do you bend with your fingers or your wrist?

[shrunkenhead145]

How do you guys bend strings?

When I bend a string, I generally clamp my thumb around the neck and use my knuckles and the muscles around them to bend up or down. It works pretty well for me, and from recording myself I know I get good intonation. However, I've been having a difficult time getting a sweet vibrato on top of a bend, and I was wondering if there is a better way.

Do you use your fingers? I read an interview with Roy Buchanan where he said he uses his forearm and pivots it, sort of like the way BB King does vibrato. Does anybody use this technique, and if you do, how did you develop it?

I would really appreciate any advice or ideas, thanks!

[Mateo150]

try a search, "vibrato and bending", there a couple lengthy threads that detail this.

I'm not great at this myself, but I've been working on it a lot lately. I'll share what I can.

I used to use my fingers to bend a lot, just straightening them with minimal pivot. Record yourself doing this while playing over backings. I noticed, weak definition on the sound, not a crisp clean ascention to the target note. If doing a bend/release/pull off.... the release/pull off sounds bad, really bad. Hard to describe, but it lacks definition, especially the release, its kind of like a muddled noise. Sounds awful to my ears. A general overall lower quality.

When you straighten your fingers, if your doing supportive bends, your middle finger will hold most of the tension of the strings (since its longer) and this causes a ton of problems, string noise, lack of pull off definiton if you go for a release/pull off, the definition probs I said above. I just found out I still support too much of the string pressure on my middle finger, and making an adjustment to MORE emphasise on using my thumb as a pivot fulcrum (as well as really shoving that webbing between the thumb and index finger into the back of the neck) helped me with some of the bending problems I was having. Using the "thumb as a fulcrum to pivot" on method helps maintain strength and support needed to be comfortable adding vibrato while holding the weight of the bend. Its also easier to kind of lock your 3 fingers into place and maintain the form so the weight distribution is good.

Right now, I'm trying to get my fingers to distribute the bend pressure as follows, around.... 15%, 38%, 47%.... index, middle, ring. Just kinda of a guesstimate cuz theres no way to really measure this.

As for how to get better at vibrato at the top of your bend, do a search again, but I practiced a while just doing regular vibrato with my ring finger, getting better at that, then while watching TV or something, applying 1/2 bend vibratos, and worked up to doing full bends with vibrato. I practiced on the lower registers as well. I don't really think theres a science for this sort of thing, feel it out and try to diagnose any problems. I've asked several questions concerning this topic, there isn't much help that words can give you, most advice will be generic and unfruitful to a specific situation or particular problem.

[leadfootdriver]

I use the wrist for vibrato. The movement is like turning a door knob left, and right. Part of it ia how strong your fingers are too; to be able to hold the string, while you wrist does the twist.

Just work on it. Maybe play detuned a bit, to lighten the tension on the strings, to get the feel for the movement.

[GuitarSoul24]

I bend with my wrist and fingers I guess, I bend with a turning a doorknob motion and my thumb reaches over the top of the neck. I use a turning a doorknob motion when using vibrato too. People say I have really good vibrato and my vibrato on top of bends usually last 2-3 seconds. And for some bends I do, it doesn't require vibrato for a different phrasing. But I try to practice vibrato bends by bending a string and keeping it bent and trying to do vibrato, gradually my muscles adjust and I oculd do it longer.

[leadfootdriver]

Here's a cool little video clip of me switching around with the different left hand positions for bending, and scaling. This should give you a good idea of when I'm doing what as I play.

[Fretboard Cam] (http://home.comcast.net/~30roll/fretboard_cam.wmv)

[Mateo150]

thanks for that vid, could you give this a shot, a bit different from what your playing. I'm really interested in how you would handle the vibrato at the top of a full bend, and then also doing the pull off right from that. Thanks.

http://www.ibreathemusic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8814

[shrunkenhead145]

Here's a cool little video clip of me switching around with the different left hand positions for bending, and scaling. This should give you a good idea of when I'm doing what as I play.

[Fretboard Cam] (http://home.comcast.net/~30roll/fretboard_cam.wmv)


Everybody thanks for all your advice, the doorknob wrist thing really seems like the way to go, I think I'm going to work with that. Thanks for the video, too!