Bending accuracy is one of the hallmarks of a blues guitarist who sounds authoritative rather than approximate. Brick 6 is a pure bending workout disguised as a lick — and the two notes at its heart are so clean and simple that there’s nowhere to hide if your intonation isn’t right.
What you’ll get out of this lesson: You’ll learn the two-note, four-note lick — a deceptively simple idea built on two target notes with two bends leading into them — and develop more precise control over your bending intonation in the process.
The Two Notes
The two target notes are the 12th fret of the B string and the 12th fret of the high E string. Everything else in this lick is about how you arrive at those notes. You’re going to bend into both of them: starting with the 14th fret of the G bent up, then playing the 12th fret of the B; then a 15th fret bend on the B, then playing the note on the high E. You can end it with a bend up there as well. So it’s two notes with two bends into them.
There’s only two main notes to it, and what we’re doing is just bending into those notes as well.
Why Bending Accuracy Matters Here
Because the lick is so stripped back, every bend has to land precisely on pitch. A bend that falls short or overshoots doesn’t sound like an expressive choice — it just sounds wrong. Use your ear to check that each bent note arrives at exactly the same pitch as the fretted version of the target note. If you’re not sure, fret the target note first, let it ring, then bend up to match it.
Hearing It in Context
You can hear a version of this idea in the intro of an Eric Gales track — the transcript references a song called “Dragging Me Down” where he puts the lick in with his own characteristic touch. Seek it out if you can: hearing how a master deploys something this simple will give you a sense of how much expression is available in very few notes.
Taking it further: Experiment with the ending. The lick as written resolves cleanly, but you can extend it with a sustained bend, a vibrato on the final note, or by adding a phrase from earlier bricks. The two target notes also suggest a strong melodic anchor — try using them as a resting point in a longer improvised phrase.
Your homework: Practise each of the two bends in isolation before putting the full lick together. Your goal is for every bend to land exactly on pitch every single time. Use a reference note — fret the target and listen — then bend to match it. Do this until it feels automatic.