BLUEs
From Rock Lead Techniques, Scales and
Fundamentals for Guitar (00695144) Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3Click here to head to premierguitar.com/aug2010 to hear soundclips
Bluesy Bends
BY NICK NOLAN AND DANNY GILL
Half-step “Smears,” 1 1/2 Step Overbends and More
Basic Bends
These first two licks use full- and half-step bends. The distance of a half-step bend is the equivalent to one fret. It’s easy to over-bend a half step.
Try bending a whole step, then a half step. Master the difference. The thing that’s interesting in figure 1 is the note we’ll be bending. It’s called
the third—meaning the third note of the diatonic scale. Since we’re in the key of B minor, the third note is D. When you bend the third up a half
step, you get a bluesy sound. In fact, it’s best to use these ideas when the band plays a dominant seventh chord. The dominant seventh chord is
the main chord for blues. Note: The half-step bend in figure 1 is best pulled down, while the full bends should be pushed up. The key is B minor.
The Minor Third Bend
As with the last bend, this bend takes a bit of control. It’s called a minor third bend. To understand this, you need to know a minor third is a three
fret distance (also called 1-1/2 steps). Try the licks below and concentrate on the tuning of your bend.
