Bending
So let's start by diving into some extended bends covering a range of intervals. A technique common to the likes of Jeff Beck, bending in this context can create for some powerful melody lines warranting a sound reflective of a bow instrument.
Exercise A:
This exercise comes from the first 4 bars of an original track of mine entitled "Grandfather". It begins with a 10th fret bend and release, resolving to the 7th fret D note, and then into another bend, this time, a little more challenging - so take a deep breath, here we go!
...We'll play the 8th fret of the B string, bend a full tone, release, slide down to the 6th fret, bend a half step (2 times), slide down to the 5th for a quick 8th beat, and then finishing with another slide to the 7th fret with a half step bend.
Get all that? It's great to be able to hear the track as it is, so check out the Youtube video I uploaded recently, as knowing the way it should sound aside from having the transcription should provide for a much smoother learning experience (www.youtube.com/chrisfeener) "Grandfather".
Exercise B
Very reminiscent of Jeff Beck's "'Cause We Ended as Lovers", this exercise contains some, yet again, challenging bends which will test your sense of pitch like no tomorrow!
It consists of: A 10th fret full step bend, followed by a three-pitch bend (full step, step-and-a-half, release), sliding to the 5th, sliding to the 6th, bending a full step, then down to the 5th of the G, to the 4th for one last half step bend and release.
Exercise C
This last exercise is very derrivitave of something Marty Friedman would do - quick, almost middle-Eastern sounding bends that add some very characteristic flavour not frequent with standard guitar lead playing. We see these types of bends at the tail of end bar 9 and again in bar 10; the last note.
Let's start with the bar 9, 11th fret bend. We'll bend the note a full step and release, literally as quickly as possible. We then slowly bend the note a half step to conclude. This happens again in bar 10, so make sure to analyze the video and try'n nail the pitches as closely as possible. It's a very "out-of-tune" technique, but it's what adds the unique flavour!