Beyond Natural Harmonics
(19 Jun 02)
Natural and tapped harmonics
Ok, for this next MP3 I turned up the gain on my amp. I played the natural harmonics at the 12th, 7th and 5th fret ( G, B and high E-String ) and "dipped" with the whammy bar. This is pretty much a classic harmonic effect. And thatīs why I donīt need to explain much about it...
Click HERE to hear this example.
Ok, I mentioned "Two Rivers" by Jeff Beck. Here is something similar to the second guitar-riff of that song. Start on the low E-String by hitting the natural harmonic at the 5th fret. Then, move down the string while picking... that way, play the harmonic at the fourth, then the one at the third fret. On those rather small distances, you can get quite a few different harmonics. Experiment with that.
In the audio example, I repeat the same thing on the A-string.
Click HERE to hear this example.
Artificial ( or pinch ) harmonics
This is a very popular tool for rockguitarists. Iīm sure that all of you heard this sound before. And if you know some ZZ Top-Songs, you sure have heard Billy Gibbons use that technique in his own unique way.
Letīs for an example play a note on the G-String, and pick it with your guitar pick. You have to hold the pick a certain way so that, immediately after the pick left the string, the side of your thumb touches the string lightly. That way, the regular note is turned into an harmonic. ( Try to simulate it this way: pick the regular note, than touch the string with your fingertip at the position where you picked it... very carefully. The regular note should be turned into a high-pitched harmonic. If you can do this, try it with the way I described above ( touching the string with the side of your thumb ). This might take a while, but once you know how to do it, it will get easier and you most likely wonīt lose the ability to do it.
By the way, this is only one way to achieve those artificial / pinch harmonics. The other one ( the way Steve Morse and Billy Gibbons do it ) is:
Pick the note as above, then slightly touch it softly with the nail of your pinkie, immediately removing it again. Again, a regular note should be turned into an high-pitched harmonic.
Now, once you can nail this, try the following: While picking, move your picking hand forth and back along the string ( so you pick at a different position every time ) while creating those artificial harmonics. Youīll see that the pitch changes every time. And with your left hand, you keep fretting only that one note. Cool, huh ?
Try to find some "sweet spots", with sounds you like most. Zakk Wylde made this technique an essential part of his sound, and uses it to get some MEEEEAAAAN sounds. But heīs not the only example... Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satch, Michael Schenker... I can hardly think of a rock guitarist whoīs not using those harmonics to add some life to their solos... itīs a great phrasing tool as long as you donīt overdue it...
Here is an MP3 of me doing what I described above: picking artificial harmonics while moving up and down along the string with my picking hand...
Click HERE to hear this example.
...and, just for the sake of it, a short improvised solo using lots of those artificial harmonics...
Click HERE to hear this example.
Tapped Harmonics
This is one of the techniques made famous by Eddie Van Halen ( as in the intro of Van Halenīs "Mean Street"... also check out Nuno Bettencourtīs intro of the Extreme-song "Lilī Jack Horny" )
Hereīs how ya do it:
Fret a regular note ( letīs just say the A at the 2nd fret of the G-String ). Donīt pick the note, just fret it. Then, tap the same string exactly 12 frets above ( and above the fretwire of that 14th fret ). Tap the note hard and immediately take the tapping finger away again. What you should hear is an harmonic, exactly an octave above the fretted note.
Next, try other intervals between the fretted and the tapped note. Not all intervals will work, but youīll get cool results when tapping a major sixth ( 9 frets above the fretted note, in our example that would be at the 11th fret ), the fifth ( 7 frets above, so in our example the 9th fret ) and the fourth ( 5 frets above, so in our example: 7th fret ).
Noticing anything ? Yup, we do have those intervals again... 12th fret, 7th fret and 5th fret... the intervals I told you to remember when I talked about natural harmonics.
Here is an audio-example:
Click HERE to hear this example.
Ok, the more difficult variation would be to fret chords and tap those chords as harmonics... use the intervals I described above. Itīs a nice, funky-sounding effect.
Click HERE to hear this example.
Last variation:
Arpeggiate the chord youīre fretting by tapping each note of the chord an octave above ( kinda "mirroring" it ). This can be heard in Van Halenīs "Spanish Fly" and the aforementioned Extreme-song, or in my MP3:
Click HERE to hear this example.
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