When you use your fingers to push a string up or down, you raise or lower the pitch of a note. This is a common technique in almost all styles of music. How you bend your guitars strings is important since correct technique is crucial to getting a good sound and besides that incorrect string bending just sounds bad.
First, let's explain how not to bend strings.
Don't try to bend a string using only one finger. One-finger bending technique is very common with new players and a bad habits to break. If you look at pictures or videos of famous players bending strings, you will see they all use the same hand posture. Once you get the feel for this technique, it will involve using the muscles in your fingers, wrist and forearm. The weight and balance of your guitar is also a factor.
Let's give it a try:
- Bend the 3rd string at the 7th fret with your ring finger.
- Place your Ring finger on the 7th fret of the 3rd (G) string.
- Place your middle finger on the 6th fret, and your index finger on the 5th fret.
4 Parts of a String Bend
String bends involve four separate steps. You can get different kinds of sounds depending on the order of these four steps.
Pick Stroke
- This can be either an up-stroke or a down-stroke. This can also be a finger-stroke in your right hand. The 'pick' symbol is sometimes left out of the tablature since it's implied every time there is a number in the tab.
Bend
- This is where you bend the string, usually upward toward the ceiling. A bend is usually used to raise a note by the equivalent of 1 fret, or 2 frets. But you can also get 'micro tonal' notes or 'blue' notes that occur in-between. The tablature symbol is an up-arrow with a '1' or '2' above it that tells you to bend the string until the note rises by 1 fret or 2 frets.
Release
- With strings, what goes up must come down. The release is where you relax the bent string and allow it to straighten again. If a note is sounding as you release, you will hear the note fall in pitch. If the string is muted, you wont hear the note fall. The tablature symbol is a down-arrow with a letter 'R' above it.
Mute
- This is where you stop the string from vibrating, and so stop the note. The 'mute' symbol is left out of the tablature if it is the last step, since muting is implied before you go to the next note. The tablature symbol is a dot with a letter 'M' above it.
There are several ways to mute a string:
- with the pick
- with the side of your right hand
- with the fingers of your right hand
- with the side of your thumb above the pick etc.
Common Combinations
Pick - Bend - Release - Mute
This combination gives you a note that rises and then falls.
Pick - Bend - Mute - Release
This combination gives you a note that rises, but doesn't fall.
Bend - Pick - Release - Mute
This combination gives you a falling note.
Bend - Pick - Bend - Mute - Release
This combination gives you a note that falls and then rises again.
