Andy Timmons on Approaches to Expressive String Bending Techniques
Andy Timmons continues exploring a topic that’s near and dear to his heart — using string-bending techniques and related phrasing approaches to craft emotionally expressive melodic lines.
Transcript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Everybody, Andy Timmons here.
00:19 Welcome back to Melodic Muse for Guitar World.
00:22 And we're going to continue talking about a subject near and dear to my heart,
00:25 and that is string bending.
00:26 And maybe talk about a couple of my influences
00:28 first before getting into some playing.
00:30 And I recently got to go hang out with a dear friend of mine
00:33 who also happens to be a hero, and that's Mr. Steve Lukather.
00:36 And he came through town with Toto and Journey.
00:40 They were playing a double bill, sold out at the arena
00:42 here in Dallas, which is great, having a sold out arena show with great guitar
00:46 rock.
00:47 It was very heartening.
00:48 But had a wonderful hang with Luke that day.
00:50 Went to see him that night.
00:52 And again, he's literally--
00:54 I've got more from him than almost any other player.
00:57 Such a huge influence.
00:58 And-- but I hadn't seen him live like in an arena ever.
01:02 So I'd seen him in some other places along the way.
01:04 But tremendous player.
01:06 But I was really blown away.
01:08 I was moved so much.
01:09 Every time he bent a note, it really just went straight inside me.
01:13 And it was a recognition that A, I heard myself in his playing,
01:20 because it's such a big part of how I approach the bends and how I find pitch.
01:25 And he was so in the middle of that pitch
01:27 that we talked about in the last lesson, finding the center of the pitch.
01:30 And he's textbook for that.
01:31 And I know that Larry Carlton was an influence on him.
01:33 And he's another guy that I learned immense amounts from.
01:35 That first Larry Carlton solo record with Room 335
01:39 and some of his great early tunes.
01:42 That whole record is everything you need to know about bending, 101
01:47 and beyond, honestly.
01:48 So these two guys, big influences on me.
01:50 Great to see Steve recently and just be so blown away.
01:54 Brought me to tears.
01:55 It really, truly did.
01:56 And as I've talked about Jeff Beck before, seeing him
01:59 and what he does with string bending, it's just mind-blowing.
02:01 So let's continue the path here.
02:03 Let's talk about some more techniques.
02:05 And hopefully, we can improve all of our bending.
02:08 OK, so now we're going to dig into bending through a scale.
02:12 We're going to start with C sharp Dorian as it applies to the C sharp
02:15 minor blues we're going to get into here a little bit.
02:17 So let's hear the sound of that C sharp Dorian all on the G string,
02:21 because that's where we're going to be bending.
02:23 So I'm going to start on the B, C sharp, D sharp, E, F sharp, G sharp.
02:31 What do you want to call that?
02:32 A sharp, I suppose?
02:33 B?
02:34 C sharp.
02:35 So we want to get that sound in our head.
02:37 [PLAYING GUITAR]
02:40 Now, that's another practice I love anyway,
02:42 is practicing scales horizontally.
02:44 [PLAYING GUITAR]
02:48 OK, now we're going to do a series of bends
02:51 that are going to go from one note and bend up to the next scale note.
02:55 So if we're going to start on that same B on the fourth fret,
02:59 I'm going to bend from that B to the C sharp.
03:01 [PLAYING GUITAR]
03:04 Again, trying to find just the center of that pitch.
03:06 [PLAYING GUITAR]
03:08 No vibrato.
03:08 [PLAYING GUITAR]
03:12 A lot of strength coming from the two fingers behind, thumb behind the neck.
03:16 [PLAYING GUITAR]
03:17 Now, to the note that I just achieved with the bend,
03:20 I'm going to fret that note and then bend up to the next scale note.
03:23 [PLAYING GUITAR]
03:25 OK, so we have--
03:27 [PLAYING GUITAR]
03:29 Could either re-articulate or just slide it.
03:31 [PLAYING GUITAR]
03:34 I do that a lot where I'll start the sequence and not pick another note.
03:37 I'll just do it all by slides.
03:38 [PLAYING GUITAR]
03:41 Now, we've got--
03:42 [PLAYING GUITAR]
03:44 This next bend is a half step because the next scale note is E from the D sharp.
03:49 So we have--
03:49 [PLAYING GUITAR]
03:53 So that's kind of new in what we're talking about.
03:55 That's just a half step bend from D sharp to E.
04:00 One of my favorite bends is that where you can find a good half step.
04:03 [PLAYING GUITAR]
04:04 And this is usually where it is.
04:05 It's in that when you've got a minor chord.
04:07 [PLAYING GUITAR]
04:09 The third, if you bend from the nine.
04:10 [PLAYING GUITAR]
04:17 Now, from that E, the next scale tone is a whole step.
04:21 [PLAYING GUITAR]
04:23 Bending from E to F sharp.
04:24 [PLAYING GUITAR]
04:26 Next one is F sharp to G sharp.
04:27 [PLAYING GUITAR]
04:29 G sharp to-- we're going to call it A sharp.
04:31 [PLAYING GUITAR]
04:32 Always feels weird saying A sharp because it's inharmonic with B flat.
04:35 But in this key, it is A sharp.
04:36 [PLAYING GUITAR]
04:38 And then A sharp to B.
04:39 [PLAYING GUITAR]
04:41 If we want to complete the octave, B to C sharp.
04:43 [PLAYING GUITAR]
04:45 So as an exercise, well, the way I would combine this,
04:48 the way I connected this--
04:49 [PLAYING GUITAR]
04:52 That's a nice way to do a release.
04:53 [PLAYING GUITAR]
04:55 Again, no vibrato at the end.
05:11 Or maybe a little reward at the end.
05:12 [PLAYING GUITAR]
05:16 All right.
05:16 So what goes up can come down.
05:18 So let's do the whole thing in reverse.
05:21 Let's start at the octave, where we start here on the G string.
05:25 And we're going to go up to that--
05:28 math is good-- 16th fret on the B.
05:29 [PLAYING GUITAR]
05:31 So pay attention as you're going through this.
05:40 The strength that it takes and the articulation that you're getting,
05:43 not only from the bend-- and it's the release--
05:45 [PLAYING GUITAR]
05:48 And then sliding into that next note, setting yourself
05:50 up to where the next bend occurs.
05:52 [PLAYING GUITAR]
05:55 I'm getting as much volume out of--
05:57 [PLAYING GUITAR]
06:01 Then I'll re-articulate.
06:02 [PLAYING GUITAR]
06:05 [PLAYING GUITAR]
06:08 [PLAYING GUITAR]
06:12 [PLAYING GUITAR]
06:16 [PLAYING GUITAR]
06:19 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:23 (upbeat music)
06:26 [BLANK_AUDIO]