As with hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides, the bend can also be played as a grace note.
Quick bend
Quick release bend
This lick uses a quick bend from D to E on the third string, followed by a slow release bend back to D.
In this example the bend is held while the second note is played. The example alternates between a bent E note on the third string and an E note on the second string 5th fret. Both notes are the same pitch. The process is then repeated on the second and first strings between two A notes of the same pitch.
This time the E note on the 2nd string is played at the same time as the bend on the 3rd string.
In this example the first finger bars the first and second strings while the bend is played.
This lick shows some of the typical sounds created by the use of these techniques.
Here is a new lead guitar solo "Bending the Blues", which uses lots of note bending. It also contains hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides, and involves the technique of barring the strings with the first finger. Once again, all the notes come from pattern 1 and pattern 1 extension. The timing of this solo is based on the shuffle rhythm and it contains both eighth note triplets and quarter note triplets.