Lessons 5 and 6 gave you the foundations, now it's time to put it all together and play legato the way it's actually used in great solos.

In this lesson I introduce two-string patterns that combine hammer-ons and pull-offs in a single flowing phrase, creating the kind of fluid playing that sounds far more sophisticated than simply going up and down the scale.

This is the biggest lesson across the whole course and you'll find a lot of Jam Tracks below that demonstrate different techniques - so take your time and re-visit this module whenever you wish to refresh these skills!

What You'll Learn

•       A two-string hammer-on pattern that repeats across every string pair

•       A combined hammer-on and pull-off movement within a single phrase

•       How moving your picking hand closer to the neck improves legato tone

•       A pull-off-based pattern for descending runs with an optional extra pick

•       How gain helps legato notes sustain and speak clearly

In Detail

A two-string hammer-on pattern that repeats across every string pair

The key to this approach is the two-string phrase, a short sequence of pick, hammer-on, hammer-on that gets applied to every pair of strings up the scale. Because the phrase repeats, once you've got it on one string pair you can work it right across the whole scale systematically. I break it down note by note before putting it together at speed.

How moving your picking hand closer to the neck improves legato tone

Picking near the bridge gives you a bright, tight attack — great for some things, but not ideal for legato. I show how moving the picking hand up towards where the neck meets the body reduces string tension, softens the attack, and produces a rounder, more musical tone. Even without a neck pickup, you can get closer to that smooth legato sound just by shifting your hand position.

How gain helps legato notes sustain and speak clearly

Legato notes — particularly the hammered and pulled-off ones in the middle of a long phrase — can choke out without enough gain behind them. I demonstrate how adding gain via the RAT pedal helps those quieter notes sustain properly and speak evenly across the whole run. Your tone setup and your technique really do work together here.

A bonus demo of the advanced legato patterns from Lesson 7 played at full tempo — loop it as many times as you need and see if you can match it.

A combined hammer-on and pull-off movement within a single phrase

Rather than using only hammer-ons or only pull-offs, the more advanced pattern weaves both into the same phrase — hammering up and pulling back within a small range before moving on. This creates a more melodic, looping quality and is very much the movement that characterises players like Eric Johnson. I drill the key motion in isolation first before combining it into the full scale.