Free Guitar Lessons

by Andy Frazier

Bending is one of the expression techniques that guitar players use to give our playing a more vocal quality. When bending, it’s important to make sure that you’re not just pushing up the string arbitrarily . . . usually there’s a target note that you want to reach. Here it’s indicated in the notation by the second note E, which is connected to that fretted D by that sort of angular slur.

In the tab we use an arrow and an indication of the interval, or distance, between the bent and fretted notes. Here, it’s a full, or whole step, which means you’re producing a note that sounds like the note 2 frets higher. If it said 1/2, it would mean 1/2 step, like 1 fret higher. 1-1/2 would be like 3 frets higher . . . you get the idea. Most players like to hedge their bet a little in making sure they nail the note they’re after by using more than one finger to produce the bend. Doing this bend, from D to E, I use my 3rd finger for the D, and put my second finger down behind it on the 6th fret to help with the push. If I were using heavier strings, I might want to use three fingers . . . but with a bend less than maybe a step and a half, I like to keep my first finger free for whatever might come after the bend.

Note that while the two notes are connected in pitch by that kind of sliding, or slippery sound, they’re still distinct in terms of timing. If it had said “even” between the two notes, I would have made a slower, more gradual bend, still taking the timing into consideration.

The second example is a grace note bend. The difference here is one of timing. In the first example, the fretted note had a definite time value, here the fretted note is used as more of a decoration for the bent note. The difference in the notation is pretty clear, it looks like a regular grace note . . . in the tab, it’s distinguished by the fact that the arrow goes straight up, rather than curved to the right.

The third example takes it one step further . . . once you’ve bent the note, now you want to hear the fretted note afterward. With this technique, you still only pick the first note . . . hang onto the string while you release the bend and let the sustain articulate the 3rd note.

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by Andy Frazier

The next example is a pre-bend. This one’s a little trickier than the others, because you have to make sure you’ve nailed the pitch of the bent note before you strike it. Here I’d like to mention a practice tip that will not only help you with this, but with all of the bending techniques where you’ll have to make sure the pitch is dead on. Choose a note you want to use as the fretted note, then one you’d like to bend to. Since the example here shows a C and a D on the G string, we’ll use those. Now, play the two notes normally, fretting both of them, here on the 5th and 7th frets.

Now try it only fretting the first one, and bending up to the second.

Now alternate between the two, and try to get it so if someone weren’t looking, they couldn’t tell how you were getting that second note.

This is a great way to get used to how far, in terms of distance, you need to bend with your guitar, your fingers, and your strings, to nail particular intervals.

The next example is something Brad likes to call a “smear.” It’s almost more of a tug than a bend . . . the idea is to bring the pitch up about a quarter tone, but not necessarily exactly a quarter tone. It’s used most often in blues on the third degree of the scale or prevailing chord, to accentuate that ambiguity where the chord is major, but the scale is minor.

Next up is the unison bend. Here you fret two notes, on two adjacent strings, usually the notes are a whole step or half step apart, and you bend the lower note up so its pitch matches that of the higher note.

Now we’ve got the compound bend and release. Here you’ve got to make sure your pitch accuracy is really on. This is when you’re picking only the first note, bending it to at least two more, then releasing it, either straight down to the fretted note, or stopping on the way to sound a few of the notes in between the highest bent note and the fretted one.

The compound pre-bend is another tricky one. This is a lot like the previous example, only now you’re picking all of the notes. Again, pitch accuracy is crucial.

The next few examples involve double stop bends. You can create some really cool effects with these, from sweet pedal-steel type sounds to really raunchy growls. I play the first one by laying my 3rd finger across the B and G strings at the 7th fret, then bending up. What’s interesting about this is that you end up with something that should be impossible: a bend that starts off with a major 3rd interval between the notes, and ends up with a minor third . . . meaning you’re bending the G string up a whole step, and the B string up a half. There’s no really tough technique involved with this; it’s the physics of the guitar that allows that to happen. Just concentrate on getting that G string up a whole step, and the B string will do its job.

Next is a technique where you bend one note, and while it’s ringing, strike another note to form a double stop (or diad . . . how’s that for a word?). I use my 2nd and 3rd fingers to make the bend, and my 4th finger to grab that G on the B string.

This one’s similar to the last one, and also to the unison bend . . . only here they’re not unison. Play the G and D together, then bend the D up to an E. Vibrato is included under bending techniques because technically you are bending the string, though with vibrato you’re not necessarily bending to a specific pitch. Here it’s helpful to be aware of timing. The most effective vibrato moves in time to the music . . . don’t just shake the string. Wide vibrato, as you might have guessed, is just a more extreme version of regular vibrato, although, if you were at a party full of guitar players, you may find yourself in a heated argument over whether you’re supposed to make this vibrato wide enough to actually produce new notes a half or whole step higher. Let your ears be your guide on this one.

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by Andy Frazier

The guitar vibrato bar is another tool we can use to add expressive power to our lines . . . from subtle shimmers to in-your-face growls and dive bombs. The first technique presented here is the scoop, where you strike the string with the bar down, and quickly release the bar back up. The dip is different from the scoop in that you first strike the string, then quickly bring the bar down and back up.

When you use the bar melodically, you’re doing something similar to what a trombone player does . . . and it sounds a lot like the compound bend and release technique we’ve already covered. In this example, you strike the fretted C, bring the bar down a half step to change the pitch to B, then a whole step to A, then back up. To get a feel for how your bar responds, you might want to try practicing this in the same way that was described along with pre-bends, where you alternate between fretting the target note and using the bar, until you can’t tell the difference.

Guitar vibrato with the bar produces an effect similar to finger vibrato, except that it can be more pronounced. Again, keep timing in mind.

The bar flutter is a cool way to add a bit of insanity to a note. Strike the note, then flick the bar so it vibrates quickly on its own.

Diving to a non-specific pitch is a great way to end a solo, or to either accent the note you’re diving on, or really bring out the next note. Just strike the note and bring the bar down.

The bar pre-bend is another tricky one you may want to practice before committing it to your major-label debut. Here you bring the bar down to a specific pitch, in this case down a step and a half from C to A, then strike the note.

The combination of harmonics and the bar can produce some great effects that can’t be produced any other way. As with bending and the melodic bar technique, you’ll need to make sure your pitch is dead on. For an incredible example of this technique in action, check out “Where Were You” on Jeff Beck’s “Guitar Shop.”

“Improve Your Guitar Playing With Your Own Virtual Backing Tracks Behind You”

If you’re tired
of jamming alone, check this out!

Guitar-Backing-Tracks is a brand new site that allows you to select ANY drum beat - ANY bass riff - or ANY synth track… and start jamming immediately!

Improve your guitar playing… create your own songs… improve your lead with over 125,000 different combinations of beats, riffs and synth tracks behind you!

Click
here to check it out now

I highly recommend it!