Challenge August 2026 EP 462 Dieter

[Dieter]

Lesson EP 462 is full of fast pedal steel licks. Brian explains that the whole-tone and half-tone bends should be executed with precision to sound impressive.
And that’s exactly my general problem: executing whole-tone and half-tone bends with precision. Especially at fast tempos, this often results in somewhat whiny three-quarter bends. I generally use very thin 8-gauge strings on all my electric guitars, but I’ve noticed that I handle bends best on my Tele and worst on my “Paulas.”
For my video, I slowed down the tempo a bit and put a lot of effort into the bends. Some of it turned out pretty well, but I’m not entirely satisfied. I’ll keep working on it.

Dieter

• This topic was modified 1 day, 10 hours ago by Dieter.

[Michael Krailo]

Wow, that one does indeed look pretty challenging. It’s just going to take a lot of hard work to nail those bends to your own satisfaction. Imagine using 10 or 11 gauge strings like some players do, I don’t know how they do it.

Root note patterns >>> CAGED shapes >>> TRIAD'S. Just put in the work and watch your guitar skills soar.

[Alan L]

Nice work. You definitely capture some of that expressive cry and whine

[charjo]

Oh my gosh, that’s a bending nightmare and not easy at all. You’ve got the right guitar for the job. Understandably, I think you were under pitch on some of those compound bends but that’s one of the tougher things to do on guitar. Great job overall.
John

[JoeD1]

I have the same struggle with bends but you pulled it off quite nicely in my opinion. It definitely looks like a bend intensive lesson. I tried 8s but always wound up sharping notes so I switched to 10s (after trying 9s) on my guitars…it takes a little more effort to bend but I think it sounds better.

Joe

The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound,
Or the strength of an Oak with roots deep in the ground.
--Graeme Edge

[James B]

Nice country picking, Dieter. You’ve still got some bends in those fingers. As much as I love that kind of music, I have to skip those lessons. It’s too hard on my hands.

James

[AndréM]

I can do bends pretty much but those pedal steal are a nightmare.
You played it very well, sounds good.
I think Brian uses 10 gauge imagine…
Sounded great at your speed.

AndréM

AndréM

[Bill]

Hey Dieter, that is sounding pretty close and I love this style of Country picking. I’m not sure if it was intentional but at points the track sounds like it had quite a bit of gain on it, then it would cut out to sound much cleaner. I prefer, and think the cleaner tones, definitely work better with this type of Country music. And not having it overdriven will make getting the intonation on the bends even more important. Keep it up!

[Michael L]

Hi Dieter, yes those bends are tough! I don’t even try… acoustic guitar only for me. You played this with great tempo and feel even with the tricky bends. Nice flow and a good listen.

[Don Patton jr]

Hi Dieter,
Done great half and full bends in your phrasing and composition…really adds to the country vibe . Well done 👍🤠

Don P

[sciencefiction]

Sounds awesome, Dieter. You were really hitting most of those bends excellently. Plus, you played the whole lesson well, which looks like one tough lesson fore sure. Great playing and bettter than Keith Richards could do now himself, I bet. Ha!
Larry

[Laurel C]

Sounded great Dieter. Love the twang. That ep has a lot going on, a real workout but you rose to the occasion.

[sunjamr]

Haha, just listening to all those bends was making my fingers hurt! That gives new meaning to the word “challenge”. Really well-played Dieter!

Sunjamr Steve

[Pap]

Nice work. Slow is fast. If you’re not happy with it, just go slower. Once you get it clean …then bring up the pace little by little.. Pap

[Mark T]

Wow, Dieter, you certainly chose a challenging lesson to demonstrate what you struggle with 😲! To be honest, I’m not sure there’s many of us that wouldn’t struggle with this – especially with what sounded to me like rapid bends with double stops – Mark 👍🎶😎

[Author]

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