This has got to be my favourite technique! Who doesn't just love laying into the top strings and hitting those screaming bends? Of course, in rock and blues bending and vibrato are often used together. Whilst I will talk about adding vibrato to your bends in this lesson, I will do a full lesson on vibrato in the near future.

I would say that if you haven't done any string bending before then you should start with a set of 9s. (i.e. the top E string is .009" thick). If you want you can move to a heavier guage but it may be tiring on your fretting hand to begin with. Basically use a set that you feel comfortable with. You can always build up to heavier strings later when you have mastered the technique. Brian May, a master of string bending and vibrato, used a set of 8s for a long time!

If you are new to this technique then we should start with some basics. First, place the ring finger of your left hand on the B string at the 12th fret. Add your first and second fingers behind the the third and use all three to push the string skywards. You should use your thumb over the top of the neck to give you leverage and turn your wrist to help move your fingers. If you've never done this before then there are a whole heap of horrible things that can happen so lets take a look at them..

This can be a bit difficult at first and takes some practise to get right. The best way to start off is to fret the note you are attempting to bend up to (in this case the 14th fret of the B string) before you try and bend so that you can hear your target pitch. After a while you will be able to bend straight up to notes without worrying but it can be frustrating at first. Don't worry about it, we all had to do it and it is definitely worth it in the end.

You may get this problem at first, especially if you are using distortion. You have to use the heel of your right hand to mute the lower strings. This is especially important when you release the bend as the strings can suddenly spring from under your fingers.

Getting a sweet bend vibrato can take many years of playing. When attempting this, it is important to note that first you should slightly release the string so that the pitch is flat of the target note. Then you bend sharp of the pitch. Keep this tighten/release pattern in time with the music you are playing with and it should have a musical pulsing sound. Try to keep your vibrato slow and controlled at first. Playing along with ballads is a good area for practising this stuff..

This is such a subjective question and it really crosses over with vibrato technique. I am talking about rock string bending here and I won't get into the monstrous country bending of players like Jerry Donahue. I would say that players like Clapton, Dave Gilmour, Hendrix, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai and Brian May are all worth checking out for beautiful examples of great bending and vibrato. Also check out Gary Moore's 'Parisienne Walkways' for some tasty long bends.

Until the next time..