Question:
To be blunt and to the point:
"Proper Pull-Off"... how is one done? (though I'm sure there are a million and one ways people do them, what's the most effiecient way?)
"Proper Bending"... how is it done? (Again, same as above?)
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Basicly, I've run into a road block of sorts. In studying the piece "Paranoid" (Iommi), anytime I get around 70-80 percent of the actual speed, I begin to get large amounts of erronious happenings. I've learned some things recently via Chesh ( ), but then I run into other things I suspect that are also potientially problemmatic. So I come here looking for guidence (and also in hope to get chech via another means perhaps . (Very buisy lately eh bud? )
Answer:
The classically taught way to pull-off is to pluck the string with your fretting hand along the way so that you don't have to strike the string twice with your playing hand.
As far as bending, there are a number of techniques that would have to be discussed. Generally, the string is bent towards the middle of the neck (maybe past, but towards the middle). Sometimes it is "pre" bent before the note is struck, other times it is bent after the note is struck. Sometimes the string is bent behind the nut of the guitar...
Nate
Answer:
No need to go into all that man, just speaking of Basic pull-off and BASIC bending (no zakk wylde nut bending, pre-bending (ghost bending), or any of that stuff)...
Answer:
So I guess by no one responding, noone has a good answer for this?
Answer:
Originally Posted by Six Flags So I guess by no one responding, noone has a good answer for this?
Well, I think a "good answer" is that there are generalities to the technique of playing the guitar; pull-offs, hammer-ons, staccato picking, harmonics, bending, etc...but each of these things can be done a little different from player to player.
Here's what I would describe for both pull-offs and bending, in theory:
Proper pull-off can be done by picking the first note in a sequence of 2 or more and then pulling your finger away from the string in such a way to drag it across a little to emulate a violin bow and enough to be able to sound off the second note in the sequence.
That said, some people push their finger upwards and create the same effect as a pull-off.
Included in this proper pull-off is the ability to not strike any of the surrounding strings and/or mute them to silence them unless you're doing a multi-string or double-stop pull-off.
In asking about a proper bend, you need to clarify what kind of bend you find "proper". You can bend up a half step or whole step or more. You can bend a note, pick it and then bend it down, you can bend it up and down in sucession and so on...but the "proper" way to bend is to, regardless of the interval, have a root note in mind and a destination note and then proceed.
In practice, pull-offs, bends and everything else are just things that I learned how to do by listening to others and then copying them, not really realizing what I was doing. I just did it and it worked.
Answer:
Originally Posted by SixFlags So I guess by no one responding, noone has a good answer for this?
Do I not count? I really didn't get all that technical in my reply - I'm sure I could have been less technical, but then I would feel like I wasn't answering your question.
Do you have a different question?
Nate
Answer:
In how to bend, I mean litterally, how to actually push/pull the string. Do you use only your finger in a motion that either pushes your fingers outward, or make a "claw" and pull it inward..... or do you somehow use the wrist (which makes no sence to me.. no muscle there......)... or do you use the muscles of the forarm to push and pull the string without moving the fingers at all...... or what?
And to pull off, do you just bring your finger down on the string, and then just pull down to the fretboard and off the string, sounding it? or what?
Answer:
Originally Posted by Six Flags In how to bend, I mean litterally, how to actually push/pull the string. Do you use only your finger in a motion that either pushes your fingers outward, or make a "claw" and pull it inward..... or do you somehow use the wrist (which makes no sence to me.. no muscle there......)... or do you use the muscles of the forarm to push and pull the string without moving the fingers at all...... or what?
What I've been taught is that whether you "claw" to pull the string or whether you push the string, it's best to move the string in the direction that you could (possibly, if you wanted to) move it the farthest. When I think about that, I think "toward the middle of the neck." That way, you'd bend the high e string one direction (pushing) and the low E string another direction (pulling). Does that make sense?
Nate
Answer:
I do all bends by pushing the string toward the low E side of the fretboard.
As for pull-offs, you need to have your finger on the lower note you intend to play before lifting tte finger on the higher note. Example:
-6p4-
To pull off from 6 to 4, you should have a finger on 6 and a finger on 4. Then, quickly pull the finger on 6 off the string and down toward the high e side of the fretboard. If you have enough distortion on, you can just lift the finger on 6 straight up and still get a pull-off.
Answer:
Just like the tails of notes on a staff that go up or down depending on where they sit on the staff related to the middle, I'll bend up or down depending on which string I'm on in relation to the middle of the fretboard.
Also, though I can bend with any 1 finger, even my pinky, I usually favor my third finger and "support" it with the first and second fingers, each on adjacent frets, and my thumb somewhere on the back middle of the neck for a nice center-point pivot.
Answer:
thanks for the replys so far, but I don't think anyone on here is quite grasping what I'm asking about bending. Right now, not to offend, I couldn't care less which direction I bend...
I mean, ... how do I ask this? Which muscles do I use? Do I uses the arm muscles, or the finger muscles? And on either of those two, how do I actually uses those muscles to do the bending?
(ex: Do I rotate the arm muscles to make a "door knob rotating motion" to bend the string up or down?)
Answer:
At this point, it just sounds like you're thinking about it too much.
If your finger muscles will do the job (a light bend), just use them.
If you need your hand/wrist muscles to jump in and lend a hand (medium bend), by all means let them help.
If you need your arm muscles to get there (a bend where you're worried you might break the string), call them in too!
Above all, though, I would avoid analyzing things this closely most of the time. Basically, the principle is "economy of movement." The less you can move of yourself and get the job done is almost always the best way. In bending, you do what it takes to get the job done and that's about the best I can say it.
Nate
Answer:
Originally Posted by Six Flags thanks for the replys so far, but I don't think anyone on here is quite grasping what I'm asking about bending. Right now, not to offend, I couldn't care less which direction I bend...
I mean, ... how do I ask this? Which muscles do I use? Do I uses the arm muscles, or the finger muscles? And on either of those two, how do I actually uses those muscles to do the bending?
(ex: Do I rotate the arm muscles to make a "door knob rotating motion" to bend the string up or down?)
Here's a question to answer your questions: Why do you want to know?
If anyone here is unable to type or speak out a suitable answer then I suggest you take a private lesson or check out a DVD instructional so that you can visualize what it is that you desire to learn.
If you're visually impaired then it's possible that a private lesson might be the best option as it would allow you to use a sense of touch to discover what it is that you need to discover.
You'll have to excuse me if I can't get into any more detail because, as I said before, it's something I developed naturally without realizing what or how I was doing it. I just did it.
Answer:
All my sences work properly . I doubt that I'd be able to read this stuff if I was that visually impared.....
Why I'm going so hard after this is that after a certain speed... (after 70% of 164bmp) I get slow fingers due to tension, and other errors occuring. I tried relaxing, but I start slipping up even at deadly slow paces... I end up under another string when bending instead of right against it, or I sound one off on the way back. My pull-offs can only so fast when relaxing..... before they too start becoming error ridden. I'm trying to learn one of the most basic songs in the genre of music I love, Paranoid (Iommi), and having lots of trouble.
I came to you guys cause my normal music/life mentor seems really buisy and hasn't been on for over a week now... Normally he helps me out, but life has him by the ears for now it seems...
Learning these techniques properly ... well, I have to do that so that possibly I can actually learn the rest of this damned solo and get on with it. I really wish to just learn this one and move on to either snowblind or Iorn Man, and it's probably going to be iorn man... seeing that snowblind requires my detuning... not going to do that with 8's on a floyd ... (I need a fixed bridge for that sorta work, hehe.).
Answer:
I use my fingers almost exclusively to bend notes. Simply move your finger in either direction while keeping the string pressed against the fret.
Really, it just takes practice. Yes, practice. It's not going to just click after reading something online.