want to learn to do this with all the open chords that you
know but I strongly recommend you start with just these few chords and get good at switching between
the chords and smooth at the hammer on. I've seen many students try to go too fast without
getting a foundation and it kind of just messes them up. Once you get comfortable with doing
this with the E, B7 and A chords, you can start experimenting with other chords little by little.
Thanks for joining me today. Don't forget to smash that like button
and leave me a comment. Let me know if you found this helpful. Did I go too fast or would you like
to see me add more material oh and don't forget to subscribe so we can do this more often. Bye.