How To Bend Strings When Playing Guitar - Guitar Lesson

[activemelody]

@arkee71 good for you! You get a gold star :)

[arkee71]

why would i not bend on the bottom strings...this is bs..i bend alot on the d string...as well as A...

[pokadotguitar92x]

hiii!! so i just wanna clarify something. basically if i want the pitch to sound like a note in the 4th fret for example with the first E string, i must place my fingers on the 2nd fret so i could bend it to sound the note just like in the 4th fret. am i right? hope that made sense lol

[bookie3007]

i'm afraid that the strings would break when i do the bends!

[activemelody]

@bookie3007 They won't - they're made for it.

[iQuaziRock]

thanks this is really helpful :)

lol but I do get annoyed coz at the moment I'm learning Layla by Eric Clapton and the bends are giving all my fingers blisters :/

[61M1chael]

Thanks, that was the clearest picture, sound and instruction I've seen on the net for a long time.

I'm learning Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here and you have just made it so much easier for me :o)

[APortlyNinja]

when i bend notes the other strings get caught under my finger nails then when i release the bend they sort of get picked by finger nail, any tips to stop this, thanks :)

[vockla]

@APortlyNinja To avoid that you should keep your fingers in a 90 degrees angle with the fingerboard. Also check out your nails length. They should be long enough to sweep all the other strings and avoid touching the fingerboard at the same time. When I bend the 2nd string, the others (3rd and 4th) keep over my nails, never under. At least, this is how it works for me.

[danthemanallen89]

thanks man very helpfull

[gamotousername]

do it in a classic guitar its realy harder!!!!!!!!!!

[hellcat6249472]

I am confused with this technique - I guess there are many variations to get the same effect but what if you are bending 2 strings at once (high e string and b string)? If you let the other strings rest on top of your finger then isn't it not possible to bend the 2 strings (E&B) at once? I have been playing for quite some time but still struggle with this. Also I find that the string with sometimes slip out from under my finger when I bend. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[activemelody]

Nah - no need to down tune your guitar (although that's one reason Hendrix / SRV tuned to an E Flat was to lessen the tension of the strings). What gauge strings are you using? I wouldn't go any higher than 10 gauge for bends... the other possible issue might be the action of your guitar. My gut though, is that you're just not pushing hard enough, it'll hurt in the beginning but you'll build up strength over time. If you can, shoot a video and let me watch and I'll try to analyze.

[harvestingStarlight]

Hey man. Thanks for the video. I can't seem to reach the full note bend (as in the strings don't feel loose enough). Should I get different strings/down tune my guitar? Any idea why this might be the case?

[activemelody]

Good ear man - yeah, i'm a huge Dave Gilmore fan.. he's a master of string bending.

[Gel1ebtedesregens]

some pink floyd influences in your playing, am i right?