Pre-bends and releases: the crying blues bend
Notes bent up before they're picked, then let down: the pick sounds the bent pitch and the release falls a whole step, a crying sound you can't get any other way. The third and fourth bars check the pre-bend's pitch against the fretted note it should match, E at the 9th fret then a D pre-bent to E, and A at the 10th then a G pre-bent to A.
Opens in the player looped and counted in, with drums playing along, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 80 bpm. No account or microphone needed.
- Goal tempo
- 80 bpm
- Starts at
- 48 bpm
- Length
- 4 bars, looped
- Tuning
- E standard
- Time
- 4/4, swung
- Level
- Advanced
- Plays with
- Drums
How to play it
Bend the string silently, then pick: the first time, check the pitch by plucking it softly before the beat.
A pre-bend is bent before it's picked, so the first sound is already the bent pitch. Bar 1: G on the B string pre-bent to A and released to G, then E and D, and D on the G string pre-bent to E and released, then C. Bar 2 does it on the high E's C, then bends a G up to A and holds it with vibrato.
Bars 3 and 4 check your pre-bend. Play E at the G string's 9th fret, then pre-bend D at the 7th to E and pick it: it should sound the same as the fretted E. Then release it. Bar 4 does the same with A at the B string's 10th fret and G at the 8th.
The tab shows a pre-bend as an arrow straight up from the note, and a release as an arrow back down. The eighths are swung, at a slow blues tempo.
Mistakes to watch for
- Pre-bending too far or not far enough, which you can't hear until the note is picked. The fretted note before it is there to check.
- Picking before the bend is in place, so a slide up is heard.
- Releasing too quickly: the crying sound is in the slow fall.
A speed plan
The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:
- 48
- 52
- 56
- 60
- 64
- 68
- 72
- 76
- 80
That's 16 loops and about 4 minutes before you're playing at 80 bpm. If it stops being clean on the way, stop the ramp there and loop that tempo until it is. With a microphone or an audio interface you can record while you play instead: Demiurg checks every loop and steps up only after two clean ones in a row, and back down after a poor one.
Questions
How fast should I play Pre-bends and releases?
The goal is 80 bpm in quarter notes, which is 1.3 notes a second. Start wherever every note is clean: the player begins at 48 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.
How do I know how far to pre-bend?
By feel, built up by checking. Pluck the bent string very softly or just touch it, compare it with the fretted target, then pick. After a while the hand remembers how much a whole step takes on each string.
Do pre-bends work on any guitar?
Yes, but they're easier with lighter strings and on the B and G strings, where most are played. On heavy strings, stick to half-step pre-bends at first.
More rock and blues exercises
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