Bending issue - sounding open string

[bdesilva]

I'm finding that, especially when I play a lick slowly, the open string 2 above the string I'm bending sometimes sounds on the way down from the bend. One of my support fingers seems to catch on it. Is this a left hand problem or does one just have to always mute that string?

[Paul_in_Monterey]

I was having this problem early on in my bending practice as well. I found that as I had been working on it for a while and my strength and feel for the bend increased the problem seemed to lessen and I was able to deliberately let the string down while easing off of the string above without sounding it. Also, it's kind of hard to explain the mechanics of it, but if you bend with only the tips of your fingers then there is not a lot of meat to catch the open strings above and it's easier to sort of 'roll' off of the unused strings. So you don't 'have' to always mute the unused strings. Hope this helps.



Paul

[bdesilva]

Yes, thanks. I know I still have a lot of work to do on just the basic bend. My pitch isn't always perfect, at times I do push with just/mostly the fingers AND the open string sometimes sounds. As I review sometimes my left hand sounds a note without bending too! Lots of work/fun to do.

[Paul_in_Monterey]

Yes, I bet as you work on your bending technique over the next couple months the problem will slowly resolve on its own. That's how it worked for me. I still have lots of work to do also but the issue of how my fingers were contacting/sounding the open strings above has kind of gone away on its own. I didn't specifically work on that, just my bending in general. But I also almost always mute the open strings anyway, it's just nice to know you don't need to in order to get a good bend.



Paul

[bdesilva]

Yes, I bet as you work on your bending technique over the next couple months...

Patience is a virtue, I know, however in the hour I spent on the basic min pent scale this morning I think I made enough progress to be decent at it after about 200 more similar sessions! For one who normally learns really quickly, working on GP presents slow progress!

[Paul_in_Monterey]

Patience is a virtue, I know, however in the hour I spent on the basic min pent scale this morning I think I made enough progress to be decent at it after about 200 more similar sessions! For one who normally learns really quickly, working on GP presents slow progress!

Yeah, my 2 and a half years learning guitar have been an incredibly humbling experience. I have always, and still do, have the tendency to get stuck in my head and be in too much of a hurry. As I've surrendered to the process I've witnessed some amazing things in my own technique. You just can't force it. I had to stop playing for 2 months because I developed tendinitis when I was in a hurry to learn string bending without having the strength or the proper technique. My tendons are still damaged and I have to be very careful with them. I am really enjoying the transformative experience of learning guitar and the excitement of what it will have to teach me in the future. It sounds like you may be thinking along similar lines. Good luck to you.



Paul

[kevnkar]

There are many different techniques for muting involving both hands. For instance, if you are bending with your third finger, you can support it with the second and lay the first down to mute. The important thing is to work on pitch and try to feel what it takes to bend on pitch. If you work on those things first, and playing cleanly, your muting techniques will just sort of work themselves out. Of course you can play good old trashy Texas blues where sometimes those extra strings sounding becomes part of the performance. Just my two cents anyway. Remember, it will take a lifetime to not master the guitar
Have fun!

[lufc71]

Yup, like most things with learning a musical instrument, bending takes a lot of time and practice.

A good practice technique that I use is this:-

1) Pick a suitable string; say the b string
2) Play the notes 15, 14, 13 with fingers 3, 2, 1. (remember those notes in your head)
3) Slide the hand down to play at 12 with the 3rd finger, then pre-bend up to 15 (i.e. mute until you get up to 15), and repeat 15, 14, 13 as you release the bend trying to exactly match the pitch cleanly. Not so easy as it sounds

You can play this over a large area of the neck, and of course you could start just playing say 14, 13 and then pre-bending from the 12 up to the 14.

Like the comment above, one of my main muting techniques is to lay the first finger across the strings, and bend with the 3rd finger.