Technique · Advanced · 6 min
Bends That Land in Tune
Play the target note fretted, then bend from a lower fret up to the exact same pitch, a whole step or a half step.
How to play it
- Play the fretted target (the first note of each pair) and listen to it.
- Move two frets lower and bend up a whole step until the pitch matches. On the last pair, move one fret lower (fret 7) and bend up a half step. Push with three fingers, not one.
- Hold the bend steady until the coach accepts it. The target is the bent pitch, not the fret you press.
What the coach checks: The pitch you reach, within 25 cents. It cannot tell a slow bend from a fast one.
Tab player
Hear the line
Tap any number to hear it. Four clicks count you in.
100% is the goal tempo, 60 BPM. The speed presets climb from Learn to Goal about 10% at a time, and the practice slider below uses the same scale. Build a full ladder to your goal
Your practice room
Find each note
Single-note pitch feedback. Practice waits for each note; Play checks the sequence at your chosen tempo. This does not assess chord quality or fret buzz.
This checkpoint needs 60 BPM or faster and the required accuracy. Slower Play attempts still produce practice scores.
Exercise map · 8 targets
- 1. E4Bar 1 · beat 1 · string 3 · fret 9
- 2. E4Bar 1 · beat 3 · string 3 · fret 7
- 3. A4Bar 2 · beat 1 · string 2 · fret 10
- 4. A4Bar 2 · beat 3 · string 2 · fret 8
- 5. B4Bar 3 · beat 1 · string 2 · fret 12
- 6. B4Bar 3 · beat 3 · string 2 · fret 10
- 7. C5Bar 4 · beat 1 · string 1 · fret 8
- 8. C5Bar 4 · beat 3 · string 1 · fret 7
Chord names and stroke directions are visual guidance. Rhythm scoring measures attack timing.
Play one note at a time.
Tune first. Audio stays on this device.
Why this drill
An out-of-tune bend is one of the quickest ways for a solo to sound unfinished, and bend pitch is something the microphone measures to within 25 cents. Hearing the fretted target first gives your ear the pitch to aim for.
Common mistakes
Whole-step bends stop short of the target
Fix: Undershooting is the miss to listen for. Play the fretted target, then bend until the bent note and the memory of the target sound like one pitch. The coach accepts the bend within 25 cents.
Bending with one finger
Fix: Put the ring finger on the bend fret with the middle and index fingers behind it on the same string, and turn the wrist as if turning a key. Three fingers give the control to stop exactly on pitch.
Overshooting the half-step bend
Fix: The last pair needs only a half step: string 1 fret 7 is B, and bending it to C needs half the push of the whole-step bends before it. Play C at fret 8 first and aim for exactly that.
Tempo plan
100% is the goal tempo, 60 BPM. Each rung sits about 10% above the one before it, so every step up is one you can hold. The speed presets in the player above use the same rungs.
- Learn 45 BPM · 75%Each note gets two beats. Use the first to reach the pitch and the second to hold it steady.
- Build 50 BPM · 83%Reach the pitch in one smooth push instead of creeping up to it.
- Push 55 BPM · 92%Switch to Play · full check here. Two clean passes in a row earn the next rung.
- Goal 60 BPM · 100%Every bend in tune within the first beat and held through the second, all four pairs in a row. A pass at 80% accuracy or better clears the drill.
- Stretch 66 BPM · 110%Run a few passes here, then return to the goal. Time above the goal makes the goal feel settled.
Build a full ladder to your goal with holds and back-off sessions, starting from the tempo you can play today.
Make it music
These bends sit in A minor territory. D bent up to E on string 3 is the fourth bent to the fifth, and G bent up to A on string 2 is the flat seventh bent to the root: two staple bends in blues and rock soloing.
Variation
Try a pre-bend: bend string 3 fret 7 up a whole step without picking, pick the bent note, then release it back down to D. The release has to land in tune too.