Hammering on - technique Occaused on a mandolin?

[scgc.om]

Hammering on, pulling off, string bends, slides - all are common (and, used appropriately, very effective) guitar playing techniques. #However, what about their application to the mandolin?

Pulling off seems kinda difficult to achieve on a mandolin. #String bending sounds bad, as the twinned strings make equal bending of both strings almost impossible. #Slides sound GREAT! #

So my question probably boils down to hammering on: #when a tune calls for a LOT of rapid fret changes (say in BlackBerry Blossom), I find myself hammering on BUT wondering whether this is sloppy technique (because pick direction can get messed up).

Anyone have any thoughtson hammer ons - or better yet, teacher's advice?

[Douglas McMullin]

Hammer on, pull off, and slides are all standard in my mando playing.

[ShaneJ]

Whatever works for YOU should be "right". HO's and PO's certainly work on mando. For PO's, I find that if I slightly "pluck" the string with my fretting finger as I pull off, it works better.

But then again, if I do it, it's more than likely bad technique! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Fretbear]

Combining hammer-ons and pull-offs in different combinations into triplets and triplet sequences (especially on the trebles) is very effective for maintaining clarity & eveness in the volume of the notes, and is great practice, which is the only way one will ever "pull them off" anyways...

[picksnbits]

All those techniques seem more difficult on the mandolin to me too. I guess they were hard at first on the guitar, but if you've been playing it a while you may have forgotten.

[tree]

I use all of the above-mentioned techniques - including string bending (on rare occasions). #They do require a bit of adapting to the mando if you are coming from a guitar-oriented background. #Takes a little practice to get right, but definitely doable. Never stop experimenting!

[JGWoods]

Hammer ons and pull offs are useful tools. Excellent pick technique is an awesome tool- and I cover up for my lack of it with hammers and pulls. As I get better, some of my HOs and POs are dissappearing, others remain as each attack has a different quality.
Now double stop hammers and pulls- there's a useful thing.

[Avi Ziv]

Push-offs are good too. I wonder why they were not mentioned. Maybe because they are related to pull-offs? I use them in triplets when I play Irish music as they help break the stream of picking that can sometime sound monotonous. It takes some time to develop finger strength though. These are harder to do well than pull-offs, in my opinion. Worth the effort though.

Avi

[ira]

never having been a guitar player, i really can't comment on the differences between the 2, but i use all of the techniques mentioned constantly on my mando. slides, hammers, pulls, and definitely bending - man, how can you play da blues without a good bend here or there. i actually start off many a solo jam with a good long bend for effect (back to the less is more theory) rather than pick or play a flurry of notes to start.
i assume the technique is the same on mando as it is for guitar for all of these little items/tricks, but may require a tad more finger strength for mando with the higher tension and double courses of strings.:blues:

[arbarnhart]

And when bending for the blues, it matters less (if at all) if the two strings have exactly the same pitch. I slide (usually just one fret) a lot and bend some.

[mandocrucian]

Something that a lot of players don't really give that much thought to is: How the pitches are connected is just as important as the pitch choice. Lyricism comes with control of articulation. A lot can be done with the pick alone (accenting, various strike angles, direction of pickstroke etc.) but if you want to get to a higher level in terms of phrasing and lyricism, you need to go beyond that to the techniques of slurring, pitch alteration (bending) and tone alteration/control.

In the early days of old-time string bands (Skillet Lickers etc.) the vocalists were are all shouters; they had to be in order to be heard. It wasn't until the development of better microphones than performers could sing with less volume like they might do at home. Without the technological upgrade of radio and stage equipment, folks like The Delmore Brothers wouldn't have been viable as commercial performers, just because a lot the nuance would have been been under the equipment threshold.

It's the same thing regarding group playing vs. solo playing, in spite of good micorphones today. Most bands today still practice as if they were playing without any amplification or control of relative amplification. So the mandolin player needs to be playing a "banjo killer" and needs to be "shouting" on his instrument by playing hard and using the pick almost exclusively. And so the playing style develops in a certain way just to survive in that environment, usually to the omission of the subtler ways of playing.

A lot of the time, at "jams", I think my playing is only (what I'd call for myself) 'adequate'. I've come to the conclusion that it's because I (reluctantly) have to play (for sheer volume) in a way which is at odds with the way my mind is "hearing" the ideas. Yeah, the pitches may be the same, but the sound of everything with pickstrokes (from the hands) is not the same as the sound (in the mind) of slurred articulation. (Like a fiddle player who isn't allowed to use any bowings but is restricted to saw-strokes on every note.) #(Another reason is the higher development of ear>hand connection, if you don't think it, the hands don't play it. #And if the song doesn't hold your interest... well, it's like trying to make polite small talk with someone when you'd rather be elsewhere.)

There are various slurring and articulation exercises in my 1981 instructional book/cd Hot Licks For Hot Picks (http://www.btinternet.com/~john.baldry/mando/hokkanen.html) (also available from Elderly (http://www.elderly.com/books/items/46-17.htm)). There also some heavily slurred arrangements ("Nine Pound Hammer") which is really Clarence White guitar style (ala "I Am A Pilgrim") put onto the mandolin neck, as well as some Scotty Stoneman/Dale Potter fiddle type doublestop stuff. You might find it useful if you want to pursue the techniques used to add more lyricism in your playing.

Niles Hokkanen

[Tatoosh]

To do an effective pull off or hammer on on a mandolin, you need a calus on your fingertips. The calus is kind of a permanent pick on your fingers. Also, regarding your commemnt about getting pick direction messed up - when you do a HO or PO, your pick hand must "pretend" that it has picked the string so that your pick is in position to make the next pick stroke. E.g., You're playing a series of six 8th notes, Down, Up, D, U, D, U, picking each note. Doing the same sequence again, but with hammer ons for the second and 4th notes, the picking would be D, D, D, U. There are only a few exceptions to this rule, jig time being one of them. DISCLAIMER: I'm not a teacher.

[Keith Erickson]

Hammering on, pulling off, string bends, slides - all are common (and, used appropriately, very effective) guitar playing techniques. #However, what about their application to the mandolin?
James,

Just keep after it.

You should here how "Hot for Teacher" sounds like on the mandolin http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[ira]

ok keith- time for the file upload of hot for teacher!

[Keith Erickson]

ok keith- time for the file upload of hot for teacher!
Hey there Ira,

I have only learned part of it. The guitar solo, on the mandolin has broken my calasis.

Once I have the available hardware, I will upload some tunes.

[Avi Ziv]

Niles - a lot of what you said resonates strongly with me. I play in Irish Traditional sessions and these days I feel like I am "shouting" the entire time. It's really depressing because I know that I'm capable of so much better tone and phrasing control but instead I have to worry mostly about volume. My tenor banjo skills are coming up gradually and one day I may have to swtich over for big/loud sessions. The mandolin is really too delicate to compete AND stay musical in large unamplified settings.

Avi