Hey bikefreak, the "r" means to release the bend, you just ease the bend and let the pitch return to where you started at the 17th fret, I would play this by fretting the 15th fret with my index finger, fret the 17th with my ring finger, pick the 17th, bend up to the 19th, release back to the 17th, pull-off to the 15th, you only need to pick the first note, play it slow until you get it down.......