The term \u201cAlternate String Pull-Off\u201d (ASPO) was, as far I can tell, coined by Ken Perlman and received wide audience* with his publication of Clawhammer Style Banjo <\/i>(an excellent book, BTW, one which I highly recommend).<\/p>\n
I, though, do not use the term “ASPO” in my teaching, and I shall now take a moment to explain just why that is!<\/p>\n
First of all, let\u2019s define our basic terminology: \u00a0a \u201cpull-off\u201d is a common, colloquial term for what the classical world calls \u201cleft-hand pizzicato,\u201d i.e. plucking an instrument\u2019s string with the noting hand. \u00a0Thus, for right-handed players, we\u2019re speaking of picking a string with the left<\/em> hand.<\/p>\n Typically, one does a pull-off by fretting a string, plucking it with the right hand, and then plucking it again by pulling the left hand’s fretting finger to the side, sounding the open string (or a lower fretted note on that string).<\/p>\n This video shows a pull-off done on the banjo’s first string: first I fret the string at the 2nd fret and strike it with the right hand. \u00a0Then, I snap my finger off that string, sounding the 1st string open (the tablature is below the video):