Ghost Bend & Whammy Dive
The ghost bend and the whammy dive are two different techniques that are similar in that they are both "reverse" bends; Whereas a bend starts from a note and move up in pitch, a ghost bend/whammy dive starts from a higher pitch and moves down. So let us now look at each technique individually.
Ghost Bend
The ghost bend is a simple technique that can add a nice kick to a riff or solo. The technique is executed just like a bend except you do not sound the note until you are ready to release the bend. Here is a breakdown of how the technique is executed.
Regular Bend Ghost Bend
e|--------------------------|
B|--------------------------|
G|-12b13r12----(g12b)13r12--|
D|--------------------------|
A|--------------------------|
E|--------------------------|
^Pick this note
Here are some other applications of the Ghost Bend:
ex. 1
e|-13-10----------------------|
B|-------13-10----------------|
G|-------------(g12b)13r12-10-|
D|----------------------------|
A|----------------------------|
E|----------------------------|
ex.2
e|-(g12b)14r12-10-------------12-|
B|-(g12b)14r12----12-10----12----|
G|----------------------12-------|
D|-------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------|
Whammy Dive
The whammy dive is a technique that requires that you have a tremolo bridge. If you do not have one I encourage you to read further anyways(the more you know, the more you grow). The technique is executed by sounding one or more note(s) and pressing the tremolo arm towards the strings which realeases tension on the strings and lowers the pitch. Try these examples to get the idea of how the whammy dive sounds and feels. These example are some common applications for the whammmy dive, a few of which are not possible with the ghost bend.
Single note Chord Open string Harmonics e|------------------------------------(5)d~--|
B|------------------------------------(5)d~--|
G|-7d~~---------7d~~----0d~~----------(5)d~--|
D|--------------7d~~-------------------------|
A|--------------5d~~-------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------|
Whammy Dive Vs. Ghost Bend
Although the two techniques are similar there are some who prefer the whammy dive and some who prefer the ghost bend. There are also some instances where a ghost bend is more appropriate sounding than a dive and vice versa. In part II of this series whe will compare the two techniques and see which ones are are better in different situations and applications.
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