String Bending 101 – Part 1: The Basics

The video this article accompanies is an introduction to one of the most important playing techniques in rock, pop, metal, country, and blues lead guitar – string bending. Learning this art is an invaluable soloing skill as some accurate, tasty string bending can add excitement and a vocal-like emotion to a lead break. Brian May’s memorable and masterful solo in Queen’s epic opus “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a wonderful example of superlative string bending in action.

While some consider string bending to be a “basic” technique – being able to do it well is definitely not a “master in 5 minutes” cake-walk. Sure,  on paper, bending a string may seem like a pretty easy thing to do, but being able to do so accurately and consistently on any note, on any string, on any part of the neck, is definitely not! That’s going to take some serious practice, time, and patience…as is true of most worthwhile things in life.

Good string bending is all about accuracy – after all, ending the bend on the intended target note is obviously pivotal! Let’s face it, there’s nothing worse than a bend that falls short of the mark (flat) or overshoots it (sharp!). A bend that ends up producing a sour-sounding, out-of-tune note can totally ruin an otherwise flawless solo! To this end, your ears have to be in charge here – not just your fretboard fingers and hand. Granted your digits do the deed, but your ears have to tell them when to stop! Bending blindly and hoping is a surefire recipe for disaster. A bend has to be in tune – end of story!

Here’s a quick reminder of the four key points to remember when string bending as discussed in the video:

Reinforced Bending: using more than one finger to perform a string bend whenever possible adds strength and control.  So, if you’re bending a note using your ring finger, reinforce it by using your middle finger as well. Some players will also bring in their index finger too, using all three to do the bend. Remember – two or more fingers will always be stronger than one! Plus, as already stated, you’ll have more control too…Make sure you’re using your fretboard hand thumb as a strength-giving anchor by having it wrapped around the upper edge of the fretboard as shown in the photo below. Doing this gives you something to push against when doing the bend.

Notice the reinforced, two-fingered bend and also the position of the thumb over the upper edge of the fretboard for added strength and control during the string bend.

Remember to utilize your fretboard hand wrist when bending as well as your digits – as discussed as shown in the video.Last, but certainly not least, as already stressed – USE YOUR EARS!

Below are TABS of the exercises shown in the video. First though, let’s take a quick look at the way a string bend is notated in standard TAB.

As you can see above, the notation is in a curved arrow. The “full” above the tip of said arrow tells you that the desired bend is a one full-tone or step. namely one tone. Sometimes you may see this simply written as “1”. 

NOTE: If you see a “1/2” above the arrow that tells you that the required bend is a half-step or semitone.  You’ll also sometimes see “1 ½” (a one-and-half-step bend), “2” (two steps), or even “2 ½” (two-and-a-half steps) above the bend arrow too. In this lesson though, we’re just focusing on one-step (“full”) bends.

This explained, here are the three exercises in the video.

Exercise 1

Exercise 2A

Exercise 2B

Note: The 3(2) fretboard fingering suggestion under each and every bend in all three exercises is to remind you to reinforce your ring finger with your middle finger when bending the notes!

Have fun with technique: work on it, be patient and, above all else, always remember – USE YOUR DARNED EARS!!
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