Quarter-step bends
Tutorial: Part 1
Let's take a look at quarter-step bends. The most common application for quarter-step bends is in blues guitar. Let's just give it a listen here. By its very definition, since there is really no target note to reference here on the fret board, its the one that requires the most feeling, the most intuition.
You are just going to basically take the note and just barely push it out of tune, just to give it a little bit of edge, and then usually you end on another note, a regular fretted note just to resolve it. It's a process where you create tension and then resolve it.
Let's listen to it here. So now that we have heard the concept, let's take a look at some of the technique that we are going to be using to do it. Start with your second finger here on the eight fret of the second string. Then you are going to use your first finger in much the same capacity as you did on a three finger bend, that we did at the very beginning; its going to mute the strings above. Then your thumb is up top here for leverage. You just want to barely push it, just barely bend it out of tune, as soon as you hear that pitch start to change.
You are going to start out here with your third finger, your second finger, whatever you feel comfortable with, here on the fifth fret of the top string. You are going to hit that twice and give it as much vibrato as you can. You are going to come to the third fret, do the same exact thing, hit it twice.
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