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Bending The Blue Note

If you want to be able to play great blues guitar licks with feel so you can sound like a professional there is an easy-to-learn technique that you can use on just one note that will take your soloing to the next level. When it comes to music, it's not only the notes you play but also how you play them and the most important element is feel. If you play from your heart and soul with real intent and meaning, it will project to your audience. By learning to bend just one note you will improve your playing immediately.

The Blue Note

Here is a blues guitar lick in the key of A:

E|--------------------
B|--------------------
G|---------5--7--8---
D|--5--7-------------
A|--------------------
E|--------------------

The blue note is the flat 5th (also written: b5) of any blues scale. We are playing in A and are starting on the G note which is the flat 7th (also written: b7) of the A Blues Scale. From the guitar tab above, the G is the note that is located at the 5th fret on the D string. Then we are simply playing the next 4 notes of the scale which are as follows:

* The A which is the Root note of the scale and is located at the 7th fret on the D string.

* The C which is the flat 3rd (also written: b3) and is located at the 5th fret on the G string.

* The D which is the 4th and is located at the 7th fret on the G string.

* And finally we play the blue note which is E flat (or Eb), the b5 and is located at the 8th fret on the G string.

Listen carefully to the sound that the b5th produces. This note is what gives blues its distinctive sound. You can get a huge amount of feel, tone and flavor out of music just from this one note.

Bending the Blue Note

A great way to introduce some real heart and soul into the lick is to bend this note. Instead of fretting the b5th at the 8th fret, you can fret the 7th fret and bend the string. The aim is to move the string upwards so that it reaches the same pitch if you were playing the note at the 8th fret. Even though you are only playing one note, it gives you a lot of options as you can vary the speed in which you raise the string. You don't have to move the string upwards; you can go down as well. However you will have more control if it goes up towards your face.

You can also move the string up and down from the 7th fret. This will create a vibrato effect and will add to the feel and phrasing of any lick you are playing.

Playing blues guitar is about playing from your heart. A great way to get this across to the audience is to use the techniques that help put emotion into your playing. By bending the blue note and using vibrato you will be able to play with a lot more feeling and make your guitar sing.