By
eHow Arts & Entertainment Editor
Difficulty: Moderately Challenging
Step1
Look for the letter b (lowercase). This is the symbol for a string bend in tablature.
Step2
Check the number in front of the b. This is the fret you will be using. Put your finger on that string, on whatever fret number is written in the tabs.
Step3
Find a second number after the b. This is the pitch you will be bending to. To do this, you need to be able to hear note changes and identify a half step, whole step, etc. The majority of string bends go up a whole step, so you'll see things like: 5b7, 7b9, 9b11, etc. For a half step, it would be: 5b6, 8b9, etc. When you know how much difference there is between half steps and whole steps, you can bend according to the tabs. If in some rare cases nobody put a number after the b, you usually want to just bend up a whole step.
Step4
Reach the note change required by the tabs. You can mute that note or let it sustain as you play on, according to what sounds best.
Step5
Note reverse bends. This is just the opposite: a bend marked 9b7, 7b5, etc. means you are letting go of the string from its original bend and letting it go back to its original tone on the fret that your finger was previously on. Remember, you will only see reverse bends where you have already bent up, a reverse bend cannot exist on its own.