Bending Techniques

[Vintage]

I have some trouble with muting the strings while I bend.
When I play this up to speed:


-14b(16)-14b-14b---------13-13brb-----------9~---11~----
--whole step----------pick bend release bend-----------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------


If you need to listen to it so that you can hear what I'm doing wrong,
then I could post mp3s.

There's so much noise in the other strings, even when I try muting
with my index.

It gets worse when I play this:



-19b(21)r19-19-18-18-16-16------14-16-16b(18)rp14------------
-------------------------------16--------------------16----------
-----------------------------------------bend whole then release--
------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------

[Banksia]

What about palm muting? Did you try that? I mean the palm of your RH.

[Vintage]

Originally Posted by Banksia

What about palm muting? Did you try that? I mean the palm of your RH.

I'm not sure if you know this, but I'm left-handed. I can't use my left hand (picking hand) to mute, and I have tried muting with my fretting hand (right hand). I can play it slow without error using my middle and ring
fingers to bend while my index hangs over the other strings. I can't play with that kind of technique up to speed, though.

[Dad3353]

Originally Posted by Vintage

...I can't use my ...picking hand... to mute...

Good evening, Vintage...
I'm sorry if I'm clumsily ignoring a medical problem here, but I can't see why you can't mute with the picking hand. Seems easy to me (but I'm far from a virtuoso player...), I just put my hand on the strings and they're muted..! I pick away from there. What am I missing? I thought this was standard 'technique' for electric guitar since it was invented. Am I wrong?

[Vintage]

Originally Posted by Dad3353

Good evening, Vintage...
I'm sorry if I'm clumsily ignoring a medical problem here, but I can't see why you can't mute with the picking hand. Seems easy to me (but I'm far from a virtuoso player...), I just put my hand on the strings and they're muted..! I pick away from there. What am I missing? I thought this was standard 'technique' for electric guitar since it was invented. Am I wrong?

I mean while bending, of course. There isn't much space and I don't want
to accidentally mute the bend. Say I was bending the B string, I can't
mute the e and G strings with my picking hand without muting the bend
or getting a harmonic from it..

Quote from a right handed person that answered this question on some other forum:
"You can use left hand muting as well. For this example, bend with your middle and ring fingers, and place the index finger over the G string. I do find it awkward to do this, but it does work." <- That is what I've
been trying. They probly explained it better than I did.

[JEdgarWinter]

The classic (B.B. King) way to mute without using your right hand is to use your left hand fingers to cover the other strings. Hard to explain, but you lightly press on the string with your first finger (as if you were playing a bar chord) if you are using 2nd, 3rd, or 4th finger to bend, or use your third finger to mute the adjacent strings if you are bending with the 1st finger. I learned this a long time ago from Arlen Roth's Chicago Blues Guitar video, but you might be able to learn it just from closely watching B.B. King play.

The advantage of doing things this way is that you can rake the muted strings on the way up to tone you are targetting-- a very familiar idiomatic sound that is all over Otis Rush/Albert Collins/Freddie King.

The other piece of advice I would give to anyone trying to master bending--learn some country guitar, and especially fake pedal steel/fake b-bender licks. That will help you learn to push the other strings with the bend, and toughen up your fingers. Plus, country guitar is awesome.

[Vintage]

Originally Posted by JEdgarWinter

The classic (B.B. King) way to mute without using your right hand is to use your left hand fingers to cover the other strings. Hard to explain, but you lightly press on the string with your first finger (as if you were playing a bar chord) if you are using 2nd, 3rd, or 4th finger to bend, or use your third finger to mute the adjacent strings if you are bending with the 1st finger. I learned this a long time ago from Arlen Roth's Chicago Blues Guitar video, but you might be able to learn it just from closely watching B.B. King play.

The advantage of doing things this way is that you can rake the muted strings on the way up to tone you are targetting-- a very familiar idiomatic sound that is all over Otis Rush/Albert Collins/Freddie King.

The other piece of advice I would give to anyone trying to master bending--learn some country guitar, and especially fake pedal steel/fake b-bender licks. That will help you learn to push the other strings with the bend, and toughen up your fingers. Plus, country guitar is awesome.

Yes, that is specifically what I was talking about!

I agree. Everytime I go to a store in my local town, they play
country. The singing makes me want to puke.. but when the
solos come in, I'm like: "Whoa..."
That's something I've been trying to get to since there's a song
called: "Many The Miles" that has some country blues solos.

[Jazzpunk]