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Harmonics 101
Whether you enjoy the beauty of a ringing natural harmonic or a hair-raising tremolo bender on 11, you've come to the right place. First, let's listen to and examine the fundamental harmonic building block. Then, let's tear it apart without mercy. Have no shame! |
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The natural harmonic forms the basis for the next two techniques. Rather, all three of these sections are simply variations on a theme. Place your finger directly over the twelth fretwire of any of the six strings, but don't press down as you normally would if you were fretting a note. You are using the fretwire only as a guide to figure out the perfect distance to ring out that harmonic. As soon as you pluck the note with your right hand, lift your finger off of the string. It takes a light touch. What note was that anyway? The easy part about using the twelfth fret harmonic is that its the same note as the string. 12th fret on the "E" string = an "E", 12th fret on an "A" string = an "A", etc. If you're playing harmonics on other frets, go ahead and figure the notes out yourself. Then, once you gather enough notes, you can play a whole melody using harmonics. Yeah, but where else can you play, you ask? For sure bets, try the 5th and 7th frets. From there, it gets a bit more tricky to sqeeze out the notes. For the extra talented, try between the second and third string. Give a listen...Example 1 - Natural Harmonics |
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Tapping harmonics allows for a ringing tone. Similiar to the sound of bells in its resonance. Van Halen used this technique to great length on many of the older albums both with and without distortion. Once again, a light touch is called for here. Form any chord, generally somewhere above the 5th fret, and individually tap the notes of the chord (arpeggio-style) over the fretwire that is twelve frets above. If you fret a string at the 3rd fret with your left hand, tap over the 15th fretwire with your right hand. Clean or dirty this technique can produce some ear catching effects. Give a listen...Example 2 - Tapped Harmonics |
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Palm muted harmonics generate a rapid fire assault. Palm muting was used to kick off many solos during the height of Metal. Make sure you have lots of distortion for this one. This one can be a little more tricky and most often only works with fire breathing distortion settings. While simultaneously pulling off at the 3rd and 5th frets continuously to the open 3rd string, lightly run the palm of your hand up the string from the bridge towards the fretboard. Do it enough, and you'll find some sweet spots on the way down the string that really make some noise. Give a listen...Example 3 - Palm Muted Harmonics |
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