ghost notes

can someone show me how to play ghost notes ie : 12-(13)-15
in which 13 is the ghost note .

many thanks

i'm not sure about what ghost notes are- never heard of them. Is there a tie between the 12 and 13? if there is, it's asking you to bend the 12th fret until it sounds equivalent to the pitch of the 13th fret.

Ghost notes are when you hold down a note without sounding it by either plucking it or hammering it. You'll get a slight sound, but it's very light. Blues players use them alot usually before sliding to another fret, -(12)/15- or before bending -(12)b13r12. It's hard to understand them with just tab, because they do look like tie notes and can be confused. You usually need the actually written music to understand how to play them better. With written music they actually give you a note duration so you how how long to hold the ghost note before moving on to the next note. They take alittle discipline to get used too, because instinctively you'll want to either pluck the string or hammer too hard.

so ghost notes are basically tapping then- only light?

Yes and no. When you tap a string you generally pull it off. On a ghost note you don't pull off, and your not tapping it. You just lay your finger on a fret as you would if you were going to pluck the string, but you don't pluck the string. The loudness at which you play a ghost note depends on the music, the fact that makes it lighter is you don't pluck the string. Listen to a B.B. king solo, you'll hear tons of them. I think you got the idea, but just making sure.

Ex.

g--(9)-10--


The first note in parenthesis is the ghost note. To play this sequence just lay you index finger down on the 9th as your regularly would (not soft or hard, just normal), then when you go to play the 10th fret you pluck as as normal. You should hear the difference between the ghost note and the plucked one. The ghost note is fainter, no picking sound.

so that's what it's called! that's informative. thanks

a ghost or "ghosted" note is a note that is played more gently than others, often so gently that it's hard to tell exactly what note it is. Pretty expressive technique. Ghost notes can also be muted notes or appogiaturas

I thought a ghost note was a note that was bent up before striking the string and then once bent you strike the string and slowly release the string causing the sound to decend making a ghostly sound????

nope - that is a pre-bend ..

Originally posted by Azrael
nope - that is a pre-bend ..

Sometimes called a "ghost bend."

.. when performed by a ghost