Chords for Bass Hammer Ons and Pull Offs

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_ [E] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ [G] _ [E] _ _ _ [A#] _ _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _
[F#] _ _ _ [E] Another interesting technique to use is hammer-ons and pull-offs, which again is a technique
that's really coming from the fretting hand on the instrument.
Guys like Paul Jackson, who played with Headhunters with Herbie Hancock in the early 70s, _ _ really
used this technique in a very cool way.
A lot of different bass players too use it now.
It adds a nice kind of flavor to the bass lines you play.
You'll hear guys use this all the time.
[E] _ _ _
_ _ _ [B] See there I'm using a _
_ [G] _ little [F#] slide or shake at the end. _
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[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [D] _ [E] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ [D#] _ _ _ [E] You can see again, it just adds a little extra to it, a little drama to the line. _
If I was to pick every note, [G] _ it just sounds too literal. _
_ [D] _ _ _ _ [E] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
You see?
It just makes it sound more organic as well.
Sometimes really aiming to pluck every note that you play can just make the line sound too relentless.
Again, this just gives you some ways to color the notes you play and add some expressiveness
to what you're playing in the bass lines.
This can be used in a number of ways, these hammer-ons.
Sometimes one of the things I like to do is use a hammer-on at the beginning of the line
I play and maybe on a higher string so you get something like this. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [C#] _
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ _ _ [E] _ _ _ _ _
_ [A] _ [C#] _ _ _ [E] _ _ [D] _
_ [E] _ _ _ _ _ And so on.
You see?
Now if I was to _ [A] go_
[D] _
_ [E] _ It sounds too literal to me.
But if I go_
[C#] _ _ [D] _ _ [A] _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ _ _ [E] _ _ _
_ _ _ To me that just sounds way more interesting as well.
_ So that's really how these hammer-ons work.
And usually I'm using either like third and fourth, sometimes two to three, or one and
three fingers to hammer-on. _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ [G] _ _ [E] _ _ _ _
[G] [B] And you can do that with the thumb as well and playing more like a slap style thing.
_ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
[Em] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [B] _ _ _ [F#] And so on.
And you know, this technique is used by thumb players a lot.
It enables you to play much faster and particularly when you're playing slap bass, _ one of the
harder things about playing with the thumb, especially if you're not always doing the
double thumbing idea, is to play quickly with it.
Because obviously as you're hitting a downstroke with the thumb, this hand now has to do something
else to keep the momentum going.
So with the hammer-ons and pull-offs, check it out. _ _ _
So you get this. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ And that way you're getting twice the value out of the note.
With one thumb stroke you're getting two notes.
[B] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
And so on.
So you can incorporate that into the bass lines.
You'll hear guys use this all the time when they're [E] playing with their thumb. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [F#] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[B] _ _ _ _ And so on.
And it's very simple to do.
It enables you to get a lot of velocity to the line.
And then you can do this on the same way on the upper strings too.
Check it out.
So this is me now using pull-offs [D] with the right hand and then hammer-ons with the left.
So [G] here's the pull-off.
[D] _
And then hammering-on with this hand.
[B] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ And notice I start this by pulling-off.
_ And then the next set of notes is with the thumb.
But still hammering.
So effectively I'm just going. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [F#] _ _ [B] _
And so on.
So again, you can see you can use it in combination on the lower strings or on the upper.
And it can be really effective.
_ _ [C#] _
_ _ _ _ [E] _ _ _ _
_ [B] _ And so on.
And you can just use this