TE-005 • String Bending

[justinguitar]

Questions...

[scabo33]

Hey justin! An honour to be finally talking to ya! i was wondering could u tell me the secret behind bending vibrato or even where to find it in your videos..i rarely see it discussed by any tutor..but i think its an awesome technique when used!

Eric clapton said he found it the hardest thing to learn in his training!

peace out
Aido
Ireland

ps congrats on the awesome carreer.

[jordan821516]

Yeah I agree.  I have been finding it very difficult to keep my target note in tune after I bend it and then try to apply vibrato to it.  Any tips or especially a video lesson would be awesome!
Thanks,
Jordan

[(The) Rock]

Well i cant do it properly my self, so some tips would be good 

But i think basically its just the same as normal vibrato (same motion as when you bend, just smaller and both up and down )
The reason its harder must then be that it puts more tension on the string when you bend it, so that its harder to control.

So i think its just about pracitse, practise and practise 

[asylum]

HI

Yes THE ROCK you have hit the nail on the head practice, practice and more practice, i battled with vibrato for a long time and somewhere out of the blue one day it just happened and that was due to a lot of practice. I cant recall exactly when i managed it it just sort of happened and at the time i thought hey  i can do this now and have not given it much more thought after that, funny how you can battle with playing something and when you get it right you just think what the hell was all the fuss about.

[person]

Live,does classical vibrato sound the same as the electric style?I can omly play the classical version.

[sanjuro]

Best way to learn vibrato: get a BB King record, listen to him play a solo, then try to imitate it.  I think technically... try to keep your finger anchored, but your wrist loose.  Not sure if that's a good description... I learned about vibrato by listening to "Live at the Regal".

[scabo33]

thanks guys..

can i just say i am very comfortable with vibrato..i even used BB king as ear training!...

but when doing a bend vibrato..its just keepn the pitch i find difficult.because once u have the note..ur shakin the pitch with a vibrato!

does everybody see where im coming from??

[justinguitar]

a vibrato lesson is coming soon!

J

[eddyg08]

Thanks Justin, I for one, really need it, I use like three techniques, and I feel all of them are inappropriate. Up and down bending, starting from down using a little wrist movement, same but from up to down, not using the wrist, and the violin vibrato, which sounds good, but somehow incomplete.

Regards,

Eddy G.
Miami, Florida ( ok, I don`t like Obama, just for the European records)

[Macco]

Well you said it should feel comfortable when you do the bend.. I practice those bends several times, and the full tone bends doesnt feel comfortable at all. I try get the bend from the tension of the wrist and not the fingers itself, but i cant get it easy.. especially on the 3rd fret its nearly impossible to get the full tone. Is it correct to push the strings hard on the board, before the bend? When i see vids it look very easy but i feel like i use to get more power in my wrist.


@ Eddy: We don`t want to discuss politics, or racial issues here

[scabo33]

thanks guys..lokkin forward to the lesson

[abernethyfj]

Thanks for that advice Sanjuro it really helped me, the idea of anchoring your finger to the fretboard. Whenever i was attempting it id lose the note either by vibratoing wayy too much or just losing contact with the string, its definately a finger strength thing so I'm just going to keep the finger gym up haha.

[Vincent]

I'm trying to sort out Wish you were here.  My first song with bends in it.

My problem seem to be in the "un-bending" portion, the meaty part of my fingers or nails kinda grab and perform unintentional pull-offs on the strings above the one I am bending during the release.

I know that practice will cure this eventually, so I'm not looking for an answer really, just wanna see if others have experienced this and its not just me...need to know I'm not alone with this problem.

[Huachiman]

I'm finding it difficult to get and hold the tone bend on my acoustic.  I definitely don't think there is any possibility of doing two tones (as you had mentioned).  Is string bending typically only practiced on an electric guitar?