The bending family (b, r, pre-bend)

A b means bend: the fretted string is pushed sideways until the note rises. Often the target stands with it — 7b9 means "fret 7 and bend until it sounds like fret 9." A whole-step bend raises by two frets, a half-step bend by one. An r after it (7b9r7) is the release: let the bent string back down. A pre-bend bends before the pick, then sounds. These four — bend, target, release, pre-bend — cover almost all bend markings.