In this video
String bending is one of the coolest tricks in lead guitar playing. However, when starting out. it can be tricky for beginners to execute bends well in solos
In this lesson, I show you the correct string bending technique including;
- supporting bends with more than one finger
- the anchor point between the thumb and first finger on the fretboard
- checking that the note you bend up to is in tune
Once your bends are good, we need to use them in real music situations, but this can be tricky! So we'll start by using them within the minor pentatonic scale.
If you've never covered the minor pentatonic scale before, check out the video further down this page where we cover the scale alone in isolation nice and slow with TAB.
The TAB for this lesson is free and you'll find it under the video below. Hope this helps guys!
N.B. This is primarily an electric guitar tutorial. You may not be able to do these bends on acoustic guitar as the strings could be too thick.
'Minor Pentatonic what now?'
If you havn't heard of this scale yet, or don't know how to play it- start with this video below!
Minor Pentatonic ‘shape box’
This is similar to a chord box, but you would only place one finger down at a time. Imagine dipping your fingers in paint then playing this scale- this is what your fret board would look like! Scales have a root note that gives its name, just like chords. Therefore the first note you start on gives the scale its letter name. This ‘shape box’ shows you this shape, then you can move it up and down the fret board to play it in any Key!