String bending technique ?

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fredm
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Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2010 8:40 am

String bending technique ?

Post by fredm »

Hi guys (and maybe girls ? ) my first question, I'm sure there will be more later. :think:

The February issue of Guitarist mag had a Blues theme about it and there are a couple of points I would like your opinion on.

They say "when you push the flat 3rd slightly sharp for the "blues curl", don't let it down or you will sound amateurish. The note has to dissappear-like a "bend to nowhere".

Is this a general rule we should follow when bending? When I bend a tone or even a semi-tone you can usually hear the note come back down to pitch slightly. Should I work on avoiding this?

Also they said, "Also, don't slightly bend the root note or it will show that you have yet to master your art".

Now I quite often add a bit of vibrato and occaisionaly bend the root note when finishing a phrase. Is this frowned upon also?

I don't want to be getting into any bad habits here. Thanks.
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12bar
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Re: String bending technique ?

Post by 12bar »

Hi Fredm,

the first rule to learn for playing Blues is: forget the rules (well, at least most of them) and LISTEN. Players like John Lee Hooker or Albert King played against many rules and still can bring you to tears.

If you follow your feeling and just try it (or listen to good players), you may find that the rules given in that mag come up naturally. Bending the root note is possible, but in most cases (or for most people) is simply doesn't sound as well as bending the minor 3rd. But it's not forbidden, and if you find a musical context where it sounds good no one will think about if you're a master or not.
Same with the 3rd bent to nowhere. It just sounds better that way, if you compare it with bending the 4th to the minor 5th where a release sounds more natural.
Listen to good Blues, train your ear and trust your feeling.
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Blindboy
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Re: String bending technique ?

Post by Blindboy »

12bar is right on every point. Listen to what good players do and listen to what you are doing. It is acceptable to do any of those "forbidden" things if you do it deliberatly and to make a musical point. Where it isn't particularly good is if you are doing them by accident or through sloppyness (I know all about sloppyness :tongue: )
"Throw yo' big leg over me Mama, I might not feel this good again!"
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MikeJackal
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Re: String bending technique ?

Post by MikeJackal »

I second the points made by 12bar and BB, the reason i play the blues is because there are no rules, if it sounds good to you, then it's good blues. Albert King, as 12bar mentioned, often played some very unusual notes choices and to my ear often sound flat or off key, that doesn't mean it sounded bad.

The Blues isn't a theory, it's a feeling. Play whatever you think conveys what you are trying to say with your guitar and leave the theory to all the shredding speed freaks.
"You Only Live But Once, When Your Dead Your Done...So Let The Good Times Roll" - B.B. King
"I'm So Lonesome I Don't Even Have Me No Friend, I've Done So Much Crying Will I Ever Laugh Again" - Peter Green
fredm
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Re: String bending technique ?

Post by fredm »

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think I'll practice this "bend to nowhere" technique and listen out for it in future. To my ears adding vibrato when you land on the root at the end of a phrase can sound good. Obviously I don't do it every time but when the time is right it's right !

Thanks for the info, and great website 12bar. ;-)
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HalfBlindLefty
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Re: String bending technique ?

Post by HalfBlindLefty »

Before I jump in this discussion, I took the bend thing, the no rules thing and jammed a little something together to spice up the discussion :D
Take a short listen and shoot

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=148&start=0
A long time ago, in the old forum : Registered: Mon, 27 Nov 2006. Wonder were the other old members all went....
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Strummer07
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Re: String bending technique ?

Post by Strummer07 »

Blues babbling is just lovely HBL

If there are flaws ..I can't pick 'em out !!
..........all sounds perfect

Great tone
Superb bends
lovely vibrato
bends to nowhere etc

There is one piece at about 39 secs whenre you jumop up the fret board that doesn't seem to quite fit , tone change .dunno ....spoils or jars lazy tone mood of the piece .. a wee bit

But I can't fault a bend

Its probably something technical like .......you bent the root or something .........but for me you got away with it or you did it twice and we think its deliberate :big_smile:
"Death is just a heartbeat away"
lyric from "Out in The Fields"
Gary Moore 1952-2011
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HalfBlindLefty
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Re: String bending technique ?

Post by HalfBlindLefty »

Mhh :)
There are a few things I left in while combining the 2 recorded tracks.
  • f.i between 1:40 and 1:50 I stretch the time I should have played these notes and I make them somewhat fall outside the tempo/fell of the piece.
    The point in time ~0:39 you refer to is a change from recorded track 1 to 2 :)
    I did hit some notes along the piece that I shouldn't have.
    A couple of bends are slightly off.
    I shift from lazy playing behind the beat to hit the beat and back. f.i I hit a note on the beat but stop it just after a beat...
Remember I played this one to get shot and stabbed at :D don't hold back
A long time ago, in the old forum : Registered: Mon, 27 Nov 2006. Wonder were the other old members all went....
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Strummer07
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Re: String bending technique ?

Post by Strummer07 »

HBL
I've tried .....jest caint do it !!

You need to make the flubbs more obvious for me !! :lol:
"Death is just a heartbeat away"
lyric from "Out in The Fields"
Gary Moore 1952-2011
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HalfBlindLefty
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Re: String bending technique ?

Post by HalfBlindLefty »

Mhh maybe I should create a left/right mix and have the right side only active when it gets flubby on the left side
A long time ago, in the old forum : Registered: Mon, 27 Nov 2006. Wonder were the other old members all went....
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VikingBlues
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Re: String bending technique ?

Post by VikingBlues »

Strummer07 wrote:If there are flaws ..I can't pick 'em out !!
..........all sounds perfect
I'm glad I was away on holiday - I'd have been puzzling about this one too Strummer :think: - I would give 100% backing to what you say.
HalfBlindLefty wrote:between 1:40 and 1:50 I stretch the time I should have played these notes and I make them somewhat fall outside the tempo/fell of the piece.
I'm pretty convinced you've added a bit of extra character to the piece by doing this HBL! :clap:
12bar wrote:Players like John Lee Hooker or Albert King played against many rules and still can bring you to tears.
Can't help thinking John Lee sort of re-wrote the rule book thankfully. I spent some of the holiday last week getting closer acquaintance with Muddy Waters, Freddie King, and Albert King. Albert King was a real highlight for me - if he's breaking rules on the tracks I heard then I feel the rules may just be plain wrong. :naughty:
fredm wrote:The February issue of Guitarist mag had a Blues theme about it..
I really feel, as a regular buyer of the magazine, that the instructional side of the guitarist magazine can err a bit too much on the side of black and white as far as how to play goes. Part of the reason I also regularly vow to stop buying the thing, only to weaken when I see the next one sitting on the shelf. :mercy:
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
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Strummer07
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Re: String bending technique ?

Post by Strummer07 »

Hi there VB .Welcome back home .......and back to 12bars lill ole place on the web

8.10 pm on Saturday night and your'e back from a weeks hols !!

How was that holiday ?? ....good I hope :thumbsup: ................(not too many midge bites !! the Scottish west coast can be a bit midge aggressive so i hear !!)

Ok some questions

a) what was the best single malt you sampled all week ??

b) Best meal you ate................. .where and why ?

c) what has inspired you musically since you've been away .sights , sounds , words for a song ??

d) what time you got home on Saturday ?

e) what time you picked up the guitar for the first time ? which one and what did you play ?? :icon_whoknows:

f) What did you manage to do/get done .............. before you 1st logged on the the Slowhand website ???

......................Did you unpack the car ??........................... did you unpack the cases ?? :icon_whoknows:

We need to know all these key details !!

Seriously , good to have you back ....hope you've had a great break and in some way shape or form ....and you've returned ...................inspired !!


and ready to bend them strings again !! :music1: guitar_fire:: :amp: :guitarist:
"Death is just a heartbeat away"
lyric from "Out in The Fields"
Gary Moore 1952-2011
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VikingBlues
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Re: String bending technique ?

Post by VikingBlues »

Hi Strummer - don't want to hijack this thread on the holiday topic, so I've posted a new thread in the off-topic forum. :away:
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
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