Bending strings causes the pitch of the note fretted to change to a higher pitch. Most commonly strings are bent a whole step (to sound like the note 2 frets higher)
But sometimes they can be bent just ½ step (sounds like 1 fret higher) or even higher: 1 ½ steps (sounds 3 frets higher) and the finger-numbing 2 step bend (sounds like 4 frets higher.
How to bend a string: (I’m using the 12th fret region of the neck as an example here.)
1. On the 15th fret, 2nd string use your ring finger to fret the note. 2. Place your index and middle fingers on the string to add extra support to the note. 3. Use all 3 fingers to push the string upwards along the fretboard. Be sure to keep applying pressure to the fretted note as well. 4. The note should be “bent” until it sounds like the note on the 17th fret. Compare the two notes by playing the 17th fret with your 3rd finger and then bending the 15th fret note to the same pitch. Don’t be afraid to put some muscle into it. Don’t worry the string won’t break. This is a full step bend. 5. When the pitches match you’ve got the right idea!
Some examples of guitarists that use string bending in their songs and solos:
Eric Clapton, Stevie ray Vaughan: Full step bends Buck Dharma (Blue Oyster Cult): half step bends Eddie Van Halen: 2 step bends, sometimes even more! Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson: All types of bends
It’s been a little while since I’ve posted so I wanted to give an update on some really cool news.
Johnathan Dretto, a personal student of mine, recently won second place in a local guitar contest at The House Of Guitars. The event was sponsored by Epiphone. As the runner up Johnathan won a really sweet Epiphone Acoustic!
Here’s a picture of Johnathan with Epiphone clinician Stacy Mitchhart and the local Gibson Guitar Rep.
Way To Go Johnathan!
I also had the pleasure of performing with Johnathan at a local guitar recital. Here’s a You Tube videos of us jamming out together:
Everything else at Rock Guitar Power has been going great! We are now fully digital and able to stream all of our content so you will now get instant access to our lessons once you purchase them!
One of the best ways that I have found to give thanks for something, especially a skill or talent, is to teach it to someone else. While there are many benefits in doing this, some very specific ones come to mind and they are: It makes you better at whatever your doing, It gives someone else the opportunity to learn what you know, and its a great way to show that you aren’t selfish and want to help others. So with this idea in mind, let me give you some in depth reasons why teaching other people guitar makes you better player.
When I first started teaching guitar I was still in college and my first student was a kid who needed to learn some basic classical music so that he could audition for the school of music at SUNY Fredonia. I was a little nervous about teaching him at first because I didn’t know if I would be good enough to teach him properly. After a few weeks of lessons, I quickly found that there were many aspects of his playing that I would be able to help him get better at. The most important thing that I found was that teaching someone else to play makes you dissect what your actually doing to a very detailed level. This in turn makes you understand so much more about your own playing and technique. When you need to describe a certain chord shape, scale, or technique, you will find yourself taking a whole new look at what your doing. This is necessary to do so that you can find a way to tell another person how to do it. After just a month or two of working with my first student, I found myself playing with more precision and more confidence because I truly understood more about my own playing. Now fast forward about seven years of teaching guitar as my main occupation and you can only imagine the confidence and insight that comes with that much focus on showing other people what you already know. Read the rest of this entry
As a person who teaches guitar for a living, I get the opportunity to work with hundreds of people who all have a very diverse taste in music. While I do get asked to teach some pretty interesting styles of music from time to time, there is one genre that always stands out above the rest as being the most popular and sought after and that is Rock Music.
Fortunate for all those who want to learn how to rock on guitar, this is in my opinion the easiest style to get under your fingers. The biggest reason is because of the very few chords and chords shapes that you need to know how to play to get through a standard rock song. If you’ve never played guitar before, there are hundreds of different chord types and shapes. More elaborate styles of music such as Jazz and Classical will make the most use of these different chords. Rock, however uses only ONE main chord type and shape to sculpt out it’s sound and that is the almighty Power Chord. Now there are certainly more than just power chords in a standard rock song but even then, you are only going to be using a select few Open Chords shapes. These are usually taught first to students and are quite easy for most people to learn. Read the rest of this entry
