How to Play Harmonics
Harmonics are a big part of what we hear when we hear the sound of a musical instrument. On the electric guitar, harmonics make up the notes that we hear. We often think of harmonics as specifically isolated techniques.
Every note you play is made up of various harmonics. What you hear is a singular note at a specific frequency, known as the fundamental. This is the strongest of the harmonics that make up that note.
We can incorporate harmonics into our guitar playing as a technique by learning how to isolate specific overtones from this.
In this lesson we’re going to break down the two main groups that harmonics fall into:
- Natural Harmonics
- Artificial Harmonics
The various harmonics we can play on the guitar are created by shortening the string to various harmonic nodes. These are specific distances from the nut and the bridge.
Technically speaking, all harmonics are artificial because we’re physically adjusting the length of the string to increase the frequency at which the string vibrates, but we refer to natural harmonics as “natural” as they are applied to the open string so they are naturally occurring across the string length.
Natural Harmonics
Natural Harmonics exist across the open strings of the guitar. Imagine you guitars scale length from the nut to the bridge saddles, this is the area in which notes are produced.
In this region, you’ll be shortening the string by using different harmonic nodes at specific distance intervals to isolate individual overtones.
The technique of playing a natural harmonic involves resting your finger above the fret wire on the specific fret you’re creating the harmonic on.
The easiest place to start is at the half way point. The 12th fret is exactly half way between the nut and the bridge, so if you rest your finger lightly over this fretwire, you will generate a harmonic that is the same pitch, and notes, as the open strings underneath it.
If you divide the overall string length into thirds, you end up with a harmonic on the 7th fret and another of equal sound on the 19th.
If you divide the string into quarters, you get a harmonic on the 5th fret and an equal harmonic on the 24th fret. If you have a guitar with less than 24 frets, you can still play this harmonic by lightly touching above where the 24th fret would be.
Natural harmonics can be found at other places all around the guitar, but they don’t always line up with the fret wire. These harmonics you’ve learnt so far do line up with frets so they are easy to find. Spend some time experimenting with other positions and try to fine some of the guitars other harmonics.
Artificial Harmonics
Artificial harmonics are a type of harmonic that are created by intentionally shortening the overall string length by fretting a note, and then finding the harmonic nodes of the newly shortened string. There are three types of artificial harmonics you can learn. All will be using this simple 4 note pattern:
Harp Harmonics
A harp harmonic is when you take the index finger on your picking hand and place it lightly above the fretwire exactly 12 frets higher than the note your fretting. This creates the 12th fret style harmonic by dividing the string in half.
Once the index finger is lightly resting in this position, you can use your thumb, or another finger on your picking hand, to reach behind your index finger and pick the string.
Tapped Harmonics
Tapped harmonics are when you use your index finger to tap the fret 12 frets higher than your fretted note. Tap right above the fretwire and don’t let your finger hand around too long, think of it as a bouncing motion where you tap the string and then move your hand out the way. This creates the harmonic.
Pinched Harmonics
A pinched harmonic is a type of harmonic that is generated by picking the string and brushing the side of your thumb against the string once the pick has passed the string.
You can simplify this approach by picking and brushing your thumb directly over the fret 12 frets higher, this is the easy way to play a pinched harmonic, however the more commonly used way involves finding the harmonic points around the pickup area.
What makes this tricky is that each fretted note has different harmonic sweet spots so it takes a little trial and error to find the spots that work best for you.
