what is a hammer-on?

[makinmusic]

Wow! Funny how you ask a little question and now I know more than I wanted to know about a wide range of topics! Seriously, thanks one and all for your input.

Second question-there are lots of instruction books in the beginner to intermediate range for whistle but not anything further than that. what does everyone do beyond the intermediate level? go to workshops and get a "slow downer" program?

[peeplj]

--quote--
Backstitching is a term taken from the Uilleann piping and is not really appilicable on the whistle. It is a technique used most natably by Patsy Touhey to round up a tune with 'a great shower of fingers' and involves an elaborate run of tight triplets which cannot be executed on the whistle. The top hand notes are 'stitched up' turning them into triplets by adding a tight played c A to them, the lower hand notes get a G F stitch. But by now I will have lost you. Never mind.
--endquote--

Peter, thanks for posting that. I had wondered about the term.

Flutist Rob Greenway uses it to describe a triplet B A G with a fast gracenote G on the A. With that as a starting point, I think I see what you are describing on the pipes.

For anyone who has never seen a fingering chart for the pipes, it helps to know that unlike a whistle or flute where you leave the holes open beneath the tone hole for the note being played, on the pipes the fingers below the open tone hole stay down.

Best wishes,

--James
http://www.flutesite.com

[Cayden]

On 2002-10-13 07:02, peeplj wrote:

For anyone who has never seen a fingering chart for the pipes, it helps to know that unlike a whistle or flute where you leave the holes open beneath the tone hole for the note being played, on the pipes the fingers below the open tone hole stay down.

Which is not entirely true in all cases, it is whne you play a clesed or tight style of piping but you can well leave them open is you choose to, for reasons of tone and effect and all sorts.
The triplets I was referring to do occur in a 'tight' fashion' where a minimum of fingers is taken off and the chanter is fully closed [i.e.e. silenced] between notes.

a rune from the second part of the Harvest Home which would normally go something like

eAfA gAfA

would appear as

[3ecA [3fcA [gcA [3fcA

when stitched

or in a jig a run going

g3 f3 or gbg faf

would appear as

[3gca g [3fca f

when stiched, and all notes played very musch staccato.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Peter Laban on 2002-10-13 10:01 ]</font>

[Bloomfield]

I think uillean piping must be like sex: you have to do it to get it.

[Cayden]

Maybe, those stitches and some of that triplet stuff is definitely a bit kinky.

[Bloomfield]

Now there's an image for you: Patsey Touhey in black leather....

[fiddling_tenor]

Man, I'm disappointed! Checked Brother Steve's Whistle Pages and found nuthin' 'bout hammer-on. Steve? Steve?

[OutOfBreath]

On 2002-10-12 15:31, SteveK wrote:
Hammering on and pulling off, as describe by others on this thread, are standard techniques of clawhammer banjo playing (frailing). Unlike tenor banjo, mandolin and plectrum-picked guitar you can't really play tunes in clawhammer style without those techniques as well as some others.

Steve

Hammer ons and pull offs are also used extensively in many genres of guitar, from classical to bluegrass to blues and rock. Never heard the term used in regards to whistle and can't imagine how you would accomplish either on a whistle, since both have to do with modifying a note during the sustain of a ringing string. I.e. switching from one note to another without the "ploink" of plucking the string again. That sort of note transition is the <b>norm</b> for good whistling (i.e. it is the opposite of tonguing, which most will agree should be done sparingly).

I guess that would be as good a definition for a "hammer on" or "pull off" on the whistle as any -- "the opposite of tonguing."

Or not...

John

[LeeMarsh]

I just wanted to clarify that hammer-ons have been around for a long time in folk music. Hammer-on's where common ornaments in folk guitar playing when I learned back in the 60's.

I'm assuming right hand playing where fingers of the left hand doing the fret work and right hand generally pluck or pick the strings. A string is picked with the right hand and then one of the left hand fingers is brought down hard on the vibrating string right behind one of the frets producing a second note usually a half step, a whole step or one and a half steps higher. What makes it a "hammer" on is that the string is struck hard enough and quick enough to cause the string to vibrate. You can actually do a hammer-on without the initial right hand pluck or pick. It is especially used with finger picking folk styles, I use it from time to time with travis style finger picking.

Using a hammer-on on a string that was just picked results in quick cut to the higher note. Using a hammer-on on an still string produces a tone that tends to have a slightly more tin like tone with lots of high overtones in the string vibration.

Some of the electric rock guitarist picked the technique up and took it to the point were they would create tremelo/vibrato effects but using lot of hammer-ons in a row.
They also used it to produce 32nd notes when picking 16th note picked runs/leads.

The hammer-on technique has been in use a long time in folk genre's. I believe it was also a technique in use in classical guitar, but here you'd have to ask a classical trained player. As for me, I been just a guitar picker to back song spinners.

Hope this helps you futher ...

[StevieJ]

On 2002-10-14 13:40, fiddling_tenor wrote:
Man, I'm disappointed! Checked Brother Steve's Whistle Pages and found nuthin' 'bout hammer-on. Steve? Steve?

Tom,

Sorry you were disappointed. But you shouldn't regard me as an authority. There's an awful lot about whistle playing and Irish music that I don't know, and I'll never even get around to writing on everything about which I do know something! So - be disabused.

Others have suggested that a hammer-on (with regard to whistle playing) might simply mean a tap or strike or tip or whatever you call it.

I'd suggest another possibility - a device for which I have never seen a name. When you approach an important melody note from below, particularly one that is longer than its neighbours, say a quarter note, you can often get a nice effect by replacing the quarter note with two eighth notes, the first of which is a repeat of the preceding note.

For example, in place of

eaag a2

you might play

eaag (ga)

where the second g is articulated (e.g. tongued) and the following a is not. Anyone know what to call this?

I'd say it was the closest thing to a hammer-on in guitar parlance.

Steve