This lesson marks a big shift, both in technique and in feel. We've got a new jam track in B minor with a faster, new wave of British heavy metal flavour, and we're going to be focusing on legato. This is the smooth, connected style of playing that defines some of the most exciting lead work in metal, and we're starting with hammer-ons. The key insight I want you to take from this lesson is that it's not about picking harder, it's about picking lighter. Once that clicks, the speed starts to follow on its own.

What You'll Learn

•       The hammer-on pattern used across the new B minor jam track

•       Why picking lighter is the secret to even-sounding hammer-ons

•       How the symmetry in the shape makes the pattern easier to learn

•       The full scale run using pick-hammer-hammer across all strings

•       How to finish the phrase with vibrato on the high E for a proper metal feel

In Detail

The hammer-on pattern used across the new B minor jam track

The pattern starts at the 10th fret of the low E and uses a similar 3-note-per-string structure to what we've already covered, now applied in B minor. The legato approach transforms the feel completely — instead of picking every note, you're picking the first note of each string and hammering on the remaining two, creating a fluid, connected sound.

Why picking lighter is the secret to even-sounding hammer-ons

If you pick hard, you have to hammer just as hard to match the volume — and that wears your hand out fast. The trick is to pick lightly, which means the hammered notes only need a fraction of the force to match up. The result is a smoother, more even sound with far less tension in your hand, which also makes building speed much more achievable.

How the symmetry in the shape makes the pattern easier to learn

Just like with the 3-note-per-string shapes, this legato pattern has moments of symmetry where the same fingering repeats across adjacent string pairs. I point these out so you're not learning every string individually — you're recognising a two-string phrase and repeating it up the neck.

The full scale run using pick-hammer-hammer across all strings

Once the individual string pattern is comfortable, I put the whole scale together: pick, hammer, hammer on each string pair all the way up to the high E. Economy picking is still very much in play here — even within legato, the direction your pick travels between strings matters for smoothness and efficiency.

How to finish the phrase with vibrato on the high E for a proper metal feel

After running through the full scale, I finish the phrase by landing on the 14th fret of the high E with the ring finger and adding some vibrato. It's a small detail that makes a big difference — it resolves the phrase musically and gives it that unmistakably metal sense of expression.

This is a quick bonus to show you exactly what speed you can get up to with the hammer-on pattern from Lesson 5. There's nothing new to learn here — I just want to give you a clear target to aim for. If you're ready, give it a go. If not, keep working on Lesson 5 and come back when your hand feels relaxed and the pattern is sitting nicely.