Introduction to String Bending

Intermediate Grade 5 Major Scale Maestro 2
1

String bending in a Major Scale context is fantastic - if you do it right! In this lesson, we'll learn all about it.


View the full lesson at Introduction to String Bending | JustinGuitar

2

I am really sorry, but I cannot find the TAB… can somebody help me? Thanks a lot!
Keep up the great work!

3

Welcome to the community Kevin you need to use your ears when string bending
Tabs won’t do you any good if you cant hear the note your bending to.

4

In Justins Major Scale String Bending video he says to get the Which Strings to Bend pdf from the website, I do not seem able to find it, there is a ‘popup’ in the video for a link to it but I still cannot find it, can anybody help me please? Many thanks, Peter.

5

I really worked hard at Maestro 1 and 2 and enjoyed it a lot However I seem to be stuck now, because string bending doesn’t work on my acoustic guitar. I’m 72 and not willing to go electric. What do you advise? Anybody else with the same problem? Thanks in advance!

6

Hi Lieve, @lieve.desseyn
Welcome here and I wish you a lot of fun,
On an acoustic it is indeed much more difficult and sometimes (especially for non-advanced players) impossible, if you encounter it in songs you can usually just play the note you should bend to (Wish you Were Here contains a nice example)
So ,go on with the next lesson and enjoy :smiley:
I hope that your question is well answered (otherwise I’ll call advanced auxiliaries :wink:)

Greetings,Rogier

7

Hey mate,

You could always replace the bend with a slide. Will sound fine in alot of contexts.

Cheers,
Shane

8

Hi there,

I have 2 questions regarding string bending:

  1. Do I need to press the string(s) down while bending? If so, how much pressure would be appropriate (if that makes any sense?)

  2. At times (not always at the same spots) it feels like the strings are grinding roughly across the frets. Is it normal or do I apply too much pressure, may it be because of damaged strings/frets or am I overthinking this? :joy:

Thank you :hugs:

9

Hi ???,

  1. Yes, you need to push down a bit on the string! Try it without, you will hear a dead sound.
  2. A couple things come to mind here:
    a) If your frets are really rough, it will feel grindy. I polish my frets when I get a guitar and then maintain that polish at string changes when necessary.
    b) The other thing is what you mention, you should NOT be pushing into your fretboard.

The bend needs to keep fingers close enough to the fret and down just enough to have the fret be the vibration anchor throughout the bend.

10

Justin shows a pdf of the 5 major scale patterns and the entire guitar neck. He mentions a link to the pdf in the top right corner of the screen, but when I click on the link it’s not there. Does anyone have a working link to the pdf

11

Hi Terry @someotherguy, I haven’t gotten to Grade 5 yet, but looking at the web content here’s what I see:
In about the fourth paragraph, you’ll see the line

If you need help with that, please see this lesson on String Bending.

Clicking on that link takes you to one of Justin’s old “Classic” courses called “Technique: Bending Strings”. On that lesson you’ll see a Resources tab which has two .pdfs. Hope that’s what you’re looking for!