Good. So what we're going to do now is add a vibrato to that .
Remember how we were saying with the vibrato you've got to have the thumb somehow lodged against the side of the neck
and then we're going to turn the doorknob backwards.
So here's what we're going to do…
Just like that.
Now one of the things you want to avoid is starting the vibrato too early because then you end up with an out of tune note.
So you want to try to avoid that.
You want to relax, let the note be annunciated clearly and then vibrato.
This is the way you sustain your note and add a vocal quality to it.
Good.
Now that's the beginning of Lightnin's big bend, that's what I call the setup.
There's a second part to this lick and that's what we call the bend.
After we play, we're going to take all three fingers or first, second, third fingers, transfer them to the first string and we're going to do a bend.
Let me show you how to do that.
You take all three fingers on the first string and remember your backward turn of the doorknob
but this time you have to make sure you really get your fingertips firmly holding that string.
We bend up.
Now remember with the bend you're basically moving several other strings.
You are only bending one string that first string but you are moving several other strings along with it even though they're not sounding.
So it takes a lot of strength to do that and that's why you need your wrist with that backward turn.
So what we're going to do is get a firm downward pressure on those fingers, using the fingertips so it doesn't slip off
and turn the doorknob backwards.
Then when it relaxes bring the index finger up like this.
Now it seems kind of odd I know but there is a reason for this.
And we follow through with the G, A, the third fret on the first string, the fifth fret on the second string.
Again, this is what we do, we have this setup.
Vibrato, transfer the fingers, do the bend, on the relax of the bend bring the index finger up.
So again, on the relax of the bend, bring the index finger up.
Follow through with the G, E. So. G, E.
Now notice I'm vibrato-ing that last note.
Once you annunciate a note then you can vibrato it.
So let's look at the whole Lightnin Hopkins big bend lick. We have the setup and the bend.
The setup…
Vibrato, transfer the fingers, bend.
Don't forget to pull that index finger up. And follow through with the two notes.
Now I'm going to explain a little bit about the importance of that finger coming up because if you lock your finger down and you do this…
You end up with a very anemic sounding lick and you can't get the four note definition that you need.
One, two, three, four.
As you speed this up…
You can really hear the four notes even though you're doing it quickly and that all depends on the bringing up of that index finger.
So if you want to train yourself well to get that, take your time at first.
Bend, bring the index finger up.
If you can do it slowly you can do it quickly.
So let's take a little bit of time now and try the setup in the big bend.
Go for it.