These represent the use of an additional finger to help push the string.ДЄs is always the case when string bending, the key is to listen closely to the rise in pitch and let your ears guide your finger muscles and tell them exactly how much pressure to apply to the string to reach the target pitch and not overshoot it. Notice the вЂњ2(+1)вЂќ or вЂњ3(+2)вЂќ indications for some of the bends. IвЂ™ve included suggested fret-hand fingerings below the tablature for each example. 009s, make bending much easier to do than it is on thicker strings, such as an. Lighter, вЂњslinkierвЂќ string gauges, such as a set of. This reinforced fingering helps anchor and stabilize a bend, providing better pitch control, and it will make bending easier, which is a big plus, as performing several bends in a row can fatigue your fingers, especially if theyвЂ™re not particularly strong and conditioned to bending, or if your strings and setup are on the stiff side.ДЄs is always the case when string bending, the key is to listen closely to the rise in pitch and let your ears guide your finger muscles and tell them exactly how much pressure to apply to the string When possible, try using two fingers to bend a string instead of just one, with the additional, supporting finger placed one fret lower. Be careful not to disturb the higher string and inadvertently bend it too. YouвЂ™ll then perform a double-stop oblique bend, for which the lower note rises by either a half step (the equivalent of one fret) or a whole step (the equivalent of two frets, indicated by the word full) to match the pitch of the unbent note you previously played.Д®ach bend here is performed by pushing the lower string upward, away from the palm and the higher string. Here, in each bar, youвЂ™ll first play an unbent fretted note, which will serve as an aural reference point and target pitch for a bend that follows. Performing a mechanical bend demands as much from your ears as from your fingers, which brings us to Ex. You can, however, use a tremolo bar to try and mimic the gentle back-and-forth vibrato of a slide, especially when applied to double- and triple-stop licks, so that all the notes modulate up and down in pitch in lock-step fashion. Where rock and blues lead players often play around the target pitch of a bend, through the use of finger vibrato, mechanical bends require spot-on intonation, which means eschewing finger vibrato altogether. The most challenging aspect of mimicking the sound of the pedal steel is performing its smooth, precise mechanical pitch bends using your fingers to push or pull one or more strings sideways, which is how you bend a note with your fingers on the guitar. WeвЂ™ll practice volume swells in the exercises to come, but now letвЂ™s move on to the fundamentals ofвЂ¦ Mechanical Bending Technique In this case, youвЂ™ll probably find that using a volume pedal works best for quick, smooth swells and fades. On other types of guitars, such as a Telecaster or Gibson Les Paul, on which the volume knob is located a couple of inches farther away from the strings, working the knob requires you to momentarily move your pick hand away from the playing position, which interrupts what youвЂ™re playing. This can be achieved using either your guitarвЂ™s volume knob or a foot-operated volume pedal, placed before the time-based effects in your signal path.ДЄ Strat-style guitar works best for volume-knob swells, as the knobвЂ™s close proximity to the strings enables you to easily reach it and cradle it with your pinkie while picking the strings. One of the hallmarks of the pedal steel sound is the вЂњweepingвЂќ volume swell, heard on countless country ballads from the late вЂ™50s to the late вЂ™90s and beyond. A touch of soft delay and compression may be added for extra tonal bliss and smoothness. This should give you plenty of both warmth and twang. Start by plugging a solid-body electric guitar into a clean tube amp with spring reverb, such as a Fender Deluxe or Twin, with either the middle pickup or neck and bridge pickups selected. Reproducing the pedal steelвЂ™s clear, bell-like and buzz-free tone on a guitar is a near-impossible task, but you can closely approximate it and in the process combine the essence of the two instrumentsвЂ™ unique characteristics in a way that gives you the best of both worlds.

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