Nick Jennison's Guitar Essentials: String Bending & Vibrato

Nick Jennison's Guitar Essentials: String Bending & Vibrato offers an in-depth exploration into two of the most expressive and vital guitar techniques: string bending and vibrato. This course is designed to help guitarists of all levels understand the nuances of these techniques, allowing them to breathe emotion and life into their playing. Both string bending and vibrato are signature techniques used by some of the greatest guitarists in history, and Nick Jennison breaks down each concept with clear explanations and practical demonstrations. By mastering these techniques, players will improve their tone, feel, and overall control of the guitar.

String Bending Techniques

String bending is one of the most powerful ways to create emotion in your playing. It involves physically pushing or pulling the string across the fretboard to raise the pitch. Nick Jennison's lesson covers the fundamentals of string bending, from basic half-step bends to advanced pre-bends and release techniques. Throughout the course, Nick focuses on developing accuracy and control, ensuring your bends hit the desired pitch every time.

String bending allows guitarists to mimic the expressive quality of the human voice, creating an almost vocal-like sound that is impossible to replicate with other techniques. This lesson also dives into bluesy bends and unison bends, demonstrating how these techniques can be used to create tension and resolution in your solos.

Benefits:

• Improves pitch control and ear training
• Enhances emotional expression in solos
• Adds dynamic tension to your playing

Vibrato Techniques

Vibrato is the technique of rapidly oscillating the pitch of a note by subtly bending the string up and down. This technique is often considered the fingerprint of a guitarist’s sound, as every player develops their own unique vibrato style. In this course, Nick teaches various vibrato methods, from subtle, controlled vibrato to wide, aggressive vibrato, showing how it can be applied across different genres.

The course explains how to combine vibrato with string bending to create smooth, expressive phrases. Vibrato adds sustain to notes, making them feel alive and full of character. Whether you prefer the subtle touch of players like David Gilmour or the intense vibrato of players like Zakk Wylde, this course equips you with the tools to develop your own signature style.

Benefits:

• Enhances sustain and note clarity
• Creates a unique personal playing style
• Adds depth and texture to melodies

Techniques Covered in Detail

Pre-bends

Pre-bends involve bending the string to a certain pitch before picking it, allowing for instant tension and release without hearing the initial bend. This technique is widely used in blues and rock solos and adds an element of surprise to your playing. Nick Jennison provides a step-by-step guide to mastering pre-bends, focusing on pitch accuracy and musical application.

Bluesy Bends

Bluesy bends are essential for players looking to capture the raw emotion of blues music. These bends often don’t land perfectly on a specific pitch, giving them a "dirty" and expressive sound. Jennison highlights how to use these bends to create a soulful, vocal-like quality in your playing.

Unison Bends

Unison bends are a staple in rock and blues. They involve bending one note while holding another note on the same pitch, creating a powerful dissonance that resolves when the bend reaches the target pitch. Jennison’s course shows how to effectively incorporate unison bends into your solos, adding intensity and drama.

Double-Stop Bends

Double-stop bends involve bending two strings simultaneously. This technique creates a rich, harmonised sound and is often heard in country and blues guitar playing. Jennison walks you through how to perform these bends with control, ensuring both notes are in tune and harmonised correctly.

Combining String Bending and Vibrato

One of the most advanced techniques covered in the course is combining string bending with vibrato. This technique is essential for creating smooth, vocal-like phrases that captivate listeners. Nick explains how to add vibrato to the top of a bend, giving your notes a dynamic and expressive quality.

Influential Guitarists Featured in the Course

The course also highlights iconic guitarists who have mastered these techniques and left a lasting influence on the world of guitar playing. From blues legends like B.B. King, known for his signature vibrato, to modern rock players like Slash, whose soulful bends are iconic, Nick Jennison draws on examples from various genres. Understanding how these guitarists apply string bending and vibrato in their playing can inspire students to develop their own voice on the instrument.

B.B. King

The "King of the Blues," B.B. King is renowned for his expressive use of vibrato. His signature "singing" guitar style heavily relies on subtle bends and wide vibrato, creating emotional depth in every note. King’s influence can be heard in countless guitarists who aim to capture the soulfulness of the blues.

David Gilmour

David Gilmour of Pink Floyd is another guitarist whose mastery of bending and vibrato is legendary. His melodic and emotive solos, such as those in "Comfortably Numb," showcase how string bending and vibrato can create timeless, haunting melodies. Gilmour’s precision and feeling make him a standout figure in the world of guitar.

Guitar Techniques in the Lessons

1. Vibrato
2. String Bending
3. Pre-bends
4. Bluesy Bends
5. Unison Bends
6. Double-Stop Bends

By mastering the techniques covered in Nick Jennison's Guitar Essentials: String Bending & Vibrato, you'll gain greater control over your instrument, allowing you to deliver emotionally powerful and technically precise performances. Whether you're an aspiring blues player or a rock guitarist looking to elevate your solos, this course offers everything you need to take your playing to the next level.