Bends and Vibrato

String bending and vibrato are a huge part of the unique sound of guitar, especially electric guitar. Used correctly, they can really make your playing come alive, and help you stand out individually among other players. Let's look at how they work.

Bends are performed by pushing a picked string horizontally across the fretboard. This increases the tension on the string and raises the pitch it will create. This lets us smoothly transition between multiple notes and even play notes in between the frets! For example, a note that's slightly sharper than C but flatter than C#.

It takes a bit of practice to get used to applying the needed force to the string. It will dig into your fingers a little harder than you're used to at first. Try using as many fingers as possible while bending, I typically use two or three.

The first step to understanding notated bends is to understand the meaning of whole-steps and half-steps. When we are discussing guitar, we typically talk about things in terms of frets. But what about other instruments? You can't tell a flute player to go up one fret.

So, the correct terminology for a one fret movement is a "half-step". Two frets is a "whole-step".

In the image above, we can see the tab notation for various bends. Notice that it tells you what your target note is.

1/2 is a half-step. That's one fret higher. That means, when you bend the 7th fret, you're aiming to make it sound just like the 8th fret would. Have a listen to the 8th fret note, then try matching it by bending the 7th fret up to it.

"Full" is a whole-step. That's two frets higher. Try bending the 7th fret up to match the 9th fret's sound.

1 1/2 is a step and a half. That's three frets higher. This can be tough, and going further than this can be a bad idea depending on your specific guitar and tuning. Don't be afraid to put some muscle into it, though. You might be surprised how much a string can take. 

The last bend is a little different. That's a pre-bend. That means we bend the string before picking. Once the string is picked, you release the bend back to the original note.

See the image of the Minor Pentatonic, where we move the 5th fret high E string note, to the 10th fret of the B string. This lets us know where to bend to, if we want to bend our 8th fret of the B string.

As your playing advances, you will start to learn your target notes outside the scale shape without having to move a note, by using your forms of the pentatonic scale, and modes of the major and minor scales.

Vibrato can be performed slowly or quickly, with a wide bend or a narrow bend. It's very individual! Take some time to try it out at various speeds and with different sized bends. This technique can make a simple melody come alive! There's nothing stopping you from combining both techniques, either. A bent note with vibrato can be a real show-stopper.

Now you can see how dynamic bends and vibrato can make your playing. It'll take some practice to incorporate them into your improvisation, but once you do you'll be glad you did! Just remember to always bend with a target note in mind.