Bends Theory Options

[Brandon Earman]

Hey GMC.

One area I often struggle with is bending the right notes. I always have to guess if the note is going to sound OK or not with a full step or half step bend etc.

I know that you can bend a note up a full step to achieve the root of the chord. For instance bending a D up to an E while the rythym is on an E chord.

Anyways what approaches do you use to know how to use correct bends in your improvising? I hope I'm making sense.

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[Cosmin Lupu]

You can always do the following thing:

- take a chord - any chord at all
- create a little groove by writing drums, a bass line and recording that chord over/ use software such as Band in a Box and chose a rhythmic pattern and that chord from the menu -> you'll have the little groove created automatically.
- examine the chord and see what notes make it up
- find the desired notes on the neck in various positions
- going one step behind a certain note you want to reach or a half step and bend it while having the groove playing
- you'll hear the sound of that note over that specific chord
- take this procedure with all the notes making up that chord and thus you'll develop a string sense of hearing regarding your bends

Next step: take a progression and try to find a common note that comes up in each/ most of the chords used bend it and hear how the sound changes when the chords shift

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