BL-014 • Blues Lead Guitar #4 - Bending Skills

[sanza]

Hi, first of all thank you Justin for your lessons...I find them very useful and you are great!
..second...I find easier to use all my fingers to bend the note (for a whole tone bending) ..just a suggestion for people (like me!)
that have some difficulties with the bending technique...
Ciao 

[dmandan]

thanks for the great lessons justin!, i noticed sometimes you bend strings downwards, is it just the upper strings you bend downwards? under waht circumstances do you bend downwards?

[close2u]

... is it just the upper strings you bend downwards? under waht circumstances do you bend downwards?

generally yes because you don't have the neck width to bend them upwards

[Strat0Blues]

thanks for the great lessons justin!, i noticed sometimes you bend strings downwards, is it just the upper strings you bend downwards? under waht circumstances do you bend downwards?

Also if you string your guitar like Albert King and your high E is where the low E normally is Useful? No, but informative

[firegeek22]

Hey Justin thanks again for all the lessons btw. Anyways I was wondering what other notes I can bend in the other pentatonic positions, can u maybe give me a recommendation for a site, or tell me the note names or something?

[Tile]

Hi guys

Ive just started visiting this site and trying a few lessons.  So far so good, I like what I see and Justin is obviously a very warm hearted and generous person.

Ive been playing off and on for years and years but started to get serious about 3 or 4 years ago.  I took a few lessons which were great but I still cant manage bends and vibrato too well.  Ive been trying to get it for years now but still cant.  Am i retarded or something???

Does it always take this long.  Im starting to get really disheartened by it.  So I thought I would ask for some advice here.

I made a little video this morning based on the first few licks in Justins first blues licks lesson.

Would you please take a look and tell me where Im going wrong?
http://s971.photobucket.com/albums/ae196/ahcomeon/?action=view&current=Movie10.flv

I feel really clumsy doing them.  Sometimes I get it right most times I dont.  Anyway have alook for yourself and please offer feedback.

Much appreciated.

[HerrFlash]

hey justin,
thanks for the lesson - I started checking out learning licks using your vids seriously just yesterday and so far it's amazing!

I have one question though - for you or the other folks around here who play better than me (been playing for six months now):

before I watched justins vid I had always been muting the bent string using my pick and/or one of the finger holding it, quite intuitively. is there something wrong with that technique or can I keep it? - it came naturally, so I'd like to do that further up in this thread I read something about the palm not only muting the bent string but also the strings above, to prevent them from ringing out. I already noticed that sometimes I accidentally "pick" other strings with the bending fingers - so that seems reasonable to me. on the other hand, I imagine this is something that can be worked out by exercising just not to get these strings caught under your bending fingers - so that it would not be necessary to use the palm for that. am I wrong here? experienced players - please answer!

cheers,
paul

[close2u]

Hi guys .... I still cant manage bends and vibrato too well.  Ive been trying to get it for years now but still cant.  Would you please take a look and tell me where Im going wrong?

Hi Tile
welcome

when bending you must must must use your ear you have to be able to hear when you have bent the string to the correct pitch ... your fingers cannot tell you that
try this for those riffs (and all bending practice until you have it mastered)
fret the note you are bending to and play it a few times until you can clearly hear it in your head ... then play the bend to that same note
so for lick 1
play e string fret 10
then bend e string fret 8 to that note
lick 2 ... play g string fret 9 then bend g string fret 7 to the same note

also, it looks like your fingers are maybe a little to moo square on to the fretboard, angle your whole hand back slightly (away from the 90 degrees angle of fingers square on) so you have a defined angle between your fingers and the neck ... this will help give better leverage, control and precision

 

[Nikki]

Hi there, I'm new and first I wanna say thanks to Justin for this course, really useful!
I got a question about "the curl", I understood 1/4 bend on the minor third is fine but what about the major pentatonic?
A "curl" on the major third is the same?

Thanks 

[XamTheOne]

Hi there, I'm new and first I wanna say thanks to Justin for this course, really useful!
I got a question about "the curl", I understood 1/4 bend on the minor third is fine but what about the major pentatonic?
A "curl" on the major third is the same?

Thanks 

The concept of the curl isn't associated to particular note, so you can try it on any note.  Doing it on a major third is probably not as sexy but it can happen.  For the major pentatonic, try it on the 2nd and the 6th (Playing in A that would be B and F#).

[Nikki]

I got it, thanks 

[Night Guitarist]

hi.
can i incorporate this to stage's 8 minor pentonic scale?
took a week off from guitar now i regret xx--xx feeling.

[marky]

I find my SNARK tuner is a bgreat help for tellong me when I have a full or half tone bend right (while I train my ears).  Check them out, they are not expensive and they sit on your headstock.  It helps me as I learn the fret board because it identifies each note as I play it, it also confirms that chords are sounding out correctly to.

[CambaNation]

Any tips on doing whole bend with the index finger on the higher E-string (Using .10s)? Have been playing some SRV and Albert King and those bends on Box 2 of the Pentatonic (up from the minor 3rd to the 4th) are just killer. I kinda get away with it by bending up form the Major 3rd but it just doesn´t sound quite as monstrous  I can only bend up a half note with one finger. I can't grasp the fact that SRV did this on a .13 gauge E-string. A beast of a guitar player. Can you train this or are one finger whole bends just out of my reach? 

[mouser9169]

Any tips on doing whole bend with the index finger on the higher E-string (Using .10s)? Have been playing some SRV and Albert King and those bends on Box 2 of the Pentatonic (up from the minor 3rd to the 4th) are just killer. I kinda get away with it by bending up form the Major 3rd but it just doesn´t sound quite as monstrous  I can only bend up a half note with one finger. I can't grasp the fact that SRV did this on a .13 gauge E-string. A beast of a guitar player. Can you train this or are one finger whole bends just out of my reach? 

Yes, you can train this. I use strings not much thinner than he did: I use 12-56, he used 13-62.

It does take more time and more control, and you're fingers are going to go through a lot of pain. Especially the wound G string if you have one. But after the pain comes the music, if you stick with it.

Remember though, that SRV played with his Strat tuned down a half step, so his bending isn't as hard as you might think. I have to do the same thing on my Strat, the necks just can't take the tension. I do play standard tuning on my SG and Ibanez semi-hollow. It took a long time, but that meaty tone that comes through now... It's worth the effort, at least it was for me.