ArticulationAdvanced
Microtonal bend on the ♭3
A quarter tone: the note that sits between ♭3 and 3.
Notation
1♭345♭7
e
B
G
D
A
E
1
2
3
4
5
¼
6 strings · A minor pentatonic · box 1 (5th fret)scroll the tab →
Degrees involved♭3 toward 3, without reaching it
The gestureYou push the C up a quarter tone. It isn’t a mistuned wrong note: it’s a note that sits between the two, and it doesn’t exist on a piano keyboard.
Target noteNone — it's a colour, not a move.
Over which chordEspecially over the dominant I (A7), which already contains C♯: the scale’s ♭3 clashes against it, and the quarter tone is the negotiation between them. It’s the technical reason the blues sounds the way it does.
The rhythmLong, exposed, often with vibrato afterward. It has to be felt, not passed through.
Common mistakeReaching the full semitone: it becomes a major third and the ambiguity disappears — which is the entire point.