Pull-offs are notes which are produced by the left-hand pulling off the string after a fretted note. This creates another note below it without the right-hand having to play the string again. The reason they are called pull-offs and not lift-offs is very important. Lifting the left finger off produces hardly any volume. A pull-off involves pulling or flicking the string as you take your finger off.

As the focus of pull-offs is the left-hand note, the preceding note may be slapped, picked or plucked using right-hand fingers. A pull-off is like a hammer-on in reverse. Pull-offs are a technique in their own right but they are also a component of the finger-tapping technique. Pull-offs are notated with a slur (curved line) and the letter P or sometimes PO.

In this video example, each string is played only once with the right hand but three notes are heard as the little and middle fingers each produce additional notes using pull-offs.