Notes:

• Bending strings is one of the easiest ways to add emotion to your blues, rock, country or pop solos.

• If you haven't done this before, it will probably make your fingertips sore. If you do some every day, pretty soon you'll develop some good calluses, your fingers will get stronger, and it will get easier!

• You'll need a guitar with light gauge strings. If I've been playing a lot, I can bend with .010 gauge strings. If not, I stick with .009's.

• If you want, you can put light gauge strings on an acoustic guitar so you can practice bending. They won't sound as good as, say, bronze wound strings, but it can be a fun thing to try.

• The 12-bar exercise includes the usual whole-step (2 fret), bends, as well as some little 'blue note' bends (about 1/4 step)

• 'Blue notes' are notes that are in between to regular notes. (Instruments like the piano cannot play them.)

• Hear the target note in your head as you push the string.

• If you bend with your 3rd finger, you'll probably want to use your second finger behind it to help push.

• Different kinds of bends: 1) push, 2) push & release, 3) pre-bend & release

• Tune is in C minor (chords: Cm, Fm, Gm).

• This exercise is based on the minor pentatonic scale. You can review this scale, as well as a lesson on basic blues in the Beginning tab of Dave's Guitar Planet.

• Be sure to make funny faces when you bend! 😉

• Check out the other vid's in this series on Expressive Techniques.