Get my best tips to smooth legato playing on the acoustic guitar.
If you want to play more smoothly or efficiently on the acoustic guitar, chances are you've come across the term "legato playing".
In terms of guitar technique, legato is a left-hand embellishment that involves playing notes using only the fretting hand.
But although it seems simple, mastering legato playing will require you to execute certain techniques correctly. Otherwise you'll end up with really choppy sounding playing, instead of smoothly linked notes.
Here are my tips and tricks to master legato playing on the guitar, as well as some exercises you can use to improve your legato technique which are geared towards fingerstyle players.
What Is Legato Playing?
Before we get into our exercises, we're going to review the fundamental techniques behind playing slurs on the guitar, also called legato. The word legato is Italian for "tied together", and playing legato simply involves producing a smooth transition from one note to another, hence the name "legato playing".
Legato playing on the guitar usually consists of a combination of hammer-ons and pull-offs, but it can also include slides. Hammer-ons involve plucking the first note and tapping the next note quickly with the finger, while pull-offs entail plucking the first note and pulling the string with the finger to sound the next note.
We'll cover the individual techniques below, but legato playing is essential to master with fingerstyle guitar. Since legato playing reduces the need for you to pluck the next note, it allows you to simplify the plucking hand while simultaneously increasing your speed.
Hammer-On
Hammer-on is a technique where you play two notes in succession. Begin by plucking the first note as you normally would, and striking the second note with a different finger but on the same string as the first note.
Here's what a hammer-on looks like in tablature and standard notation.
Pull-Off
The pull-off on the guitar requires you to pluck the next note to be sounded using the fretting hand. To perform a pull-off on a guitar, place two left-hand fingers on the same string. Pluck the string to sound the note and quickly pull the higher finger downwards, sounding the lower note.
Here's what a pull-off looks like in tablature and standard notation.
Also note that the pull-off involves a downward motion with the finger, towards the floor. If you just pull the finger away from the fretboard you will get hardly any sound at all!
3 Exercises To Help Practice Legato
Here are some exercises to practice hammer-ons, pull-offs or a combination thereof. Many of these examples are inspired by flamenco guitar, since legato playing is used extensively as a technique along with exclusive use of the thumb.
1. The E effect
The legato technique requires you to sometimes use a different finger, or re-adjust your fingering, for the same note to play an effective legato.
In this exercise, the note E on the fourth string is normally played with the third finger. But for best results, the legato hammer-on is best performed using the second and third fingers. So, you'll have to swap the finger used to play this note before strumming the full chord.
2. Phrygian Descent
In this exercise, you will need to practice inserting the legato effectively inside the triplet figure. This means that you will have to accent the notes on the beat, which can be tricky since they are not always plucked.
For best effect, practice this exercise using a metronome while always remaining conscious of landing on the beat.
3. Rising Andalusian
This exercise is based on the Andalusian cadence, with some extra accents added for fun. For an extra challenge, consider adding the bass notes on the first beat of each measure. This would be the notes A, G, F and E.
Troubleshooting Your Legato Playing
The first time you perform these legato exercises, you may not get much sound out of the slurred notes. Here are some tips to help your legato playing become a smooth sequence of notes.
How To Play Fluid Hammer-Ons
When you perform the tapping or hammering motion, your finger movement must be swift, with a focus on speed and finger accuracy. If your finger arrives too slowly on the fretboard, you will stop the string vibrating before the next note sounds.
Some factors that can affect your hammer-on finger being too slow are:
- Hesitation, or waiting too long before starting the movement
- Starting too far away from the fretboard, with the fingertip having to traverse a huge distance
- Bad hand placement, meaning the finger is too low or high to perfectly arc into place.
Make sure that your hand is in a low position to get the most force for the hammer-on. Each finger of the left hand must be close to the fret.
The reason for tapping close to the fret is to get the string to vibrate with minimal effort.
Also notice how each finger is at the same height on the fretboard. You accomplish this by lowering the wrist and aligning all the fingers of the left hand with the strings. This also prevents excess left hand stretching when doing legato playing.
How To Perfectly Do Pull-Offs Without Hitting Other Strings
To successfully perform a pull-off without hitting other strings, your finger pressure must be stronger on the lower note, in order to avoid displacing the whole hand. It essentially involves the same finger placement as for the hammer-on.
The finger that completes the pull-off can rest against the lower string. The contact of the finger with the lower string will prevent this string from sounding. You can combine hammer-ons and pull-offs to create a legato playing exercise which is called a trill.
How To Play Fast Pull-Offs
To play faster pull-offs, develop the correct finger pressure needed in the left hand. You will need less pressure on the upper finger, which is the one you pull down on the string with.
You can practice correct finger pressure by holding the lower finger steady with the right hand and practicing the pulling motion with one of the other fingers. Try to get the volume as loud as you can with the pulling action.
Another way to practice the proper finger pressure is to combine the legato playing with a slide or glissando. This is very tricky to sound clean as it involves precise use of pressure.
If you want more legato exercises, you should try your hand at playing slur scales using a method that gets you practicing hammer-ons and pull-offs with each finger of the left hand.
