So many people struggle with string bending, and a lot of the time it comes from a lack of tension in the fingers and in the fretting hand overall. Here's a slightly weird exercise that trains exactly that.
How a good bend should work ▶ 0:00
I normally encourage people to grip either side of the neck, lock the hand in place and turn the wrist. That way, when the fingers push the string up, they stay nice and solid. The only things moving are the string and your arm, as the wrist turns and brings the palm towards the underside of the neck.
That means you're using your arm and wrist rather than your fingertips. If you just try to extend your fingers, it can be quite hard to control the bend and to add vibrato afterwards. Sometimes you have to bend like that, but ideally you want to be turning the wrist.
The trick: bend with no hand on the neck ▶ 0:49
Take whichever bend you're struggling with, and try to do it without any of your hand touching the neck. The only thing in contact is your fingertips, really just on the string and maybe slightly touching the fretboard.
For example, a bend on the 12th fret of the B string, up to the pitch of the 14th fret. Use your third finger, which is a good one to start with, and bend up to pitch with no part of the underside of your hand touching the neck.
Why it works ▶ 1:18
To do this at all, you have to bring tension into your fingers. If your fingers and hand don't have tension, the string simply stays where it is. You can move your hand all you want, but the string won't go anywhere.
So this trains you to move the string with tension in the hand. A lot of the time in music it's about relaxing and releasing tension so you can move freely around the fretboard. But when it comes to bending, you need to grab the string with a bit of impetus and move it.
I'm not shaking the fingers. I'm grabbing the string with a fairly tense hand and I'm turning the wrist.
The same goes for vibrato: it comes from turning the wrist so the underside of the palm comes towards the neck, not from wobbling the fingers.
Practise it everywhere ▶ 2:00
Don't just try it on the one spot that's giving you trouble. Try it on different frets and different strings. Try a semitone bend, a full bend, or even a tone and a half bend.
You can do it slowly to practise your pitching, checking that you land on the note you're aiming for. Or do it quickly, to practise it in a more realistic way.
Put the hand back on the neck ▶ 2:35
Once you've got the hang of it, bring your hand back on to the underside of the neck with your thumb on top, put your third finger on the string where you're going to bend, and repeat the same motion.
The key thing is don't let go of the tension you've just built up. Keep that same tension, imagine you're not holding the neck at all, and push the bend up. Now you've got the tension you need to move the string, plus a bit more stability and something to push against, particularly with your thumb over the top of the neck.
Pick one bend you find weak, do ten slow ones with only your fingertips on the neck, then put your hand back and see how your bends feel. If you want to check your pitching, play the target note first, or use a tuner while you bend.
