How often do you use Hammer-on's on the bass?

Personal preference and the sound you're going for? I don't hammer on particularly hard, so I tend to use them more as a grace note or passing tone with economy of motion so that I don't have to move my plucking hand twice as fast for notes that are more flavour.

However, I do love the sound of making chords with hammerons, especially in jazz.

 

All the time. Here's one I just did with a lot of hard hammer ons to force a sustain without the pluck of the attack...


I use it whenever it feels right, which as I get older seems to be more and more.

 

Never use them, but, that is just me.

 

Depends on the feel I'm going for with the line. If its in unison with a guitarist, ill play it how they play it with regards to articulation. If I'm making up a bass line it really just depends on how it feels I guess. I find that most of the time I don't really think about it actually.

 

No rules; it just happens naturally. The longer you've been playing, the less you'll have to think about these things.

 

+1,000

The more you play, the less you think about what you're doing and you just do what comes naturally. I use them, but I use a good bit of everything in my playing.

 

Constantly but yeah I barely ever think about it, prefering to concentrate on what I play rather than how.
I often use hammers with octaves to avoid string skipping.
When I go from a fretted note to an open string, i do it with a pull off which avoid the open string sounding too obnoxious.
Basically I do it when I find it easier or better sounding than plucking.

 

passing notes ...... and page turns, no option if it's play through.

 

Indeed. I don't know any bassist in any genre you can name doesn't use them regularly. I do them about as much as anybody, but I don't think "I should do a hammer-on/pull-off here" It just happens naturally. Don't sweat it, you can overthink this kind of stuff, and that will stifle fluidity.

 

perhaps but I think virtuoso guitarist Al Di Meola say he doesn't use them or sweep picking among other techniques he is just such a physical freak that he can cleanly pick every note he puts out.

 

I like to think of them as slurs...

 

Quite a bit actually. When playing technical lines, they are a godsend to me

 

As often as necessary. Comes naturally.

 

I make it a habit to avoid doing the hammer-ons even when the material has it as a hammer-on. For example the main riff to Black Dog, I play with no hammer-ons.

 

+1 quite often as connecting notes

 

In the words of Clutch; Whenever it feels right.

 

As much as I do pull-offs, slide-ins, or just straight plucking. Articulation is everything.