Hammer-ons are notes which are produced by the left hand hitting a fretted note without the need for it to be played with the right hand. This should be done firmly for the note to have comparable volume to a normal note. All hammer-ons are fretted notes but the notes which precede them may be open strings or other fretted notes.

A pull-off is like a hammer-on in reverse. Pull-offs are notes which are produced with the left hand pulling off which sounds whatever note is below it without the right hand having to play the string.

Lifting the left finger off produces hardly any volume. A pull off involves pulling or flicking the string as you take your finger off.

Hammer-ons and pull-offs are known as slurs in classical terminology and are also a component of the finger-tapping technique.

Example 15a