Tell me more ×
Musical Practice & Performance Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for musicians, students, and enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 1 down vote favorite

I was reading guitar tab and there was these two things, 7^0 and 7^8.

I googled around a little bit and found out that it means hammer-on, and learned what it meant. But now I am thinking if hammering on to 0 is possible? Must i just release the string?

There was also slide like this /0, how do i do that?

Here is the link to the tab. http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/m/metallica/nothing_else_matters_tab.htm

share|improve this question
The opposite of the hammer-on is the pull-off. Pull-offs are used in acoustic guitar and classical guitar technique. Hammer-ons are typically only used on electric guitar. You can do a hammer-on using an acoustic or classical guitar, but the sound is so weak that it makes little sense to use it. – Wheat Williams Mar 28 '12 at 20:59
2  
@WheatWilliams The weakness of the sound depends largely on the finger strength of the player. A ton of acoustic and classical guitar music uses hammer-ons. – Matthew Read♦ Mar 28 '12 at 21:23
I will defer to Matthew on this. I did study some classical guitar, and I believe hammer-ons are used much less often there. – Wheat Williams Mar 28 '12 at 21:29

2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

The 7^0 is a pull off, instead of just lifting your finger up, it helps to slightly bend the string before releasing it with your finger to let the 0 ring (pull lightly down towards the ground)

When I play the song, for the 7^8/0, hammer on to 8, and slide down.. It doesn't have to be to 1, you can do it to 2 or 3, but make sure that it is a fluid motion. No one is going to notice if you actually slide to 1if you do it fluently enough, and moving your hand all the way down to the first fret could pose some problems anyways if you need to start playing around the 7th again.

On the 6th measure I would not just pull off to 0, because if you listen to the song the slide is noticable. Just slide down a few frets, and pull your finger downwards like I mentioned earlier to let that 0 be heard.

share|improve this answer
What you mean not just pull off to 0? What shall I do when there is /0, just forget about it? Or play it somehow else? – Jaanus Apr 13 '12 at 19:15
@Jaanus You can play to 0 on some other string (for 7/0 on the E you can play 12/5 on the E.. but, that's kind of out of the way).. what I meant by not just pull off, is that that open 'E' sound is usually not going to be heard. If you slide down a bit, and Lightly pull your finger downwards off of the string, that E sound is going to ring, and not just be faintly there. If you slide down to 3 or so and then do that, it would probably sound better. But, this is all personal preference. – ekaj Apr 14 '12 at 18:00
up vote 2 down vote

7^0 would be a pull-off rather than a hammer-on.

To slide to the open string, you would slide down to the first fret and end with a slight pull-off to the open string. If done fluidly, it will sound like sliding to the open string.

Having said that, I think the more accurate way of playing the end of the 6th measure would be 7^5^0, rather than 7^5/0.

share|improve this answer
probably. It is important to note that the 0 on that string (Eb) is the same note as the 5 on (Bb) which follows it immediately. In this case the slide to 0 might actually be a (7 or 8 hammer/pull- or slide-) to 5 on the Bb. – horatio Mar 28 '12 at 20:00
If you listen to how they play this - various recordings indicate it is a pull-off from the 5 to the 0, not a slide. – Dr Mayhem♦ Mar 28 '12 at 20:06
@DrMayhem So I should play it like tpburch said? slide from 5th to 1st and pick string with left hand? and 7^5^0 i would pick string once with right hand on 7th and then once on 5th with left and then once on 1st with left? confusing, hehe – Jaanus Mar 29 '12 at 16:20

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.