Pull-offs to open strings: a guitar legato exercise
Pull-offs from fretted notes to the open B and high E strings, in E minor. It's the move behind many fast-sounding riffs and solos, getting several notes out of one stroke, and it builds the snap a pull-off needs to sound the next note clearly. Keeping the strings you don't play quiet trains muting too.
Opens in the player looped and counted in, with the metronome on, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 100 bpm. No account or microphone needed.
- Goal tempo
- 100 bpm
- Starts at
- 60 bpm
- Length
- 2 bars, looped
- Tuning
- E standard
How to play it
Pull off slightly downwards so the open string rings, and keep the other strings quiet.
Each group of four starts with a picked fretted note, pulls off to the open string, hammers on to a lower fretted note and pulls off to the open string again. It runs on the high E string first, then on the B.
For the pull-off, flick the finger slightly downwards, towards the floor, so it plucks the string as it leaves. A straight lift gives a weak, quiet open note.
Mistakes to watch for
- The open notes much quieter than the fretted ones.
- Accidentally pulling into the next string, so it sounds too.
- The lower strings ringing underneath. Rest the picking hand on them.
A speed plan
The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:
- 60
- 65
- 70
- 75
- 80
- 85
- 90
- 95
- 100
That's 16 loops and about 2 minutes before you're playing at 100 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 Pull-offs to open strings?
The goal is 100 bpm in 16th notes, which is 6.7 notes a second. Start wherever every note is clean: the player begins at 60 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.
Why use open strings for pull-offs?
The open string sounds with no finger to hold it, so the fretting hand only has one note to manage. It's the easiest way to learn the flick a pull-off needs, and many riffs and solos in E minor use it.
Do I pick the open string?
No. Only the first fretted note of each group is picked; the open strings and the hammered note come from the fretting hand.