Can't hear my hammer-ons...?

Question:I can't hear a difference but I know what they are supposed to sound like. I am trying to practice "Hang" by Matchbox 20. Help?!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I can't hear a difference but I know what they are supposed to sound like. I am trying to practice "Hang" by Matchbox 20. Help?!

You can't hear your hammer-ons ? That's because you are not holding the note long enough to produce this effect.
Pick the note hard and snap the finger on the note like a hammer on the piano.
When you hit that note, you can release the first note .

The best practice for hammer-ons is to use 1-2-3-4- fingerings on all the strings.
You hit the note, and hammer the next 3 notes in quick succession. Do the same with 5,4,3,2,1 strings.

I'm assuming you've been playing a while. I know you've heard this before but hammer-ons get better with practise. Do you ever just practise hammer-ons without the distraction of a song? What I mean is do you practise repetitve hammer-on exercises like pull-offs? Hit-hit-hit. This helps with muscle memory and strengthens your hand.

Otherwise how is your hand strength? You exert more force for a hammer-on than you would for chords. There are grip/hand exercisers available. Another suggestion is to lift your finger a little higher and get more velocity into the hammer-on.

You may need to make sure you pick up your finger enough and slam it down hard enough. Is the note before the hammeron ringing loud and clear? If it isn't then you may not have enough energy left in the string to ting the second note. Try to focus on keeping the pressure on the hammer on to help the note ring clear.

Also is your action really low?

Make sure you aren't muting the string at all by hitting accidentally with your fingers or hand.

It may be you just have to practice more. Hammerons can be tough for some people to get. Keep at it and they will sound better.

That's about all I can think of for now. Try looking at www.wholenote.com for some good guitar advice.

Turn up your amp! No kidding, it has to be loud for hammer-ons to come through. It'll distort, so be ready for it. As long as you play notes the distortion will stop, but it will start right up again right when you stop. Good luck and keep playing!

Are you doing this quick enough ??? That's the secret to hammer ons....guitar doesn't sustain very well so in order for this sound to be transferred to the next note it has to be done quickly and hard enough, with practice and time you'll get better at this !!!!!!!!