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Perfecting the accuracy of your bends.


blackbox99

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I used to get my students to bend on quarter notes. Tap out a 4/4 beat with your foot and hit the note on the first beat, bend up and hold on the second beat, hit the original note on the third beat (without hearing the note sliding back down).

 

Once you can get it, try the same thing, but bend the note up, without hearing the bend.

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Ive found that with different guitars and string guages the bend amount required is different. I just have a quick fiddle find the final note i want on the fret board then compare it to where your bending and just find the right spot... after a while you dont need to do it it just becomes second nature.

 

You could try practicing something like the blues scale in whatever key, dont fret the last note on each string but bend it up to the right sound in stead. From there you can then start to work on 1/4 1/2 bends etc etc.

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Can't you guys hear the note made by the bend.?

 

Not to sound snooty...but heck, you really don't need to measure how much to bend the string or compare notes...etc.

If you just listen...you should be able to hear when the note is right on...and then you stop bending, and release with the rhythm...or whatever you feel.

 

Also...sometimes you may NOT want to hit the note right on the money...where you leave it just a tad flat for a bit more effect, depending on the song.

miroslav - miroslavmusic.com

 

"Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important."

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Originally posted by ellwood:

Do this: tape your self playing any note, play it dead on the fret, record a series of notes or scales at a relatively slow tempo. On play back practice bending up TO the recorded note, it's good ear training, this works!

Excellent suggestion, think I'll try that myself. I guess half the battle is if you can indeed "hear" the note you're trying to hit. Some can, undoubtedly some can't, but practice is the only way you'll ever get it down.
I was born at night but I wasn't born last night...
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Originally posted by miroslav:

Can't you guys hear the note made by the bend.?

 

Not to sound snooty...but heck, you really don't need to measure how much to bend the string or compare notes...etc.

If you just listen...you should be able to hear when the note is right on...and then you stop bending, and release with the rhythm...or whatever you feel.

 

Also...sometimes you may NOT want to hit the note right on the money...where you leave it just a tad flat for a bit more effect, depending on the song.

It's not WE who cannot hear it, it is STEVE who cannot here it. We are just trying to give him some ideas on how he might rehearse his bends and work on ear training at the same time.
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Hmmm...

so if you can't hear/know when it's the right note...

...how the heck do you memorize it?

 

It's no different than playing a lick that is in a particular scale.

Don't you hear it when you play the wrong note?

 

Memorizing patterns and positions is a good way to get you started...but if you cant hear the difference between playing the right and wrong note...

well, you can practice for a long timebut you're still only going to be guessing if that bend is on the money! :)

 

Ear training may be more important here than just learning patterns/positionsand how far, in inches or mm you should bend a string for it to be right.

miroslav - miroslavmusic.com

 

"Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important."

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Well, the point(s) about pitch rather than physical measure are right on...but I like Miroslav's mention of "off-pitch" effects too.

Gotta love that Buddy Guy!

...Thinking aobut it, a lot of those blues slide players also deliberately, it seems, hit notes a bit off.

I say deliberately because sometimes you can trace the effect in different performances.

Muddy was big on that; also my personal hero Fred "let the guitar say it" MacDowell.

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Well as far as mehanical measurement goes, I think that is pretty much impossiable to manage anyway. There are some ways to aid yourself with bends eg. using say two fingers instead of one in some cases to add strength in the bend. At some places on the neck a down bend might be more convienent than a up bend, again depending where in the arrangement you are and what comes immediately next in the riff.
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Originally posted by d:

Well, the point(s) about pitch rather than physical measure are right on...but I like Miroslav's mention of "off-pitch" effects too.

Gotta love that Buddy Guy!

...Thinking aobut it, a lot of those blues slide players also deliberately, it seems, hit notes a bit off.

I say deliberately because sometimes you can trace the effect in different performances.

Muddy was big on that; also my personal hero Fred "let the guitar say it" MacDowell.

Maybe? but what I think is that they just cannot place the slider on the neck in exactly the correct position, they get close and immediately correct the pitch because their ear tells them where they should be. I think most guys that play slide on guitar would admit that, steel players of coarse do the same thing, it's no problem I like the effect and it is expected. A slow deliberate full length slide to a fret position is deliberate of coarse, but when playing fast licks, it's approximate with instant correction.
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The way I do it is, for example a full bend, is a whole step up, so play the original note 2 frets up, then do a bend on the original note to match that same pitch.

 

Just do this often, then soon, you will memorize the distance or the pitch so you can do them more efficiently on faster solo's etc with getting the right pitch. Also first of all before trying this make sure your guitar is in correct tune, you dont want to get the wrong note stuck in your head.

 

Well, thats how I do it, or you can also try bending to a tuner until you bend it to pitch, best practice is do it everywhere on the fretboard, because its easier to bend towards the upper frets and harder towards the first few.

 

If you are first starting out, its going to be hard if you dont have callouses, so abuse those fingers!

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Re: blues "off pitch" bends.

Muddy's on record as describing this as a deliberate part of his technique. It's true that many do this accidentally. I believe that when I listen to Bukka White or the extravagant getsures of Buddy Guy.

I'm pretty sure that others do it quite deliberately, however, in the same way that they'll sing a note that doesn't match the accompanying chord.

That sort of false relation (the technical theory term) can even be heard on some Beatles vocals where they sing a 3rd at variance with the instrumental accompaniment or add 7ths vocally to non-dominant chords.

I don't think that would've passed George Martin's ear without comment.

 

But, again, you are right that it's not always intentional & that the ability to know the difference is important.

 

All this comes back, perhaps, to some of the fallabilities of guitar construction & adapting to that.

One of the big tricks for slide players (it can be heard from oldtimey dobro cats to Sonny Landreth) is angling the bar for different chords. That always has a pitch compromise.

 

Returning to the original point of accuracy in string bending, I can't think of much to add to what's already been said about practice, both in regard to the physical act & in having a mental "image" of the pitch you want to hit.

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I'm the guy that started this thread.

 

For starters, I only bend up either a 1/2 or whole step (e.g. never 1 1/2 steps, 2 steps, etc.) The only strings I bend on are the high E,B, and G. I never bend the string down (i.e. towards the floor), only up (towards my head.) This is just my personal preference (and I obviously can't bend down on the high E even if I wanted to.)

 

Anyway, it's not like my bends are totally inacurate. My goal, however, is to perfect them. A couple of methods I've used are A) using a tuner, and B) looking at the fretboard and knowing when to stop by virture of how far I've bent the string.) I am painfully aware this is wrong and that my ear should be my sole guide.

 

I can bend the string(s) to the correct pitch by ear sometimes but then again they're not always dead-on accurate (and it bugs the hell out of me.) I guess I'm just going to have to practice, practice, and practice until I get it down.

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S D, here's another practical thing that is also a good trick lick.

[From the Hendrix file]

 

On two adjacent strings, play the higher string open & the next lower string at the fret that equals a whole step down.

Bend that string up to match the pitch of the open string.

Just like basic tuning, you'll hear any difference clearly.

You can also expand that to fit other positions, such as playing open 1st string & bending up from a D on the 3rd or 4th string, where there's less tension.

 

A similar trick swiped from pedal steel players is to play a double stop such as 1st string = 3rd fret + 2nd string = 3rd fret & bend the D note up to E. Again, not just a cool lick but because of the harmony, you can clearly hear when it's reached the right spot.

 

I'll give you another tip: don't let this become something that worries you.

You want to play well but it's an established fact that when one tenses up, whether, physically or just mentally, it affects your perceptions.

When you are relaxed you actually do hear better, though that may seem hard to believe.

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I also like to apply "vibrato" on some bends...which effectively eliminates the need to be "right on". :)

 

Or you can also start the note with an "un-bend"...where you first bend the string and THEN you pluck it as you simultaneously release back to normal.

It's a different sound....and not as easy as bending from normal.

miroslav - miroslavmusic.com

 

"Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important."

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Practice on an acoustic guitar when you practice. You will build your left hand tensil strength by doing this.

 

Things on Electric will be easier and easier to play. I always anchor my left hand and try to use my wrist as a pivot to the rest of my arm. This way you can capitalize on the weight of your arm for certain bends/vibrato.

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the only perfect bend for me is, of course, no bend at all... but I like to refer to my imperfect bends as "essence" and/or "soul" .. needless to say I have a lot of "essence" in my playing... Im still a beginner but I like to do a slow vibrato when Im working on a song and listen to how the note changes.. then I just try to match the sound when Im playing up to tempo... the slow vibrato allows me to hear more clearly the changes...
Eat a Peach for Peace..........
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Originally posted by flagshipmile:

Practice on an acoustic guitar when you practice. You will build your left hand tensil strength by doing this.

I'll disagree.. no sense in hurting yourself. When I first started doing serious bends I was using 11's on my electric and I was peeling off plenty of skin. If you really feel the need to build muscle, I say just knock up the strings a gauge.
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Practicing bends on an acoustic is for those who want to develop hand problems.

 

For intonation, the tuner suggestion is A+. The more you do it, the more you will sense the intonation

 

Here's one:

 

Hold down STR2/FR12 w/the index. At the same time, hold down STR3/FR14.

 

Strike both the strings at once like a chord.

The INSTANT you strike the strings, immediately BEND string 3 w/the middle & Ring fingers, BUT DO NOT BEND STR2.

LISTEN for STR to reach the pitch of STR2

 

Do it slowly and listen for the vibrations speed up and then slow down to the "in tune" note

 

REMEMBER NOT TO bend Str2, but to keep it as stable as possible

 

Repeat this at FR11/FR13 and keep working down in 1 fret increments

 

For ST2 Bends:

 

Start at ST1/FR12 & ST2/FR15 and do the same thing bending ST2 & NOT ST1.

Work down fret by fret :thu:

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Originally posted by DC Ross:

Garry: The largest bend I can do is 3 1/2 steps on the 12th fret of the B string on a Strat with .010s. Normally you'll see anywhere from 1/4 to 3 steps.

 

What kind/gauge of strings do you have on your bass?

Thanks for your response.

I am using my own "brand' of plain steel strings -a .010 for the 3rd ,A3(220 Hz) and an .006 for D4(220Hz) and either a .005 or .003 for G4(392Hz). I can get a 1/2 step out of these strings at the 32" scale.

 

Why I was asking is because I found my G4(can be tuned to Ab4) sting tunes up to A440 on the guitar scale(25"),but without much force,only bend up a 1/2 step. The wire is stronger than the average .007.I wanted to see if this will make a viable A4 string for guitarists. I sounds great,increases the guitars range,but only bends about a 1/2 step.

 

Should I try pushing it?

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Originally posted by Garry Goodman:

Originally posted by DC Ross:

Garry: The largest bend I can do is 3 1/2 steps on the 12th fret of the B string on a Strat with .010s. Normally you'll see anywhere from 1/4 to 3 steps.

What kind/gauge of strings do you have on your bass?
Thanks for your response.

I am using my own "brand' of plain steel strings -a .010 for the 3rd ,A3(220 Hz) and an .006 for D4(220Hz) and either a .005 or .003 for G4(392Hz). I can get a 1/2 step out of these strings at the 32" scale.

 

Why I was asking is because I found my G4(can be tuned to Ab4) sting tunes up to A440 on the guitar scale(25"),but without much force,only bend up a 1/2 step. The wire is stronger than the average .007.I wanted to see if this will make a viable A4 string for guitarists. I sounds great,increases the guitars range,but only bends about a 1/2 step.

 

Should I try pushing it? Do most of you use alot of force to bend 3 step?

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