Bending
By Morten Gjermundsen (trollstjerne@yahoo.no)
In this lesson we will take a look at the bending technique.But before we begin i must say that some soundcard does not support string bending.Because of this some of you might hear that some notes sounds wrong.Also there is different ways of notation bends in my examples i will notate bends with an "b" and "r" for bend and releasing.This we look like 7b and means you should first pick the note on the seventh fret and then bend it.Other ways to notate a bend is to first show the note you are going to pick and then show the note you are going to bend up to in parantheses.In tab books itīs common to use arrows pointing up and a number showing how far you should bend the note.For example and arrow pointing up followed by a 1 means to bend the note up a whole step (two frets).But like i said in my examples i will use a b for regular bends and r for bend and releases.
To bend a note means to push the string up enough to raise the pitch.How much you should push the string depends on what note you want.If you want to bend from D to E,you first have to pick the D note then push the string far enough up untill you reach the E note.When bending strings your thumb should be hooked over the top of the neck (Not behind it).This will give your fingers more strength and control.
Lets look at an example using tab and midi sound examples.
In the first example first pick the G stringīs D note (found on the 7th fret) with your 1th finger like shown on the tab below.
||-------||
||-------||
||--7----||
||-------||
||-------||
||-------||
Now pick the G stringīs E note (found on the 9 th fret) with your 3rd finger like shown in the tab below.
E||-------||
B||-------||
G||--9----||
D||-------||
A||-------||
E||-------||
Now what we are going to do is to pick the D note with the 3rd finger and then push the string up far enough to raise the pitch up to the E note.Fret the note with your 3rd finger and use you 2nd finger for support.Listen to the example. *note that this example might sound wrong if your soundcard doesnīt support pitch bending*.
||-------------------|
||-------------------|
||------7b-----------|
||-------------------|
||-------------------|
||-------------------|
When you bend a note like this your finger will also touch the upper strings (D and A).If this is done corretly your finger should help muting these strings and prevent them from ringing and making unwanted noise.Anyway more about that later.
When you bend a note like the example i just showed you you should only pick the first note.In this case the D note (not the E note).
Look listen and play the examples below to hear the different between regular picking and bending.In this example first fret the A note with your 1th finger then pick it.Then fret the B note with your 3rd finger and then pick it.Listen to the example shown below.
E||--------------------|
B||--------------------|
G||--------------------|
D||------7--------9----|
A||--------------------|
E||--------------------|
Now listen to the example shown below where the A note is fretted with the 3rd finger then picked and pushed up far enough to reach the B note.
||-------------------|
||-------------------|
||-------------------|
||------7b-----------|
||-------------------|
||-------------------|
You can also release the bend back to the original pitch after bending it,like the example below.This is notated with an r (meaning bend and release).
Listen
||-------------------||
||-------------------||
||------7r-----------||
||-------------------||
||-------------------||
||-------------------||
In the example above first fret the note with your 3rd finger and pick it then bend it up to the E note (you can use your 2nd finger for support) when you have reach the E note release it back to the D note.Like i said earlier when you bend a string like this your finger will also touch the D and A string and help muting them from making any unwanted sounds.This is also true when you release the bend.Itīs important you use your fingertip and not the underside of your finger when you bend.If you use the under side of your finger it will be harder to bend the string and other strings can strart to ring and make unwanted sounds and noise.But if you use your fingertip there shouldnīt be any unwanted sounds and noise.
It will require some practicing to get a good bend and release technique.Itīs probably easier to bend notes on the G string.Bending notes on the high E string is probably hardest and will require even more practicing.If you have a chance to see a guitar video or have a teacher or friend who can show it will probably help you a lot.To describe in words how to bend is a lot harder than showing.I have found some video clips at Cyberfret they can be found at http://www.cyberfret.com/techniques/bends/index.php Im not sure how much these videos will help you but take a look at them and see for yourself.
Here are some more examples and exercises you can use to practice bending and releasing.
Listen
||--------------------|----------------------|
||--5r-------8r-------|--10r-------12r-------|
||--------------------|----------------------|
||--------------------|----------------------|
||--------------------|----------------------|
||--------------------|----------------------|
---------------------|--------------------||
--10r-------8r-------|--5r----------------||
---------------------|--------------------||
---------------------|--------------------||
---------------------|--------------------||
---------------------|-------------------||
In the example above you should first fret the note on the 5th fret (E) with your 3rd finger and pick it then bend it up 1 1/2 step (meaning 3 frets) up to the G note.Then release it back to the E note.Then fret the note on the 8th fret (G) and pick it then bend up a whole step ( meaning 2 frets) up to the A note then release it back to the G note.Fret the 10th fret (A) pick it and then bend it up to the B note.Then release it back to the A note.Fret the 12th fret then pick it and bend it up 1 1/2 steps (3 frets) up to the D note and then release it back to the B note.Then you go back down again the same way.This might sound strange and difficult.But with some practicing you will say itīs easy.Note that you should use your 3rd finger to fret all the notes.And donīt forget that you thumb should be hooked over the top of the neck.
Practice the bending example above on all the strings.On the lower strings like A and E you should push the strings down toward the higher strings when you bend instead of up.If you try to bend the A string by pushing the string up you can see and hear why....
A good way to practice bending is to first fret a note and pick it,then fret a note a half or whole step below and try to bend it up to the note you first picked.Lets take a look at an example.
Listen
||--5-----------------|--------------------|
||-----------8b-------|--8--------5b-------|
||--------------------|--------------------|
||--------------------|--------------------|
||--------------------|--------------------|
||--------------------|--------------------|
--------------------|--------------------||
--5-----------------|--------------------||
-----------7b-------|--7-----------------||
--------------------|--------------------||
--------------------|--------------------||
--------------------|--------------------||
In the example above pick the first note with your 1th finger,then pick the next with with your 3rd finger and then bend it up so you get the same note as the first.Play the other notes the same way.
A similar example is to pick two strings at the same time like the example below and bend the lowest note up so they sound in tune.
Listen
||--5--------8---------|--10----------------||
||--8b-------11b-------|--13b---------------||
||---------------------|--------------------||
||---------------------|--------------------||
||---------------------|--------------------||
||---------------------|--------------------||
Note that on the example above you should only bend the B string not the E string.
By using bending the right places you can make your playing sound more interesting.
Hopefully this lesson can be helpful for you in someway and make you understand how to use bending.If you have any questions or comment about this please write to me and i will try to explain it in a way you hopefully can understand better.Before we end this lesson i will show you 2 more small musical examples using a backing track so it sound more interesting.Use the backing tracks to practice these examples.
Listen Backing
||----------------------|-------------5-----------|
||----------------------|--------8b------8--5-----|
||-----5--7b-------7r---|-----5----------------7r-|
||--7-------------------|--7----------------------|
||----------------------|-------------------------|
||----------------------|-------------------------|
---------------------||
---------------------||
--7r---5-------------||
----------7----------||
---------------------||
---------------------||
Listen Backing
||----------------------|----------------------||
||--10--------12--------|--13--------15--------||
||--12b-------14b-------|--15b-------17b-------||
||----------------------|----------------------||
||----------------------|----------------------||
||----------------------|----------------------||
Listen Backing
||--5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---|
||----8b--8b--8b--8b--8b--8b--8b--8b|
||----------------------------------|
||----------------------------------|
||----------------------------------|
||----------------------------------|
--8----8----8----8----8----8----8----8-----||
----11b--11b--11b--11b--11b--11b--11b---11b||
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This page might be changed in the future depending on how people like you respond to me about it.If there is something here that is not explained well enough for you to understand there is a chance i will rewrite parts of this so that this can be understod.I also want to thank one of my visitors for questions about bending.Your questions helped me when writing this.
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