where is a good resource for bender licks?

[fiestabender]

is there a great book or site that has worthwhile bender licks on it. any input would be greatly appreciated.

[Don Miller]

There is really no book, and on the internet there is stuff here and there...some videos on You tube, some tab at the Clarence White Forum, some other stuff scattered among the "play country guitar" websites. I think the best thing one can do is get some good slower down software, and CDs/mp3s of tunes with the licks you want to learn, and go to work...

I will occassionally use Audacity to pick out and make a file of the particular lick so I dont have to use the entire file. My slow down software also has a looping function, so I can isolate the lick with that as well...

[Freight Twang]

http://www.tallstrom.com/licks.htm

[BrianF]

Originally Posted by fiestabender

is there a great book or site that has worthwhile bender licks on it. any input would be greatly appreciated.

The music is on the CD's not on paper... Every CD that Clarence White played B Bender on with this Byrds and others are the holy grail of Bender licks and Tele playing. Get the Amazing Slow Downer Software and learn how to transcribe oneself. It's much more effective than trying to read someone elses TAB.

[jazzbender]

Telesevant has a DVD out with some great bender lines on it. It also includes some advanced manual bends. Check it out at Elderly Instruments.

[J. Hayes]

fellow Forumite Will Ray has an excellent video out called B-Bender Mania or something like that. He uses a HipShot unit on the video but you can use any type of bender with it to learn the licks. He's an interesting teacher and a great player so you can't go wrong with this one. Forget using tab as it doesn't give you any of the nice feel of the playing or the phrasing needed to make them effective..........JH in Va.

[Dogbear]

Brian is so right about "it's not on paper". So much of it is feel... The difference between a well executed lick and a train wreck is nano seconds. It also comes down to what style of bender you want to play. The modern "chicken pickin" style ala Brad Paisley et al or the traditional Clarence White type. Once you decide then you can focus are learning the patterns, scales and techniques. For many of us, the bender is a type of playing style, not an effect. Once the faux steel licks lose their attraction, you can focus on adding fluidity to your music by incorporating the bender into your playing style. Clarence did this so well. If you listen to Clarence's awesome flat picking you can hear the beginnings of his bender style. He used his mastery of timing to shape the music he played and when the bender came along, he added it to the mix. No one has ever surpassed him. As Don so well stated "get some good slow down software, and CDs/mp3s of tunes with the licks you want to learn, and go to work". Slow down software is one of the best investments you can make.

http://www.ronimusic.com/

http://www.seventhstring.com/xscribe/overview.html

There are many videos out on Youtube and Vemeo. These are a couple of videos of Mike Beck playing with Montana Rose that are full of tasty bender licks and close ups of him playing. One can learn a lot from the finger positions and patterns.

http://vimeo.com/6052560
http://vimeo.com/6053150

In this one is bender work is very subtle .......
http://vimeo.com/6053899

And last of all find another bender player to learn from. It can be someone local or someone in cyber space. Brian Friend has taught me a lot in the last couple of years as we play music together over the internet. So have so many others players in this forum and the CWF. There is more out there than ever before, go dig for it.

http://www.clarencewhiteforum.com/

[tomtheguitarguy]

Originally Posted by J. Hayes

fellow Forumite Will Ray has an excellent video out called B-Bender Mania or something like that. He uses a HipShot unit on the video but you can use any type of bender with it to learn the licks. He's an interesting teacher and a great player so you can't go wrong with this one. Forget using tab as it doesn't give you any of the nice feel of the playing or the phrasing needed to make them effective..........JH in Va.

+1 on the Will Ray material. Will is a very interesting guy for sure - and it comes through on the video.

http://store.hipshotproducts.com/car...ct_detail&p=28

[tomtheguitarguy]

Dan Schafer also has some good stuff as well. I have his video and a B Bender Instructional CD. He's a member here, but doesn't post a lot but you can see his stuff at: www.DanSchafer.com

[Rick Towne]

And don't forget the Bob Warford catalog: Heart Like A Wheel, Ian Matthews selected cuts, Michael Dinner selected cuts, as well as Al Perkins, a much more economical style, and Jimmy Olander with Diamond Rio for the Glaser G bender style for contrast. ITunes and other sites will get you all of these by track.

[Don Miller]

Man, that Montana Rose material is good stuff..Mike's bender licks add a real nice slithery edge to those tunes...a very nice contrast to Claudia William's vocals......I like the style where one slides in and out of b3rds and
b7ths and whatever like Mike is doing...its almost like you have to have your ear twisted a bit to do that stuff...Clarence and Bob Warford wrote the book on that style of bender guitar and clearly Mike has read it....

[Dogbear]

Don, preview this CD off their site. This was recorded in Nashville and features Mike Beck on all of the tracks. The bender work is quite tasty. This is right up there with Oildale and John Steinbeck. I worked out a lot of his licks from the videos and this CD. Some tracks of note are "I'll Be Here in the Morning", "Boots", "Over You" and "Isn't it Enough". The blending of pedal steel, dobro, and B bender is unmatched.......

http://www.mtrosemusic.com/My%20Time.html

Associated thread on the CWF with comments from Bob Warford.....

http://www.bbenderguitars.com/CWforu...opic.php?t=804

[Don Miller]

Haa..Im ahead of you. I downloaded "My Time " from Amazon yesterday...good stuff too...I need to take one of those long drives and listen to it......altho we got a bunch of heavy wet snow and I aint driving anywhere...

I used to play "I'll Be There in the Morning" when I was in college..I'd forgotten about that tune...good song...

[Dogbear]

Lived in Anchorage for about 4 1/2 years. I miss Alaska in the summer, don't miss the "winters are for Alaskans"........ My old bones like the sun...... BTW, do they still hold blue grass jam sessions in the downtown guitar store? Can't remember the name.

They do a really nice version of ""I'll Be There in the Morning". What I like about Beck is that he works so seamlessly with other "bent" instruments. Seems to know when to come in and when not too. Warford's comment that "Mike has really relaxed into the use of the bender as and where needed, and incorporated it into his overall style" is so very true. High praise from a master bender. I find myself playing quite a lot of Beck's licks. He is a good resource for any player because in so many of his videos he shows you both his hands while he is playing. From the simple to the more difficult he lays it out for you.

[Don Miller]

BTW, do they still hold blue grass jam sessions in the downtown guitar store? Can't remember the name.

That was a long time ago..there hasnt even been a guitar store downtown for a while...the bluegrass jams are currently held at the Arctic Roadrunner (hamburger shop on the Old Seward Highway)

[asatfan]

Dogbear, thanks for the links to Montana Rose. Never heard of them before this (which isn't unusual). Great stuff, and Mike Beck is really smooth player with a nice touch. Thanks again!