Hey folks
I'm looking at some tab that looks like this:
BU BU BR
--15--15--15-----------
----------------17------
-------------------------
-------------------------
-------------------------
-------------------------
So my question is this, I play the first note and bend up..how do I play note number 2 without releasing the 1st bend? Do I string mute the 1st and then release? Any tips?
Thanks all
SDM
The first two bends you want the upbend only to sound. You stop the note at the peak of the bend. There are several ways to do this.
1)At the peak of the bend, touch the string with another finger
2)At the peak of the bend, mute the string with the palm (palm muting)
3)At the peak of the bend, touch the string with your pick.
I guess everybody is different, but I like to touch the string with my pick stopping the note. You just lay the pick on the string like you are going to pick it, only you don't pick it. Many prefer to mute the string with the side of the picking hand (palm muting). Do what works best for you, experiment with all methods.
The third bend has an "R" following it that I am assuming means "release". This means you want to clearly hear the string coming back down to pitch. It may mean to quickly bend the note to it's peak pitch and then picking the note and allowing the note to come back down to pitch. So you bend quickly to peak before picking the note.
Most people think you bend with only the ring finger, but you should learn to bend with each finger. In this case I would bend the note at the 15th fret with the index finger pushing up.
Hope that helped.
Wes
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
^^But Wes, you get a lot stronger of a bend by using two or three fingers.
Other than that, I agree with your post.
Yeah but in this case its more valuable to have your ring finger ready to hit the 17th fret of the B string. It is a really important skill to be able to bend with each finger, just as well as you can with 2 fingers. In most cases you do NOT need all of the strength of the 2 fingers to bend, unless you are bending up 10 notes.
In this case here I'd use my middle finger to bend, and then fret the 17th fret with my ring finger. But Wes is a much better player, and his first finger is probably stronger than mine, so he is able to bend sufficiently with just the first finger, me, its tough to do that. I need the 1st and second fingers.
