Guitar tab terms?

Question

what does it mean when the music asks you to "hammer on," pull off, virbrate, mute, distort and anything else I may have missed and could you explain what I should do for each one?

Answer 1

to "hammer on": This is to fret a string with your fingertip hard enough that it sounds like you used a pick to play that note.

pull off: When you pull your finger off a string, give it a little pull down towards the floor and then release. This will get the string to ring out a note. It works better if your are able to hammer on the note first and then do the pull off after. You wouldn't usually start a lick with a pull-off.

vibrato: How you do this is is shaking (sort of a mini-bend and release) the string with you finger or shaking your whole hand at the wrist like B.B. King. It's a quick, short twisting motion.

mute: This one is hard to perfect. You have to rest the heel of your right palm (pinky side) lightly on the strings. If you press too hard you'll kill the note.

distort: This is not a guitar playing technique. This is just turning up your amp's gain to 10 and setting your volume as needed. Your guitar's volume knobs should be at 10 also. If your amp doesn't have a gain or "dirty" channel, you'll need to get a distortion stomp box or effects pedal.

Answer 2

These terms are easy to describe, but without an actual demonstration, it's hard to learn. Try getting a teacher who can explain musical terms to you. Or get a video. Keith Wyatt has a series of blues videos for beginners that explain these fairly well. Good luck.

Answer 3

hammer on: string is plucked, then finger goes onto fretboard*.
hammer off: string is plucked, then finger comes off fretboard.
vibrate: wiggle finger on fretboard to make note waver.
mute: plucking finger/hand is partly on string to make it softer.

*i.e., finger is not already in place when string is plucked, but does so afterwards.