How to Read a Bend & Release on Guitar Tabs

Video Transcript

"BRYAN BILLHIMER: So in this step, we're going to be talking about bend and release. Okay. In a bend and release, it's going to look like this. So we have our note that we start with, we're going to pluck the 13th fret on the B string, and in this case it's a full bend so a one whole step bend. So, you got the arrow going up, this is full above the arrow, then we have a line that goes across, so you're going to hold that bend and then you're going to release it. So, you're going to let the bend fall back down to the position that we started on. That's why you'll see this 13 now is in parentheses. That means, you come back to the original note but you do not pick it again. So, we strike the note, we bend up a full bend, we hold it and then we release it back down to its original position. This is called bend and release. Okay. So, bend and release; 13th fret, B string is what our notation told us. And you're going to bend up a whole step or a full step. And then you're going to release it back down to its original position bend and release. So bend up, hold, release. And in a riff, it might be something like.... That's another bend and release there on a different fret. Okay, on to the next one."