acs o | Whole Step and Half Step Bends: The actual physical act of string bending is something often misunderstood, and therefore poorly executed. Many players don't understand that if @ note is bent with any finger besides the index, they must use whatever pee al <' ther fingers are available behind that finger to help get the bend up to pitch. This not only gives you more strength, but also more control of the given note. I've noticed over the years thet I also use the index finger to help push the other strings out of the way of the bent nate; in essence “throwing @ block," making room for the bent note. This also eliminates any accidental clunkers caused by your return from the bent position. Instead, all the strings ‘come back in @ nice, neat line without stepping over each other! This tech- nique applies to ell types of bends, but youl find that half- and whole-step bends are the most often used, This first photo is of a bend on the G string where three fingers are being Used. Note how close together the middle and ring fingers are, while the index finger is pushing the other lower strings out of the way. Here is the same bend only now bent sway from you, or towards the high © string. This time, we use what | usually refer to as the "B.B. King butterfly" position, in which we pivot off of the side of the neck, transferring the energy land strength to our fingers for the bend. Note the pivoting position, ‘This bend is with the index finger only, and since we obviously don't have any other fingers behind it to help push, it's highly advisable to exclusively use the pivot position to create the bend. Too many guitarists make the mistake of working too hard by trying to push “up" an index finger bend, a truly potentially dangerous act! Here are two photographs, the first, showing the index finger making @ onefret bend, then a tworet bend. Note how the pivating motion has continued to take the hand in a counter-clockwise direction the more you bend.yr} Vibrato: There are several types of vibrato that have been used over the years, but | feel that the most expressive, and fer end eway the most cantrollable form utiizes this same pivoting position as the bends. By transferring the pivot energy to the fingertips, we have total control over how fast or how slow we want the vibrato to quiver. It also helps keep the pitch even, keeping the vibrato just shy of becoming a true bend. Here is the vibrato position for the index finger at the tenth fret of the B string ‘When another finger, like the ring finger, is playing the note to receive vibrato, we also, just as in the case of bending use other fingers behind it to help shake the string. Still using the pivoting motion, we begin the vibrato with a downward motion. Note the position of my fingers for this vibrato. The Bend and Release Vibrato: If you're confronted with a situation where you must bend up towards you, the vibrato must be created by an extremely controlied act of careful bend-and- release of the note. What's tough about this particular technique is that basically your left: hand is completely an its own, with no help from the pivot on the side of the neck, This all means that you have to trust your ability to keep returning to the correct pitch, relying on the strength of yaur bending hand to maintain the bend and release procedure of the vibrato, This photo illustrates both the bend and vibrato position hen pushing the string up towards the low E string Example 42: Blues Bending and Vibrato Licks The following collection of blues runs are some of my favorite phrases utilizing the bending and vibr techniques we've just discussed. Please take careful note of the actual phrasing of these licks, and especially watch out for the pitch of the bends. You'll see that some are singleret, or half-step bends as opposed to the usual cor whole-step bend. Of special note are the whole-step bends that can tum into hall-steps. This requires real mastery in controlling the bent note and working with it. This is one of blues guitar's most expressive moments, and one of my own personal favorites,Ee Ex. 42A: oe oa ‘grad, bend 3 Ex. 42B: Ex. 42C: NC. ‘grad. bend 1