Hammer-ons inside chords: an acoustic embellishment
A bass note, a strum, then one string of the chord played open and hammered back on, through Am, C, G and E. The hammered note moves inside the chord like a small melody, the folk guitarist's way of making four chords sound like an arrangement. It trains the fretting hand to lift one finger and put it back with a snap while the rest of the chord keeps ringing.
Opens in the player looped and counted in, with drums playing along, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 90 bpm. No account or microphone needed.
- Goal tempo
- 90 bpm
- Starts at
- 54 bpm
- Length
- 4 bars, looped
- Tuning
- E standard
- Time
- 4/4
- Level
- Intermediate
- Plays with
- Drums
How to play it
Lift just the one finger, pick the open string, then hammer the finger back on its fret hard enough to sound.
Every bar is the same move on another chord: the bass note held for a beat, a down-up strum, then one string of the chord picked open and hammered back on to its fret, and a down-up to finish. On Am it's the G string's 2nd fret, on C the D string's 2nd, on G the A string's 2nd and on E the G string's 1st.
Lift only the finger that hammers. The rest of the chord stays down and keeps ringing, so the hammered note sounds like a melody moving inside the chord rather than a separate lick.
The hammer has to be loud enough on its own: come down from about a centimetre above the string, quickly, right behind the fret.
Mistakes to watch for
- Lifting more fingers than the one that hammers, so the chord has to be rebuilt.
- Hammering late, after the beat, because the finger was lifted too far.
- Picking the hammered note as well, which loses the smooth sound.
A speed plan
The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:
- 54
- 59
- 63
- 68
- 72
- 77
- 81
- 86
- 90
That's 16 loops and about 4 minutes before you're playing at 90 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. Strums are checked for when they land, not for which strings rang.
Questions
How fast should I play Hammer-ons inside chords?
The goal is 90 bpm in eighth notes, which is 3 strums a second. Start wherever every strum is clean: the player begins at 54 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.
Why use hammer-ons inside chords?
They add movement to a chord held for a long time: a few notes of melody without changing the chord. It's a staple of folk, country and acoustic rock accompaniment.
Which finger does the hammer-on?
Whichever finger frets that note in the chord: the 3rd on Am, the 2nd on C and the 1st on G and E. The tab writes the finger next to the fret number.
More acoustic exercises
All 20 acoustic exercises · Strumming patterns · Fretboard notes trainer · All 107 exercises