Andy Timmons previously discussed the beauty, and the importance, of string bending. String bending is truly a huge part of the guitar’s potential to be one of the most expressive instruments. Well-controlled string bending, and string bending with vibrato, will really make your melodies sing.
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MusicTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Everybody, Andy Timmons here.
00:28 Welcome back to my melodic muse column for Guitar World.
00:31 Today, we're going to explore the beauty and importance
00:33 of bending.
00:34 String bending truly is a huge part of the guitar's potential
00:36 to be one of the most expressive instruments.
00:39 And well-controlled bending can really make your melody sing.
00:42 So let's begin by reinforcing some fundamentals we
00:45 should all be working on.
00:46 So let's dig into some bending.
00:47 I'm going to do some really simple stuff
00:49 to work on our foundational strength.
00:51 And we're going to do everything in the key of C sharp minor
00:54 today.
00:55 So just kind of get that sound in your head.
00:57 [GUITAR PLAYING]
00:59 Play your pentatonic scale.
01:00 [GUITAR PLAYING]
01:04 The first bend is on the B string.
01:06 We're going to bend a whole step from the note B to C sharp.
01:10 I'm going to use my ring finger.
01:13 And behind that, I'm going to use my first and second finger
01:17 to give it the strength to bend right up to that C sharp.
01:22 Always good to check the note fretted
01:25 that you're bending up to.
01:26 [GUITAR PLAYING]
01:29 I'm really trying to find--
01:32 I call it the center of the pitch.
01:34 You can be a little below it.
01:36 [GUITAR PLAYING]
01:38 Or a little above it.
01:41 Always sharp is going to be way more uncomfortable to hear
01:44 than really in tune or slightly flat.
01:46 There can be a sweetness to just under pitch.
01:49 But today, let's really try to find the center of that pitch.
01:51 [GUITAR PLAYING]
01:55 So notice a few things that are happening with my left hand.
01:59 Not only am I using my other two fingers behind the ring finger
02:03 to give that finger the strength,
02:05 but I'm also-- there's a bit of tension
02:07 at the underneath of my hand.
02:09 It's gripping.
02:11 I feel some tension here.
02:12 But also, notably, that thumb is anchoring.
02:16 It's a very Hendrixian thing.
02:19 You'd always see those huge hands around that strat neck.
02:22 And that thumb was coming over, not only
02:24 to fret notes, but also to give himself
02:27 the strength to really bend.
02:28 [GUITAR PLAYING]
02:31 So I know that everybody's hand size is different.
02:38 Everybody's technique is different as far as their hand
02:40 placement on the neck.
02:41 Some people really like to have their thumb behind the neck.
02:44 And I think that will prove to be slightly more difficult
02:48 to get the type of bending that I do.
02:51 We could try-- see, if I try to play with my thumb
02:54 behind the neck, I have nowhere near the power of--
02:59 and it's not really that I'm grabbing
03:01 the top of the fretboard so much.
03:02 But there is a bit of pressure and tension
03:05 happening behind at the top of the neck
03:07 with this part of the thumb.
03:09 [GUITAR PLAYING]
03:12 And everybody's neck width might be different as well.
03:14 [GUITAR PLAYING]
03:18 But if you can get that thumb in a position where--
03:20 hello, hello-- it'll give you that power.
03:25 So again, and the other part of this little exercise
03:27 is I want you to attempt to do this bend with zero vibrato.
03:31 Because a lot of times as guitarists, if we fret a note,
03:35 we instantly want to move it.
03:37 But a really good practice is to do these things,
03:40 but add no vibrato, to really know and be
03:43 accurate with your pitch.
03:45 Because if you're moving it, you might be surrounding it.
03:49 And sometimes to good effect, sometimes
03:51 to not so good effect.
03:53 So I'm bending right to the note and holding it.
03:56 So that's going to reveal two things.
03:58 A, are you in tune?
03:59 And B, do you have the strength to keep that up?
04:02 [GUITAR PLAYING]
04:05 And once you've really started to hone in on that pitch,
04:09 then let's start adding.
04:10 [GUITAR PLAYING]
04:17 It's always a good exercise to try to play it very slowly.
04:20 Again, we tend to employ a bit of nerve,
04:23 where we just start kind of moving, shaking
04:26 our hand a certain way.
04:28 But if it's uncontrolled and it's too fast,
04:30 it can sound a bit nervous and out of tune, right?
04:33 Not that fast vibrato can't sound beautiful.
04:34 It can.
04:35 It has its place.
04:35 But right now--
04:36 [GUITAR PLAYING]
04:39 And there's obviously so many different types of vibrato.
04:46 [GUITAR PLAYING]
04:48 But I'm also getting my strength, again,
04:49 from the underneath of my hand gripping
04:51 the bottom of the fretboard and also
04:53 the towards the back of the neck, the top.
04:55 [GUITAR PLAYING]
04:58 And that's a very slight--
04:59 I'm just going slightly--
05:00 [GUITAR PLAYING]
05:01 I'm basically releasing the pitch slightly
05:04 and coming back up to it.
05:05 [GUITAR PLAYING]
05:08 One of my first vibratos I ever learned,
05:10 which I didn't really think was a vibrato.
05:11 It's more of a bend.
05:13 It's from Ace Frehley of Kiss.
05:14 [GUITAR PLAYING]
05:17 He would bend that note a whole step
05:18 and release all the way back down to the original note.
05:20 [GUITAR PLAYING]
05:23 He had wonderful control.
05:28 And that bend was always in tune, man.
05:29 Ace is very overlooked when it comes to quality bending, man.
05:33 He was a big early influence for me.
05:34 We'll get into other influences later.
05:36 Now let's try this exercise on the G string.
05:38 I'm going to be bending now from the F sharp to the G sharp,
05:41 staying in C sharp minor.
05:42 [GUITAR PLAYING]
05:44 So it's the same as we did earlier.
05:46 It's a whole step bend.
05:47 [GUITAR PLAYING]
05:49 But now we're bending from the F sharp to the G sharp.
05:51 You can check the note on the same string if you want.
05:54 But in this case, I'm going to check it on the B string.
05:57 I'm going to play that G sharp there on the B string
05:59 on the ninth fret.
06:00 [GUITAR PLAYING]
06:03 And again, finding the center of that pitch, not above it.
06:08 [GUITAR PLAYING]
06:10 It's a little sharp.
06:11 [GUITAR PLAYING]
06:12 Clearly a little flat.
06:13 [GUITAR PLAYING]
06:17 And another point, another great thing about only bending
06:20 to that pitch and not adding vibrato initially--
06:22 [GUITAR PLAYING]
06:24 A, we're going to really find the pitch.
06:26 We're going to be accurate with that.
06:28 We're going to get the strength.
06:30 But then as a singer would, they don't necessarily
06:32 add vibrato right when they sing a note.
06:34 They sing the note in a very pure tone
06:37 and then add the vibrato for the musicality.
06:39 [GUITAR PLAYING]
06:43 And it's basically just lowering that pitch slightly.
06:51 [GUITAR PLAYING]
06:54 There it is.
06:55 [GUITAR PLAYING]
06:58 So now let's play a phrase that's
07:00 going to combine bending both on the G string and the B string
07:02 still in C sharp minor.
07:04 [GUITAR PLAYING]
07:07 So I added a little something to that.
07:09 [GUITAR PLAYING]
07:12 So I dismounted.
07:13 I released that bend in a very melodic musical way.
07:17 [GUITAR PLAYING]
07:20 Right?
07:21 I gave it--
07:21 [GUITAR PLAYING]
07:24 I gave it some duration.
07:25 [GUITAR PLAYING]
07:28 Then I released it.
07:29 [GUITAR PLAYING]
07:32 It's almost like I played--
07:33 [GUITAR PLAYING]
07:36 It's almost like I played--
07:37 [GUITAR PLAYING]
07:40 Right?
07:40 That's the melody.
07:41 [GUITAR PLAYING]
07:44 But how much more emotional, how much more effective
07:46 it is if you've got that strength and the ability
07:49 to really get it tuneful, but all with bends.
07:53 [GUITAR PLAYING]
07:57 And then that one last note from the B to the C sharp.
07:59 [GUITAR PLAYING]
08:02 And since that's our moment of singing,
08:04 we're going to give it some duration
08:05 and then add that vibrato.
08:06 [GUITAR PLAYING]
08:09 That last note, I release it.
08:16 [GUITAR PLAYING]
08:19 Then pull off to that E.
08:21 [GUITAR PLAYING]
08:24 Got to pay royalties now to Lennon and McCartney.
08:31 [GUITAR PLAYING]
08:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]
08:39 (upbeat music)
08:41 you