It's obvious common knowledge that a guitar is a fretted instrument (99 percent of guitars are fretted, anyway) - where the frets are at the exact pitches of the twelve semi-tones of an octave. Bending notes on the guitar gives the player access to the infinite amount of pitches that exist between two frets.
Benefits Of Bending Notes
The ability to bend notes is one of the most special aspects of the guitar. This feature separates the guitar from keyboards and other instruments. And bending allows the guitar player to add loads of expression to their playing. Bending notes gives the guitar its flair, its pizzazz.
There are a couple of different ways to use string bending in your playing. It can consist of a bend up where a note is struck and slowly raised to some desired pitch - or - a string bend can be a bend down where the string is quietly bent up to a pitch and then the string is struck, finally the bend is released and the pitch falls to the desired level.
A Word About Pitch Control
The bending process in and of itself is simple and straightforward enough. The skill and talent requirement comes into play in the area of pitch-control - having the bent note arrive at the exact desired pitch. This is a skill that comes with much practice and has to do with your ear for music.
For ideas and instruction on note bending, the best place to go is to look at the Blues players. Great Blues players will show you how to wring an incredible amount of feeling out of a single note with the right bending technique. Check out players like Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and John Mayer.
The Correct Amount Of Note Bending
As with sliding, there is such a thing as too much bending in your playing. Bending is fantastic, but we all know what they say about too much of a good thing...
Use bending a spice to add flavour and interest to your playing. When you bend a note, do it for a reason... have a purpose in mind when you bend. This will show up as good playing and sound great.
Bending notes is easier - it requires less force from your fingers - if you have lighter gauge strings. .008 or .009 are the lighter gauges and suitable for use if you are new to bending and want to develop some strength in your fingers. You can also use 2 or more fingers to help you push on the strings to perform difficult string bends.
