How To Guitar Tune - Learn with FREE Guitar Tips!

Among the many skills of a good guitarist is the hammer on. If you've ever heard any famous solos/guitar tunes, like "Eruption" by Eddie Van Halen, you would have noticed that hammer ons provide a tasteful and diverse feel to any section of a song.

How hammer ons are executed, is not difficult by any means. They just need to be practiced diligently in order to be perfected or at least executed with minimal problems during your guitar tunes.

So what really IS a hammer on? A hammer on is simply the action of playing a single note on the guitar without actually picking the string. That means you're laying your fingers on the strings and hearing a note ring without any vibration caused from picking that string.

Here are a few tips on how to execute hammer ons correctly and how to add them into a guitar tune tastefully.

* Practice making a direct hit on the string with your finger

Using hammer ons with your guitar tunes really involves making an accurate hit on the string with your finger. When you execute a hammer on, make sure your finger doesn't hit above or below the string. Practice good precision with placing your finger so the string resonates well.

* Use a good amount of force with your hammer on finger

Another way to ensure a solid note strike is to be accurate while giving some force to the guitar string. Ordinarily, when strumming a string, you wouldn't worry about that, but since there's nothing else to cause the string to vibrate, you must rely on the force of your finger.

* Experiment on multiple areas of the fret board

You'll find that executing hammer ons on your guitar can vary in difficuly on different areas of the fret board. Experiment with different strings and frets and find that sweet spot that you can work into some of your guitar tunes.

* Create impressive runs with hammer ons in a guitar tune.

Hammer ons are a great way to make fast runs with your fingers with minimal effort. Of course, doing it too much can appear juvenile and distasteful, but it's still a valuable skill. Practice hammer ons with one string and three frets all adjacent to each other. Place on finger in each fret by hammering on. That should get the wheels started on how to improve your guitar tunes.

One example of a guitar tune that uses lots of hammer ons is the solo for "Free Bird." If you have the chance, listen to that solo. (if you have a few hours...it's long I know) At one point, almost EVERY note is a hammer on.

Hammer ons, aren't difficult but they just take some practice when learning how to execute them well in a guitar tune. If you're looking for some really intense instruction from an online guitar program that can teach you hammer ons and tons of other skills from an established educator, check out Jamorama Guitar. There's some great supplemental videos used as well.