Bending - Guitar Wiki

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http://guitar.wikia.com/wiki/Bending

Bending
Reference

"Music, the greatest good that mortals know, And all of heaven we have below."

Bending is exactly as it sounds: bending the string to the side by pushing it (towards the sixth string) or pulling it
strings are normally pushed, and the others are normally pulled. This is particularly important on the first and sixt
Many aspiring guitarists cannot bend properly. There are three keys to bending properly: proper thumb positionin

Example Video
<googlevideo>-6362386473637342274</googlevideo>

Positioning
Thumb positioning
Do not keep your thumb behind the neck, where it usually is, but bring it up perpendicular to the neck. Press the
fretboard. Do not bend with your fingers, but rotate your hand with your forearm.

Finger positioning
Make sure to have more than one finger on the string. Many guitarists use their ring finger (and one or two below
middle fingers on the string you will be bending along with your ring finger for support. All this will feel a little awk

Technique behind Bending

Bending to Pitch
The most common bends executed are the 1/2 step and full step bends. When bending strings you are almost a
fret on the B string and then bend 12th fret on the G string to the same pitch of the note you played on the B strin
This is a full step bend.
When you are first starting, you should always chack your bends to make sure they are going where you want th
higher fret on the same string.

Pre-bending or Reverse Bending

Bending, whether by pushing or pulling the string, raises the tension in the vibrating portion of the string, and thus always raises the pitch of the note. To create the impression of bending
down, the guitarist uses a technique called pre-bending, that is, bending before the string is struck, then releasing the bend (either gradually or quickly, depending on the intended effect).

Bend and release

The ideas of bending and pre-bending can be combined for a "bend and release", that is, striking a note, bending it up, then releasing it as you would with a pre-bend. This will often be perceived as a "bounce" in pitch,
especially if played quickly.

Behind-nut-bending
This is a fairly easy technique, but it's slow. It's just like the name tells: you put your fingers behind your fretboard/nut on one of your strings and just press it down. The best would be to use your picking hand so you can still
fret with the other.

Unisen Bending
Unisen bending is hitting two string and bending one string to match the others pitch. See Examples 3 and 4. This can also be done on other strings.

Duration of Bends
Bending With Vibrato
You can do a vibrato at the top of a bend. This is kind of difficult, but worth learning.

Bending Double-Stops
Right Hand Tapping With Bends
You can do Right Hand Tapping on a string while it is bent. Example:
E------------------------------------------------B------------------------------------------------G-----7b(9)h10p7h12p5----------------------------D-----------------/|\----------------------------A------------------|-----------------------------E------------------|-----------------------------|
keep bent until here

(Is there a better way to wirte this?)

Tablature Notation
Bending is shown on tablature as a lowercase b. Usually you'll have to listen to the song to get the idea, but occasionally they'll have the step amount they want you to bend. The number in parenthises is the pitch the bend
should reach.
E------------------------------------------------B-------------10---------10--------10------------G-----12b(14)----12b(14)----12b(14)--------------D------------------------------------------------A------------------------------------------------E-------------------------------------------------

Example Riffs
E--------------5-----------5-----------------B----------5-------5---8-------8b(10)--------G-----7b(9)----------------------------------D--------------------------------------------A--------------------------------------------E---------------------------------------------

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Bending - Guitar Wiki

2 of 2

http://guitar.wikia.com/wiki/Bending

Exercise 1
In this exercise we are using the 10th fret as a target pitch and then bending the 12th fret to make it sound like the 10th fret. Make sure that your bent note sounds just like the target pitch to ensure proper intonation. This is a
full step bend.
E------------------------------------------------B-------------10---------10--------10------------G-----12b(14)----12b(14)----12b(14)--------------D------------------------------------------------A------------------------------------------------E-------------------------------------------------

Exercise 2
This is the same thing using the E and B strings. This is also a full step bend but the fret spacing is different due to how the G string is tuned.
E-------------10---------10--------10------------B-----13b(15)----13b(15)----13b(15)--------------G------------------------------------------------D------------------------------------------------A------------------------------------------------E-------------------------------------------------

Exercise 3
These are double bends ala Jimi or Santana. When playing double bends be careful to only bend one string and keep the other one steady, don't worry it takes some practice. Notice the vibrato on the G string, this is
essential to making it sound right. Make sure you play both the B and G strings at the same time.
E------------------------------------------------B-----10--------12--------13---------------------G-----12b(14)~~~14b(16)~~~15b(17)~~~-------------D------------------------------------------------A------------------------------------------------E-------------------------------------------------

Exercise 4
Here are some more double bends on the B and E string.
E-----9---------11--------12---------------------B-----12b(14)~~~14b(16)~~~15b(17)~~~-------------G------------------------------------------------D------------------------------------------------A------------------------------------------------E-------------------------------------------------

Exercise 5
These bluesy/country double bends sound like an approaching train, cool!
E----------------------------8-------8-----------B-----8-------8--------------8b(10)--8b(10)------G-----7b(9)---7b(9)------------------------------D------------------------------------------------A------------------------------------------------E-------------------------------------------------

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