Andy Timmons on Approaches to Expressive String Bending Techniques

Guitar World

Andy Timmons continues exploring a topic that’s near and dear to his heart — using string-bending techniques and related phrasing approaches to craft emotionally expressive melodic lines.

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:03 Everybody, Andy Timmons here.

00:19 Welcome back to Melodic Muse for Guitar World.

00:22 And we're going to continue talking about a subject near and dear to my heart,

00:25 and that is string bending.

00:26 And maybe talk about a couple of my influences

00:28 first before getting into some playing.

00:30 And I recently got to go hang out with a dear friend of mine

00:33 who also happens to be a hero, and that's Mr. Steve Lukather.

00:36 And he came through town with Toto and Journey.

00:40 They were playing a double bill, sold out at the arena

00:42 here in Dallas, which is great, having a sold out arena show with great guitar

00:46 rock.

00:47 It was very heartening.

00:48 But had a wonderful hang with Luke that day.

00:50 Went to see him that night.

00:52 And again, he's literally--

00:54 I've got more from him than almost any other player.

00:57 Such a huge influence.

00:58 And-- but I hadn't seen him live like in an arena ever.

01:02 So I'd seen him in some other places along the way.

01:04 But tremendous player.

01:06 But I was really blown away.

01:08 I was moved so much.

01:09 Every time he bent a note, it really just went straight inside me.

01:13 And it was a recognition that A, I heard myself in his playing,

01:20 because it's such a big part of how I approach the bends and how I find pitch.

01:25 And he was so in the middle of that pitch

01:27 that we talked about in the last lesson, finding the center of the pitch.

01:30 And he's textbook for that.

01:31 And I know that Larry Carlton was an influence on him.

01:33 And he's another guy that I learned immense amounts from.

01:35 That first Larry Carlton solo record with Room 335

01:39 and some of his great early tunes.

01:42 That whole record is everything you need to know about bending, 101

01:47 and beyond, honestly.

01:48 So these two guys, big influences on me.

01:50 Great to see Steve recently and just be so blown away.

01:54 Brought me to tears.

01:55 It really, truly did.

01:56 And as I've talked about Jeff Beck before, seeing him

01:59 and what he does with string bending, it's just mind-blowing.

02:01 So let's continue the path here.

02:03 Let's talk about some more techniques.

02:05 And hopefully, we can improve all of our bending.

02:08 OK, so now we're going to dig into bending through a scale.

02:12 We're going to start with C sharp Dorian as it applies to the C sharp

02:15 minor blues we're going to get into here a little bit.

02:17 So let's hear the sound of that C sharp Dorian all on the G string,

02:21 because that's where we're going to be bending.

02:23 So I'm going to start on the B, C sharp, D sharp, E, F sharp, G sharp.

02:31 What do you want to call that?

02:32 A sharp, I suppose?

02:33 B?

02:34 C sharp.

02:35 So we want to get that sound in our head.

02:37 [PLAYING GUITAR]

02:40 Now, that's another practice I love anyway,

02:42 is practicing scales horizontally.

02:44 [PLAYING GUITAR]

02:48 OK, now we're going to do a series of bends

02:51 that are going to go from one note and bend up to the next scale note.

02:55 So if we're going to start on that same B on the fourth fret,

02:59 I'm going to bend from that B to the C sharp.

03:01 [PLAYING GUITAR]

03:04 Again, trying to find just the center of that pitch.

03:06 [PLAYING GUITAR]

03:08 No vibrato.

03:08 [PLAYING GUITAR]

03:12 A lot of strength coming from the two fingers behind, thumb behind the neck.

03:16 [PLAYING GUITAR]

03:17 Now, to the note that I just achieved with the bend,

03:20 I'm going to fret that note and then bend up to the next scale note.

03:23 [PLAYING GUITAR]

03:25 OK, so we have--

03:27 [PLAYING GUITAR]

03:29 Could either re-articulate or just slide it.

03:31 [PLAYING GUITAR]

03:34 I do that a lot where I'll start the sequence and not pick another note.

03:37 I'll just do it all by slides.

03:38 [PLAYING GUITAR]

03:41 Now, we've got--

03:42 [PLAYING GUITAR]

03:44 This next bend is a half step because the next scale note is E from the D sharp.

03:49 So we have--

03:49 [PLAYING GUITAR]

03:53 So that's kind of new in what we're talking about.

03:55 That's just a half step bend from D sharp to E.

04:00 One of my favorite bends is that where you can find a good half step.

04:03 [PLAYING GUITAR]

04:04 And this is usually where it is.

04:05 It's in that when you've got a minor chord.

04:07 [PLAYING GUITAR]

04:09 The third, if you bend from the nine.

04:10 [PLAYING GUITAR]

04:17 Now, from that E, the next scale tone is a whole step.

04:21 [PLAYING GUITAR]

04:23 Bending from E to F sharp.

04:24 [PLAYING GUITAR]

04:26 Next one is F sharp to G sharp.

04:27 [PLAYING GUITAR]

04:29 G sharp to-- we're going to call it A sharp.

04:31 [PLAYING GUITAR]

04:32 Always feels weird saying A sharp because it's inharmonic with B flat.

04:35 But in this key, it is A sharp.

04:36 [PLAYING GUITAR]

04:38 And then A sharp to B.

04:39 [PLAYING GUITAR]

04:41 If we want to complete the octave, B to C sharp.

04:43 [PLAYING GUITAR]

04:45 So as an exercise, well, the way I would combine this,

04:48 the way I connected this--

04:49 [PLAYING GUITAR]

04:52 That's a nice way to do a release.

04:53 [PLAYING GUITAR]

04:55 Again, no vibrato at the end.

05:11 Or maybe a little reward at the end.

05:12 [PLAYING GUITAR]

05:16 All right.

05:16 So what goes up can come down.

05:18 So let's do the whole thing in reverse.

05:21 Let's start at the octave, where we start here on the G string.

05:25 And we're going to go up to that--

05:28 math is good-- 16th fret on the B.

05:29 [PLAYING GUITAR]

05:31 So pay attention as you're going through this.

05:40 The strength that it takes and the articulation that you're getting,

05:43 not only from the bend-- and it's the release--

05:45 [PLAYING GUITAR]

05:48 And then sliding into that next note, setting yourself

05:50 up to where the next bend occurs.

05:52 [PLAYING GUITAR]

05:55 I'm getting as much volume out of--

05:57 [PLAYING GUITAR]

06:01 Then I'll re-articulate.

06:02 [PLAYING GUITAR]

06:05 [PLAYING GUITAR]

06:08 [PLAYING GUITAR]

06:12 [PLAYING GUITAR]

06:16 [PLAYING GUITAR]

06:19 [MUSIC PLAYING]

06:23 (upbeat music)

06:26 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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