Picture by @lindsphotoco

Blues gamers starting from B.B. King, Albert King, and Albert Collins to J.D. Simo, Robben Ford, and John Scofield all have seemingly untouchable parts to their enjoying that make them masters of the guitar. The excellent news? A few of these seemingly untouchable parts are completely learnable and customizable! An idea I picked up from listening to those legends opened my eyes to at least one factor they’d of their enjoying that I didn’t. The thought is a straightforward manner to boost your blues enjoying but is underutilized at most jam periods and in most 12-bar solos. So… what’s it?

Half-step bends inside the pentatonic scale.

I’m positive you’re pondering, “Effectively in fact. B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and numerous others have been utilizing that concept for many years.” Whereas true, they principally used this idea another way—by constructing these huge gradual bends one half-step at a time. We’re going to take {that a} step additional, no pun meant.

In Ex. 1, I begin with the idea in its easiest kind. By understanding of the E minor pentatonic scale (E–G–A–B–D), I ascend by enjoying the 5, b7, and root notes. Instantly after enjoying the basis, I fret the 7 and bend again as much as the tonic with vibrato. The important thing to creating this sound intentional is to not linger on the D# . Though that is solely a fundamental demonstration of the idea, I benefit from the slide-esque really feel and tonality this lick supplies.

In Ex. 2, I develop on the identical concept with an extended lick, however out of a unique place of the E minor pentatonic scale this time. You’ll discover that the second bend is definitely outdoors of the pentatonic field, and I launch that bend earlier than ending the lick. Utilizing your first and third fingers, it isn’t a lot of a stretch.

Now that you just’ve obtained the essential idea beneath your fingers, it’s time so as to add a easy pull-off. In Ex. 3, this concept is positioned on the peak of the ascending part on the lick. After fretting the 6 with my third finger, I fret the b6 with my second finger and bend proper again up into the 6. As soon as I hit the goal notice, I launch the bend and pull-off from the b6 to the 5. The remainder of the lick is pretty easy, nonetheless working inside the E minor pentatonic scale. Through the use of a half-step bend adopted by a pull-off, this lick has a short second of stress and a basic sense of “slipperiness” earlier than being resolved.

Yet another embellishment of this idea value including to your vocabulary is to slip into the goal notice after a half-step bend, slide downward one half-step, and end with a pull-off as proven in Ex. 4. This lick may be difficult to execute with velocity at first, so I encourage you to take it gradual and concentrate on the readability of every notice inside the lick.

When you get the dangle of it, strive tackling the following trio of licks. Whenever you’re snug with these examples, you’ve actually obtained the idea beneath your fingers and you should use them so as to add “flutter” and “wow” to your soloing.

Ex. 5 combines main and minor pentatonics and would possibly take some time to really feel pure. It’s a little bit of a stretch, so make sure you use your fourth finger in the course of the triplets—this may assist with transitioning between the three sections of the lick.

In Ex. 6, I work the idea right into a traditional blues lick to create a unique really feel and sound from what you’ll usually hear.

I’m nonetheless working in the important thing of E, however only for enjoyable I goal the V chord (B7) in Ex. 7. This willhopefully spark creativity when making use of this idea. Plus, it’s nice for organising a turnaround!

Implementing this idea of half-step bends can add a number of new and fascinating sounds to your repertoire. Don’t be shocked when your guitar enjoying friends ask, “What was that?!?” As with every newly discovered idea, it’s simple to overuse as soon as it’s snug. The objective of studying this concept is so as to add taste to your blues enjoying, preserving in thoughts that it isn’t meat and potatoes—it’s a marinade.