Hammer-ons on the root: a bass legato exercise
A plucked note and a hammer-on two frets up, moving between roots in eighths. Hammer-ons give bass lines and fills a smooth, singing quality, but only when the hammered note is as loud as the plucked one. It builds fretting-hand strength and puts the slurred notes in time.
Opens in the player looped and counted in, with the metronome on, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 110 bpm. No account or microphone needed.
- Goal tempo
- 110 bpm
- Starts at
- 66 bpm
- Length
- 2 bars, looped
- Tuning
- E standard
How to play it
Pluck the first note only and hammer the second firmly, right behind the fret.
Pluck a root, then hammer the note two frets higher without plucking it. It starts on A at the 5th fret of the E string and moves to D, C and G.
The hammer comes from the fingertip, quick and right behind the fret. If the hammered note is quiet, the finger is either too slow or too far from the fret.
Mistakes to watch for
- A hammered note much quieter than the plucked one.
- Rushing the hammer-on so the two notes don't fall on even eighths.
- Lifting the plucked note's finger before the hammer lands, which leaves a gap.
A speed plan
The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:
- 66
- 72
- 77
- 83
- 88
- 94
- 99
- 105
- 110
That's 16 loops and about 2 minutes before you're playing at 110 bpm. If it stops being clean on the way, stop the ramp there and loop that tempo until it is. With a microphone or an audio interface you can record while you play instead: Demiurg checks every loop and steps up only after two clean ones in a row, and back down after a poor one.
Questions
How fast should I play Hammer-ons on the root?
The goal is 110 bpm in eighth notes, which is 3.7 notes a second. Start wherever every note is clean: the player begins at 66 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.
Why use hammer-ons on bass?
They make a line smoother and more vocal than plucking every note, and they're a common way to dress up a simple root note in a groove or a fill.
Should the hammered note be the same length?
Yes. In this exercise both notes are eighths, so the hammered one holds until the next plucked note.