From: glenn@moeng2.morgan.edu (D. Glenn Arthur Jr.)
Newsgroups: alt.guitar
Subject: Re: bent notes,etc.
Date: 5 Oct 1992 09:49:33 -0500
Organization: The Space-Time Fabrication Institute, Rockville, MD.
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

In article <4OCT199201154786@venus.tamu.edu> msh7585@venus.tamu.edu writes:
>lots of refrences to bent notes, pull offs, and hammer ons.  What are these
>and how can I learn to do them.

Bends:

"Bending" a string means literally bending the string; fret a note and
pluck it, then push the string to the side, stretching it.  Note that 
it goes sharp when you do this.  Actually, many people do this 
accidentally when they first switch to electric guitar, because of
the reduced string tension.  With practice, you can learn to bend
specific amounts, such as a half step (one fret) or full step (two
frets).  I find that it is usually easier to push the string toward
my thumb (towards the sixth-string side of the fretboard) than it is
to pull it towards my palm (the first-string side of the fretboard),
but your mileage may vary, depending on the string you're trying to 
bend.

A "pre bend" means to bend the string _before_ you pluck it.  With 
the string already bent, pluck the note, then move the string back 
to its normal position.  It's sort of like being able to bend a note
down instead of up.


Slides:

Fret a note and pluck it, then without lifting your finger from the
string, slide your finger up or down to another fret.  This is a 
slide.  Note that a slide sounds quite different from a bend. 


Hammer-ons:

Try this -- play the first string open, and while it is ringing, 
put your finger down on the second fret.  Make it quick and clean,
press that finger down hard, and you'll hear that F# sound as loud
as or louder than the E.  If you move too slowly, your finger will
muffle the string before the second note is sompletely fretted.
If you practice this, you can sound notes by hammering on without
having plucked another note first.

Now try fretting at the third fret, G, and hammering on with a
different finger to the fifth fret, A.  You may find that a one-fret
hammer-on is a little more difficult to play cleanly than a two
or three fret one.


Pull-offs:

A pull-off is not _quite_ the reverse of a hammer-on.  If, for example,
you fret the first string at the third fret, pluck it, and quickly
lift your finger off, the E will sound but at a _much_ lower 
volume than the G and with no attack.  Let's try it again, but
this time instead of lifting your finger straight off, pull the
string _slightly_ to the side and let it snap back as you pull
your finger off the fretboard.  You don't want to _bend_ the note,
just give it a little snap.  You're more or less picking the note
with your left hand.  (Violinists have a word for this that I can't
spell (probably Italian)).  Of the techniques mentioned here, Pull-offs
are, from my observations, the technique most people have the most 
difficulty getting the hang of.

Once you've got the knack of pulling off, try double or triple
pull offs.  For example, press down at the second, third, and
fifth frets, pluck the string, pull-off from the fifth fret to
the third, then from the third to the second, then from the second
to the open string.  Can't _pick_ that fast, can you? :-)  I often
use hammer-ons and pull-offs to compensate for a lack of speed in
my right hand.  If my left hand is doing all the work, I can play
some fast (though short) runs.  (Note that I am left-handed.)


(I'll leave a discussion of "tapping" to someone else -- I think
it's essentially a combination of hammer on and pull off techniques
done with the _right_ hand, but there may be some subtlety I'm 
missing as I don't currently tap.  My nails get in the way.)



Experiment with each of these techniques and note how each sounds.
Note how the sound of each differs from normal picking.  (There will
be times, for example, when you want the sound of individually 
picked notes even though a combination of hammer-ons and pull-offs
might be easier to play.)  These subtletiies, along with the 
difference in tone you can get from different pick attacks, plucking
with a fingertip, changing hand position, and so forth, are a part
of what makes the guitar such an incredibly _expressive_ instrument.

Of course they're also good for "flash" -- showoffish bits.  There's
a short piece I play in which I don't use my right hand at all.  It
gets cute reactions when people notice, and it sounds cool.




-- 
D. Glenn Arthur Jr., The Human Vibrator, glenn@bessel.umd.edu
"Being a _man_ means knowing that one has a choice not to act like a 'man'."

How much interest is there in a Transvestite/Transsexual newsgroup?  How many 
would post there?   Anonymously?  How many would _vote_ non-anonymously?  And
what would you name it?  

You can send me mail anonymously at anonymus+262@godiva.nectar.cs.cmu.edu.

Newsgroups: alt.guitar