Here’s a tip you may find useful if you have just started on string bending and are struggling to make your bends sound right.
I wrote this after I had just finished a lesson with a student. I had started him on the A minor pentatonic scale and I wanted him to get the feel for a bit of string bending.
It is common to struggle with this at first … in terms of technique and in terms of ‘hearing’ the note to bend to.
I showed him to slide to the note first, then play the bend, then slide to it again … all the while using his ears to hear when the bend was ‘just right’.
When I moved him from the g string bend of position 1 (fret 7 to fret 9 = D to E) I showed him the B string bend (fret 8 to fret 10 = G to A). He found this one more difficult to hit the bend just right.
Then it occurred to me to teach him using this little lick and get him to play it repeatedly to practise the bend and to ‘hear’ the note he was bending to. It was quite a break through moment.
I know that several community folk including @DavidP have referenced this little trick to improve their own skills in bending to pitch.
Pretty cool Richard, just gave it a chop. Fun & a great way of training the ear! I’ve been plugging my guitar into a DAW and running note detection to check if my bends are in tune in bend practice, which is really dull vs something like this.
@jkahn I too like to ‘supplement’ my ear with an aid. I use a pitch monitor app on my phone/tablet. That may be more convenient than the DAW.
@SgtColon But you did know the song and riff, Stefan? I have to ask as I know many folk here are more into the 90s and beyond and have limited exposure to the music of the 70s.
We were chatting about classic Stones albums in another Topic. Given the riff has been mentioned, if you have limited exposure to Deep Purple, I suggest you put Made in Japan on your Spotify list
GOAT debates rank up there in the most futile of all activities IMHO but if one started that debate on live albums, I feel safe in saying Made In Japan would be among the albums discussed in the debate.
Oh yes, I know the song, even when I played it I could still tell what it was.
Added.
I think there is some much back catalogue stuff I need to investigate. So much cool music 60’s-70’s. I’ll never need to listen to a modern track again.
And of course you can always listen to Deep Purple’s latest release, Turning to Crime (2021) … would that count as ‘modern’ I can’t recommend it personally as I have listened to it. And the band line-up is different to the Made In Japan lineup (Lord retired and passed away, and Blackmore was in and out a few times, before finally replaced by Steve Morse)
Apologies Richard, have digressed from the fine riff trick to learn a tone interval.
It is not the riff how it is actually played in the proper sense.
The above is in a different key and only uses single notes whereas the riff uses double-stops.
But the intervals are the same - the ‘sound’ is the same.
Sorry Stuart, I had meant to reply before now.
You can pick if you want. The skill of sliding is not the focus of this exercise. The focus is to train your ears to hear the intervals and notes in a recognisable riff and then to bend accordingly.
I like this very much. The slide as a reference sounds much more similar to the bend, compared with playing two separate notes, because you get to hear a continuous shift in pitch from the lower note to the upper.
At least to my ear, it’s easier to judge whether my bend ‘sounds right’ against the slide.
I can’t recommend it personally as I have listened to it. And the band line-up is different to the Made In Japan lineup (Lord retired and passed away, and Blackmore was in and out a few times, before finally replaced by Steve Morse)
