Hammer-ons are one of the most difficult left-hand techniques on the guitar. Many players struggle with them or avoid them. But the good news is that they can be mastered with enough time and patience.

Here are 5 guitar hammer-on tips you’ll love!
 

The biggest mistake a lot of players make with hammer-ons is they try to use brute force. While you obviously need a certain amount of force to make a sound, you can easily overdo it.

Think about using a hammer. You don’t need to apply a ton of force to a nail with a big windup—you just need to hit the nail in the right spot. In fact, having a big windup only makes you more likely to hammer your finger instead of the nail!

I’d even say as a general rule that guitar playing demands much more accuracy than speed. If you think about it, virtuoso playing, speedy as it can be, is a whole lot more accurate than fast. In a way, you already have speed in your fingers without trying. Jazz fingers are a great example of this.

If you want to read more on this point, check out these helpful tips from David Russell, a renowned classical guitarist:
 

When we watch other guitarists do hammer-ons, we tend to see the final, polished product. That means we see fast hammers everywhere we look. But if we could glance behind the scenes, we’d see a less-exciting, very gradual process of improvement.

If your hammer-ons aren’t where they need to be, you may need to slow down. To be sure, slow playing is the best way to guarantee practicing efficacy. Take your time with each repetition, making sure each part of the hammer-on motion is exactly where you want it.

Also remember that progress doesn’t happen overnight. You may practice for a few weeks without seeing a ton of improvement. That’s fine! Just stick with it and before you know it, you’ll be a completely different player. 

If you’re looking for more general practice tips, check out this great Practice Routine Advice.
 

It turns out you can get guitar hammer-on tips from a variety of places. In this case, let’s take inspiration from the martial arts!

The “one-inch punch” was popularized by the actor and legendary martial artist Bruce Lee. It’s all about training an efficient and powerful punch without the benefit of winding up: an “explosive force moment.”

If you’re not already familiar with the one-inch punch, check out the following video:
 
You can easily imagine how we can apply this concept to hammer-ons. Clearly, we can keep our finger-windups relatively short without compromising too much power. It won’t hurt you to think (and train) like a martial artist in this respect.

However, be sure to avoid getting too preoccupied with developing power. The one-inch punch analogy is limited because ultimately, we’re more focused on accuracy (since a powerful hammer-on that misses the target string is worthless).

That said, I definitely think hammer-ons should be explosive force moments. It’s amazing how much power our fingers can generate with practice.

Also remember that your finger is connected to a whole string of muscles going all the way to your chest! That means hammer-ons, like one-inch punches, are a compound exercise. You may find it more satisfying to practice them if you bear this in mind.
 

Practicing hammer-ons can be tricky. It’s one of those techniques that doesn’t feel like it can be broken down without breaking down. I mean, if you slow down a hammer-on enough, you won’t get much of a sound.

But in a way, that reveals an interesting truth about the hammer-on. It’s not a unique left-hand technique, but rather an extension of the fretting motion. If we accept that logic, then practicing hammer-ons is almost like “advanced fretting.”

Thinking in these terms, breaking down hammer-ons is as simple as working on fretting itself. Practice raising each left-hand finger and bringing it down right next to the fret wire. This will allow you to improve your accuracy without worrying about power just yet.

Once you’ve built a strong foundation in slow motion, you’ll find that you won’t “miss” as often when you do introduce power. And even when you’re fairly good with hammer-ons, don’t hesitate to return to slow practice whenever your accuracy slips.
 

As you might have already noticed, your pinky is weaker than your other fingers. Most guitarists have this in common, as it’s largely the result of our shared anatomy.

Yet you’re going to need a strong pinky for hammer-ons. For this reason, your pinky is going to need extra practice. I would go so far as to suggest that your should train your pinky 2-4 times more than your other fingers to bring it up to speed.

One simple exercise I do all the time is to choose a fret, then hammer-on using only your pinky on every string of the selected fret. If you do this sort of thing enough, your pinky will no longer feel like a liability.

In the early stages of isolating your pinky, you’re likely to run into feelings of self-doubt. Your pinky might feel so hopelessly weak that it seems useless to train it at all. But try not to get discouraged! The key is to trust the process and throw yourself into the work. I promise you’ll see the results you want before long.
 

I hope you’ve found these guitar hammer-on tips to be helpful! It’s worth saying that no one has an easy time learning hammer-ons. But once you have them down, you’ll be surprised at how often they come up.

The last thing I’ll mention is that, although you should definitely practice hammer-ons, they’re not always necessary. I frequently encounter pieces of music with notated hammer-ons that seem inappropriate to the passage. Don’t be afraid to stand by your musical instinct in such cases!

Do you have any other tips for good hammer-ons? Let me know in the comments!

Are you looking to upgrade your gear or browse some awesome guitar learning materials? Check out my recommendations page to see all my favorite stuff. 

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