7h8p7 — Guitar 2021

The fretboard awaits. Go practice.

The biggest mistake beginners make is staying on one string. Practice moving the 7h8p7 pattern across strings:

If you have spent any time on guitar forums, YouTube short lessons, or tablature websites, you have likely encountered the enigmatic sequence: . At first glance, it looks like a secret code or a typo. However, for legions of rock, metal, and blues guitarists, the "7h8p7 guitar" phrase represents a fundamental building block of fluid, rapid-fire soloing. 7h8p7 guitar

From Eddie Van Halen's "Eruption" to Steve Vai's "For the Love of God," the rapid 7h8p7 trill is the atomic unit of 1980s shred guitar. When played in continuous 16th or 32nd notes, it mimics a machine gun or a butterfly fluttering its wings.

The 7h8p7 pattern is the quintessential example of . Unlike picking every note, legato uses the fretting hand to generate sound after the initial pick attack. The fretboard awaits

Let’s decode it. On a single string—most commonly the or B string in a pentatonic or major scale context—you place your first finger firmly on the 7th fret. You strike the string once. Then, without picking again, you snap your ring finger (or middle finger) down onto the 8th fret: that is the hammer-on (h) . The pitch rises a half-step. Instantly, you roll that same finger off sideways, plucking the string as you release: that is the pull-off (p) . The pitch falls back to the 7th fret.

Join the conversation on online forums and social media groups dedicated to the 7h8p7 guitar. Share your theories, insights, and experiences with fellow enthusiasts, and help keep the mystery alive. Practice moving the 7h8p7 pattern across strings: If

The 7h8p7 guitar tablature notation indicates a rapid three-note sequence—a hammer-on followed immediately by a pull-off—played on a single plucked string. Executed by hammering the 8th fret while holding the 7th fret, and then pulling off back to the 7th, this technique is used to create a fluid, legato sound commonly found in melodic lines. For a practical example, this sequence appears in the intro to the Grateful Dead's "Weather Report Suite Prelude". Read the full tab for the song at

Because you only pick once per triplet (or sextuplet), the 7h8p7 pattern allows for incredibly fast runs without requiring a lightning-fast picking hand. This saves stamina during long live performances.

It allows you to play multiple notes faster than you could by picking each one individually.

What you hear in that split second— chime, lift, fall —is a three-note sequence called a or a gruppetto . It is a musical ornament that adds vocal-like inflection to a sustained note.