w&ffi ffiffituffiffi finger because it's stronger. The other fingers can support the onedoing the bending. Most bends in rock and blues go up one whole-step; get the correct note in your head by playing the z4 on the secondstring, l0th fret. Practice bending right up to the /. Ifyou hold thenote for a while, use slight vibrato:

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Once you have these scale patterns memorized, it's time to learn

how to move them to other keys. For instance, the f irst pattern

becomes an .Escale when moved to the l2th fret. You can easily figure

this out by moving the root of the scale up the fingerboard chromati-

cally (.the root is the note that has the same name as the scale). For

example, on the sixth string the note at the 5th fret is an /; at the 6th

fret it's an ,4 # (or a Bb-they're the same); at the 7th fret it's a B, and

so on until you get to the l2th fret. Here's the complete chromatic

scale so you can move other patterns on your own (once you get to

the end ofthe scale, G#, continue ascending by starting over at z4). As

long as you know the name of the scale or chord youte starting with,you can move up or down through the chromatic scale; each letter

represents one fret (beware of open strings).

A A*(Bb) B C C*(Db) D D*(Eb) E F F*(Gb) G G*(Ab)

But knowing note locations isjust the beginning. The next step is

to start learning the building blocks of licks: hammer-ons, pull-offs,

bends, and slides. Hammer-ons and pull-offs can give the notes you

play f luidity and speed. The fol lowing phrases are a few short

examples for the scale position at the 5th fret. From here it's your

responsibi l i ty to transfer the techniques to other phrases andpositions:

Now let's learn the bend in combination with some other notes.(A reverse bend starls with a bent note, and then releases it.)

Lots of guys ask which notes I like to bend the most, and I alwayssay a// of them. And that's true, depending on the song I'm playing.However, some notes are bent more than others' The example we justlooked at uses one of the most commonly b€nt notes. Remember itsposition in relation to the scale pattern at the 5th fret-it's on theiecond string and played with the third finger-so you can use it inother keys. Two other good notes to bend, also played with the 3rdfinger, are located on the third string, 7th fret (D; see Fig' 3) and first

string, 8th fret, (Q. Here are some licks using both notes, combiningthem with hammers, pulls, and slides. Practice them until theybecome second nature: then find their location in the other scalepatterns. Once things feel comfortable, work on playing lead indifferent keys and with a variety of rhythms.

zI-N-N

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Bending is probably the technique most often associated withblues and rock soloing, and for that reason it's the most importantone to learn. Ifyoute a beginner, there are a couple ofthings to watchout for. First, dont overshoot the bend. By that I mean don't bend anote beyond where you intend to go. And once a note is bent, becareful not to use too much finger vibrato-a singing effect producedby rapidly wiggling a string with a finger of your left hand right afterit's been played. If your vibrato wavers too much, you'll overshootthe bend and itll sound weird.

Here's an exercise for developing bending accuracy. If you canbend with the left-hand pinky, f ine; but most players use the 3rd

5E currAR PLAYER/JULY 1984

Continued