Hammer-Ons, Pull-Offs, and Bend-And-Releases

I'm fairly new to guitar playing (been at it for 7 months) and I have no real idea how to do hammer-ons, pull-offs, and bend-and-releases right. I don't really know what to ask about them... Whenever I do them it always sounds really REALLY wrong. Please help.

Offspring - there's alot of good lessons here on this site. I have some on my site as well http://guitar-pedal.com/riffs.html demonstrating hammer-ons/pull-offs/bends etc. I think the best advice is to keep practicing them - hammer-ons, bends and pull-offs will come with time. You need the basics first - pentatonic scale progressions etc.

Hammer ons are simple, just play a note and stike hard on the same string with a corresponding finger to the fret. Usually those will be learned with in a few weeks and not to much longer to master after that but be aware your pinky will need more time and practice being a weaker finger. Pull offs are hardier because your required to slightly "flick" up or down the string as you pull of with fast velocity. This is not to complacted but when you have three pull offs in a row then it gets tough at the start. Bending is fairly easy. you can bend up or down. Use at least two fingers so that it will be easier and literally bend the note. There are different bends and the tab will indicate it. You can strike a string bent, or raise a note and release, or raise a note and bring it back down. N4player has plenty of good exercises to play will help this aspects. Go slow while playing the music at it will come pretty fast.

That´s the easyest technique, you´ll see.

The real trick to hammers and pulls is that , you play one scale with your left hand[pulling] and you play the relative scale with your right hand[hammering].

But remember you will not play just like your Gtr heros overnight, it takes time and time again to get to where you want to go, ask as many questions as you need[ thats how you will learn ] most folks will give advise cause we have all been where your at,
Keep at it and don`t get mad at yourself, remember you had to crawl before you walked.

Start with scales first, learn to finger them the right way build timing with a metronome.

Hope this helps

Whoa! At the end of the .wav file for Riff 3 on N4Player's site, the guitar sound was AWESOME! How do I achieve that? Oh, and right now I have a Peavey Blazer 158 and a Gibson Epiphone Special II. What is the best setting for the amp and guitar for a really cool sound? Thanks!

I bought "The Ultimate Beginner Series" step 1 & 2 by Nick Nolan and Colgan Bryan. The package comes with two Cds, two videos, and a book. Cost me CA.$36.oo, I am also a beginner and find them really good. He shows you how much you can bend and where to stop, and there is a jam section with the whole band for each exercise.

Offspring Kid,
On the end of Riff3, I'm really pinching the pick to get that "pinch harmonic" you're hearing towards the end - Sounds pretty mean when you can do it on the low E. Very "Dime-Bag" esque. By the way, due to bandwidth usage on http://guitar-pedal.com, I had to set up a new site http://guitar-wav.com for my effects wavs and lessons.
-Bob