Hammer-on / Pull-off

A hammer-on and a pull-off are the two moves that make legato playing possible on guitar. For a hammer-on, a fretting finger comes down sharply on a fret while a note is already ringing, with no repick: the finger's impact alone sounds the new note. A pull-off does the opposite: a finger already on the string pulls off with a slight downward flick, sounding the note left behind.

An asymmetry few methods point out

The two moves don't take equal effort: a hammer-on can work with a moderate strike, while a pull-off needs a real plucking motion to ring at a comparable volume — a poorly executed pull-off is consistently quieter than the hammer-on before it, which is why it needs more isolated practice to balance the volume of both notes.

The sheet one-string legato — hammer-ons and pull-offs works on exactly that balance.