This is the release bends tutorial and release bends are really just in effect used to get from one note to another, much the same as conventional bends, slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, its just a way to keep your phrasing sounding fresh and original.
Prerequisite to doing release bends is going to be executing conventional bends accurately and consistently. For instance to do a whole step with conventional bending from like the 7th to the 9th fret on the 3rd string and you will be able to match that pitch and do it consistently in tune every time. The challenge of release bends is I am really having to do step 2 first and that is getting enough tension on that string to hit the note that I am bending too before even hearing it.
So for instance, doing a half step release bend on the 7th fret of the first string, I want to get the sound going from eight to seven, so I need to be aware of how to put the appropriate amount of pressure on that string to get that first note.
The way to practice that is to really learn to match those pitches and put the appropriate amount of tension on the string on your top three strings, which is where you are generally bending at, but also do it in different positions on the neck. The reason being that when you are in the middle of your neck, like on the 12th fret, its going to require a lot less tension to bend in tune than it is as you go lower, particularly below your 5th fret, you are going to require a lot more tension for bending because it's closer to other strings in the tuning picks.
So let's start out by looking at half steps, this will be the 8th to the 7th fret on the first string then doing a whole step that will be nine to seven, ten to seven will be a step and a half, that requires quite a bend. So going to the 2nd string we will do a half step from eight to seven. One thing to be aware of this as you get to these lower strings, it doesn't take near as much tension to get that same interval. Now nine to seven for a whole step and then the step and a half.
So I don't have to bend up nearly as high or put as much pressure on to get that step and a half on the second string as I did on the first string. Now for the 3rd a half step, whole step, and then a step and a half. So that gets us to our intervals and in our next segment we will look at an application of applying this to licks.
Let's start for the hammer-on from the 7th to the 9th fret on the 3rd string and then the 8th fret on the 2nd string. So I really think of that as three different loop sections that make that whole lick, starting with the first section--
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