legato technique
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A guitar approach emphasising smooth, connected notes using hammer-ons and pull-offs rather than picking.
Legato technique minimises pick strokes by using the fretting hand's strength to sound notes. The guitarist picks the first note of a phrase, then uses hammer-ons and pull-offs for subsequent notes. This produces a smooth, fluid sound distinct from the more articulated attack of picked notes. Allan Holdsworth pioneered an extreme legato style that influenced a generation of players.
Allan Holdsworth's legato technique was so seamless that many guitarists assumed he was using some kind of electronic effect; he was not.