One of the reasons that the guitar has been such an important instrument - arguably the most important, in popular and folk music anyway - is that it is capable of playing any note. By this I mean it can play any of the hundreds of notes located between, say, D and D# on a piano. These notes are sometimes referred to as microtones, and most western music has deemed them unnecessary (although quite a few composers have experimented with them). In certain types of music however, they are crucial - particularly in blues (but also in jazz and country).

Probably the most important aspect in blues guitar playing is the bending of notes, which is accomplished by pushing (and in some cases, pulling) the strings up (or down) the fretboard. This creates a quality that is sometimes considered vocal in its sound. You can hear it clearly in the playing of B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Albert King, etc.

Today, I'd like to turn your attention to one of the greatest examples of microtonal, string-bending, blues guitar playing in existence: Duane Allman's solo on "Stormy Monday" from The Allman Brothers at The Fillmore East (1971). (Search Stormy Monday in YouTube and you'll find it.) The solo begins at 3:36 and builds in intensity throughout, until it reaches its climax at the 4:58 mark (approximately) where the same note is repeated eleven times (by my count). But with tremendous pitch control achieved through string-bending, it never sounds the same twice. The solo is remarkably expressive and powerful, and it is music that could only be created in this style and on this instrument. Of course it requires a masterful player as well, and Duane Allman is still considered among the very greatest, despite his having died in a motorcycle accident three months after the release of At Fillmore East, and a month before his twenty-fifth birthday.