Perfect Bending - Guitar Lesson

Hey again guys,

A common guitar error that I see so often committed gave me the inspiration for this lesson. That error is incorrect bending. So often you can see even professional and experienced guitarists play such sweet solos but often ruined with a bend, which is completely ‘off’. So I’m going to teach you how to correct that error.

You must remember that in a bend, what you are essentially doing is increasing the pitch of the note by a half step (1 fret), whole step (2 frets) or even sometimes by 3 frets depending on how much or how little you bend it.

Btw bending the string upwards or downwards has no difference. Having said that I recommend bending the first 3 strings upwards (towards you head) and the low 3 strings downwards (towards the ground). The reason for this is because it is flat out easier, comfortable and feels ‘right’. Note that if you try bend the lower strings upwards just as the high strings, the string might move out of the fret board leaving you with a pretty ugly noise.

Now lets get back to the real problem at hand. How do we increase the accuracy of our bends? It’s simple, but you have to practice. Luckily, it doesn’t take much practice or a super complex exercise. It’s a super EASY but super EFFECTIVE as well.

BENDING EXERCISE

-       First pick any note on the fret board except the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd frets.

-       Now go back 1 fret and bend the string just perfect to reach the same pitch as the previous note that you played. Practice it for a while to master your half step bend.

-       Do the same thing again but this time go back 2 frets and bend to that note. Then move back 3 frets and bend to the previous note.

-       Practice this in all possible frets and strings (remember the direction of bending in this regard).

This will work wonders and make the slight improvement in your bending, which will in the end help you’re soloing. Put in a bit of work. Reap massive benefits. Visal.