Basic Techniques, pt. 8 - Pull-off's

For the past several months I’ve been posting about basic guitar techniques that beginning guitarists can start to incorporate into their lead and rhythm playing. In last two posts I have discussed hammer-on technique. This month I'll be talking about it's sister technique the pull-off. 

The pull-off is a technique in which the player picks a higher note and a finger below “pulls off” onto a note below it on the same string; hence only the higher note is picked. The sound of the second note is produced by the speed and "grip" or catching of the flesh on the pad of the finger “pulling-off” onto the lower note. Watch the video here.

There are several tricks to producing a good sounding pull- off: 1) The sound of the second note should match that the first. In order to do this the finger doing the pull-off should have a sufficient amount of its pad (fleshy part of the back of the finger tip) "catch" or be in contact with the string. Whereas, the finger pad acts as a "pick" contacting the string in order to produce sound. 2) Maintain an arch in the fingertip: If the fingertip stays arched when pulling off it will help the flesh of the finger catch the string more fully. There are times when you will pull-off with a collapsed finger, but learn to maintain an arched finger. 3) The finger doing the pull-off should should pull backward in order to catch the string rather than simply lift off the note. If the finger simply lifts of the note rather the pulling backward, the sound will not be as clear or loud. 4) Timing: To create a smooth flow between the picked and hammered notes the students should be practicing with a metronome in order to create even sounding notes.

Next month I’ll discuss some exercises to practice in order to create great sounding pull-off's!