Slurs
A slur is a curved line drawn above or below two or more notes of different pitches. It tells you to play the notes smoothly. Playing smoothly is called legato. There are many ways of articulating slurs on the guitar, the most common being the hammer-on for ascending slurs, and the pull-off for descending slurs. These techniques are described as follows:
The Hammer-on
The hammer-on is executed by picking a note and then hammering a left hand finger onto the string. The hammer-on is indicated by a curved line and the letter "H".
Begin by playing the note on the fifth fret, fourth string.
Hammer third finger onto seventh fret of fourth string.
The Pull-off
The pull-off is executed by playing a note and then pulling the left hand finger off the string towards the floor. This causes a new note to sound. The pull-off is indicated by a curved line and the symbol "P".
Begin by playing the note on the seventh fret, fourth string.
Pull third finger away to produce note at fifth fret.
When you read most sheet music or music arranged for Classical guitar, there are no symbols to indicate how the slurs are to be played, you simply get the curved line indicating a slur. Here is one such example. For a more in-depth study of slurring techniques, see Progressive Guitar Method - Lead Guitar .
Staccato
A dot placed above or below a note tells you to play the note staccato. Staccato means to play a note short and separate from other notes. To play a fretted note staccato, lift your left hand finger off the fretboard (but not off the string) immediately after playing the note. To play an open string staccato, mute the string with your right hand immediately after playing the note.
This example contains both staccato and slur marks. For more on staccato playing, see Progressive Funk and R&B Guitar Method .
