Jazz Guitar Lessons • What A Wonderful World Part 2 (Bending in Pitch)
63
 | Amazon Price: $6.45 List Price: $13.98 |
 | Amazon Price: $11.40 List Price: $13.94 |
 | Amazon Price: $2.95 List Price: $9.98 |
This lesson is a continuation of:
More Jazz guitar lessons:
Bending
Why do we bend strings on guitar? Because we can! However, a number of things must be considered. Bending notes is not just for the sake of being able to bend them, the notes must be in PITCH. This is the tricky part. In the tablature you will see that some bends are full and some are 1/2. Although there is no standard to tablature, this is the accepted way of notating the distance (interval) the note must be bent. A full bend is the most common. It is a distance of two frets. A half (1/2) bend is the distance of one fret. THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! Over-bending or under-bending results in a out of key pitch and is very dissonant to the ear. How can you tell if your bends are in pitch? Try playing the target note, then bend the other note into it. EG: if the bend is full on the 12th fret on the third string (G), play the A on the 14th fret on the third string first, then go back to the G and bend it up until you reach the pitch of the A. You have to rely on your ears for this. They will tell you when you have reached the target pitch. Fingering is also very important. Whenever possible use a fortifying finger on the fret behind the normal fingering (that is, push up with two fingers). In the above example, place your third finger on the 12th fret, and your second on the 11th fret. This will give you much more control over the bend. The hardest bend in the transcription is the A to Bb on the third string. It is a 1/2 (one fret) bend. Very easy to over-bend this. Good Luck!
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
Section 6
