Unison bends involving 3 strings

MentalSharps

I'm trying to get the hang of unison bends but can't for the life of me work out or find any info on how to do the unison bends in the solo of Boom Boom by John Lee Hooker - bending 14th fret of the G string up a tone while fretting 12th fret B and E strings.

I can't find any way to bar both the E and B with my index but not mute the B string with the underside of my ring finger when fretting the 14th. 

I can do it lower down the fretboard but at the 12th-14th I can't manage it, anyone got any tips?

DulcetJones

Where's your elbow when you do this?      When I play this my elbow  is even with the guitar neck and at a 90 degree angle from the neck.  As I move down toward the nut  it moves in closer to my body.    I've solved a lot of issues like this by just moving my wrist and or elbow to give my hand a more comfortable way to play whatever I'm having trouble with.

bwets

Try using your second finger for the bend instead?

merlin

Try fretting the 14th with your ring finger and using your middle finger on the 11th fret, so the two fingers (middle and ring) move at the same time. This way the effort of bending the string is shared between two fingers.  

roberty

Without seeing what you're doing it's hard to say, but try moving your thumb further down the neck, this will move your wrist forward and give your fingers more clearance

merlin

roberty said:

Without seeing what you're doing it's hard to say, but try moving your thumb further down the neck, this will move your wrist forward and give your fingers more clearance

Good point. My thumb is touching the neck at the 12th fret, roughly at the top joint. This gives more leverage. 

EricTheWeary

I tried that bend last night and seemed to have the opposite problem of muting the high E unintentionally with my index finger. Just a smidgeon of extra pressure resolved it. Sounds like your palm must be almost flat against the neck? Does seem like an angle issue.  

MentalSharps

Moving my thumb behind the neck and rotating my wrist helped, though I struggled to do it while sitting, have to lean forward, it's easier when standing.

But I'm able to play the 3 notes cleanly that way at the start of the bend. But there's no leverage to do the bend now so I'm mostly just pushing it up with my fingers, with the tiny bit of wrist rotation I can do. No way around that I guess?

EricTheWeary

Sometimes things like bends are harder when you are sitting because you bunch over to see what what your fingers are playing and that shifts all your angles. Possibly just stand and watch yourself in the mirror. 

Lestratcaster

Use your picking hand to mute strings too as you bend it the part that connects your thumb to the wrist slowly folds over to stop and ringing strings.

stratman3142

MentalSharps said:

...But I'm able to play the 3 notes cleanly that way at the start of the bend. But there's no leverage to do the bend now so I'm mostly just pushing it up with my fingers, with the tiny bit of wrist rotation I can do. No way around that I guess?

Good advice given already, but a couple of other things spring to mind. Do you have particularly low frets, which can make it difficult to get enough skin under the string for the leverage. Do you have particularly heavy strings? 

Also, you could try supporting the bend with your middle finger if you're not already. Edit. Just spotted that has already been mentioned.

roberty

MentalSharps said:

Moving my thumb behind the neck and rotating my wrist helped, though I struggled to do it while sitting, have to lean forward, it's easier when standing.

But I'm able to play the 3 notes cleanly that way at the start of the bend. But there's no leverage to do the bend now so I'm mostly just pushing it up with my fingers, with the tiny bit of wrist rotation I can do. No way around that I guess?

Progress is good! It's possible mate just keep analysing your movements and refine your technique bit by bit

DLM

I thought a vid might help: