hammer on....help!

[fairyphaedra]

I'm a beginner! Bravely trying to teach myself, as I'm currently living in small town ontario, and no mandolin teachers can be found.

I am starting from the very basics with theory and scales, and learning the fretboard, and I can read notation already from playing the piano, but I admit that i'm jumping the gun once in a while and trying to learn songs way beyond my expertise level...but I find it fun when all of the simple stuff starts to bore me. i figure it can't be bad for my dexterity.

I am learning salty dog blues right now, and i use telfview to slow it way down.....but seriously....am i really supposed to hammer on the 9th fret on the E string?? is that even possible? i have been changing my pressure, timing, everything i can think of and i can't get one single peep of sound out. it sure sounds like a hammer on in the tune though.

would it make a difference that i'm learning on a tater bug? or that my baby finger is depressingly small and feeble??

[Mike Bunting]

Toronto is small town Ontario? Surely you jest!

[Pete Martin]

Hammer ons need a fair amount of down force and your finger placement has to be precise. When I start out someone new, I don't get to hammers and pull offs until they can play a few tunes comfortably. You might want to start with some easier tunes until you get more comfortable with string instrument technique.

[AlanN]

Finger dexterity and strength require long hours of focused practice. You won't get it right away. If the hammer on is from fret 7 to 9 using the pinky, that's a tough move. Learn your closed scales, keep your fingers down and repeat, repeat, repeat. It's the only way.

[CES]

Another thing to consider is the speed of your hammer-on if you've played instruments with more sustain (ie, guitar) in the past. You have a little more time on guitar b/c of the sustain to hit it and get the sound (though the song may not be spot on if there's a delay). With mando, and especially I think as you get further up the fretboard, which shortens your scale length, you've got to hit the hammer pretty quickly after picking the note on that 7th fret, or it decays and you're left trying to hammer the note de novo, which is tough that high up.

If your action is too high or low it will be tougher to get the sound as well. Mainly, though, it's just practice, practice, practice...

Good luck! And remember, the move you're trying, especially with your pinky, isn't easy. I thought my pinky was in decent shape until I started trying to do Ted's FFcP exercises and Mike Marshall's fingerbusters...my pinky's a wimp!!

[EarlG]

Another thing is if you don't have your tough callus yet the hammer and pull off won't be as effective.

I've recently built up some pretty heavy callus on my fingers for the first time and it's surprising how hard you can hit the strings and how you can grab the string on a pull off.

I'm not saying don't work on it though, just that it get's better.

[bigbike]

One thing that I have also noticed is quality of instrument. If you have an entry level instrument, be it mandolin or something else the sound will not be as rich or full as if you have a better quality instrument (which most of the teachers in videos have). so your technic may not be faulty, but your instrument might be the cause.

Of course if the instrument is not set up proper-ie too high playing action, it is gonna be tough also.