How to Bend a Note on Guitar
Use bends for a unique, bluesy way to transition between notes., Hold down the note you want to bend with your ring finger., Pivot your wrist up and away from your body to bend., Learn how to read bends in written guitar music.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Use bends for a unique
Bending guitar strings are how you put personality into your notes, taking basic scales like the blues pentatonic and molding it to fit your unique musical ideas.
Bends, appropriately, are a way to add "tone color" to your playing.
They are accent notes, used for emphasis and improvisation.
All of the techniques and rules here should be, to pardon the pun, bent.
Experiment with bends and strings to get the tones you want for your playing. -
Step 2: bluesy way to transition between notes.
You can, of course, bend with any finger you want.
However, using your ring finger will allow you to put the middle and index fingers behind the fret as well, giving you three fingers to help bend the strings instead of one.
The thicker your strings, the harder they are to bend.
As such, acoustic guitars are often harder to bend, and you'll need 2-3 fingers to really manipulate the string. , Keeping your fingers firmly in place, use your whole hand to bend the notes.
The power comes from your forearm, which you should feel moving as you bend.
Think of it as turning your wrist to push your index finger, and thus the string, as high as you can. , Bends are almost always simply notated, whether you're reading tab or a guitar score.
A bend, remember, makes your note higher pitched.
As such, all written music tells you wen to bend, and how high to bend the note
-- telling you which fret the note should sound like when bent the right amount.
The following two methods of writing bends are the most common:
Tab:
Usually written with a "b" for bend an a "r" for release, when the bend ends:
G|---------4b5r4------| would mean "bend the 4th fret up so it sounds like the 5th fret, then release back to the 4th." Guitar scores:
Will have a small upward arrow drawn on the staff, like the one in the video.
It will tell you how far to bend the note, as well as when to come back down.
Half-bends only go up one fret.
Full-bends go up two frets.
Over bends push the note three frets or higher. -
Step 3: Hold down the note you want to bend with your ring finger.
-
Step 4: Pivot your wrist up and away from your body to bend.
-
Step 5: Learn how to read bends in written guitar music.
Detailed Guide
Bending guitar strings are how you put personality into your notes, taking basic scales like the blues pentatonic and molding it to fit your unique musical ideas.
Bends, appropriately, are a way to add "tone color" to your playing.
They are accent notes, used for emphasis and improvisation.
All of the techniques and rules here should be, to pardon the pun, bent.
Experiment with bends and strings to get the tones you want for your playing.
You can, of course, bend with any finger you want.
However, using your ring finger will allow you to put the middle and index fingers behind the fret as well, giving you three fingers to help bend the strings instead of one.
The thicker your strings, the harder they are to bend.
As such, acoustic guitars are often harder to bend, and you'll need 2-3 fingers to really manipulate the string. , Keeping your fingers firmly in place, use your whole hand to bend the notes.
The power comes from your forearm, which you should feel moving as you bend.
Think of it as turning your wrist to push your index finger, and thus the string, as high as you can. , Bends are almost always simply notated, whether you're reading tab or a guitar score.
A bend, remember, makes your note higher pitched.
As such, all written music tells you wen to bend, and how high to bend the note
-- telling you which fret the note should sound like when bent the right amount.
The following two methods of writing bends are the most common:
Tab:
Usually written with a "b" for bend an a "r" for release, when the bend ends:
G|---------4b5r4------| would mean "bend the 4th fret up so it sounds like the 5th fret, then release back to the 4th." Guitar scores:
Will have a small upward arrow drawn on the staff, like the one in the video.
It will tell you how far to bend the note, as well as when to come back down.
Half-bends only go up one fret.
Full-bends go up two frets.
Over bends push the note three frets or higher.
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Ashley Gibson
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