string bending
Fretboard pitch shift
String bending is a guitar technique where a fretted string is pushed sideways across the fingerboard, raising the pitch smoothly rather than in discrete steps.
The technique allows guitarists to slide into notes, add vibrato, or mimic vocal inflections.
Essential to blues, rock, and country playing, bending gives the guitar its expressive, crying quality: He bent the note up a whole step before releasing it.
- vibratoOscillating pitch effect
- guitarFretted stringed instrument
- lead guitarMelody-playing rock role
- fretAgitation or fingerboard guide
- bluesMournful American music genre
blues licks · B.B. King · pitch · half step · whole step · slide · whammy · tone · crying tone · fingertip · finger strength · sustain · expression · solo · neck · note · curl · tension