The pinched harmonic

[Kenanana]

I can do it on some frets. Not all though. Someone told me maybe I dont have enough gain but if I put it up too high it screws the eq over nicley and just makes everything sound BLEH so to speak. So my guess is its my technique. I know you have to let your thumb hit just so lightly after you hit the string with your picking hand so maybe im doing something else wrong or I could be given more detail or something? Most things I post no one can seem to answer but this seems more simpler and apropriate.

[NickGT]

It could be your pickups, but basically just keep practicing it. You'll get better.

[ashc]

This is not really something I want to do a lot, but I've played with it..(I can only get it going on downstrokes personally). But what I have found..

The strength varies a lot according to right hand position - it's a harmonic after all so where you are on the string makes a big difference. Pick a fret, try the middle of the neck, e.g. 7th fret, then start with picking at the neck and move backwards towards the bridge. For this example you might notice it's much stronger just behind the neck pickup.

As well as the brushing with the thumb you need to really dig in with the pick.

Do a search on the forums as well because this has come up before and there was some expert advice then.

[Jimmy]

I tend to really dig in with the pick & make sure I give it loads of vibrato!!!! \m/ ;)

[Pablo Gilberto]

I prefer doing pinched harmonics on the E, A , D and G string. It sounds awful on the E and B. I also noticed that there are frets where the harmonic sounds better then when I do them at other frets...

[mattyvegas43]

I can do them on all the strings, but the strength (and type) Of harmonic depends where you pick it. I think that (I have no idea if this is true) It is the same as playing a harmonic using the right hand say twelve frets up from the note you played (I've forgotten the name of this type of harmonic), but by using a pinched harmonic, meaning that you can get get different harmonics depending on where your right hand is I don't know if thats true though, its just my theory.I can play melodies just by using right hand pinch harmonics on one note. You will need a lot of practice, this is quite hard to grasp at first.

[widdly widdly]

The pinch harmonics are related to the ratio of where your pick is to the distance between the fret your playing and the bridge. They are the same ratios as natural harmonics or touch harmonics.

The easiest ones to sound are halfway between the fret and the bridge. For example if you are playing e string 12th fret, a pinch harmonic should sound with the pick at the 24th fret. To get the same harmonic when playing a g on the 15th fret you will have to move you picking hand slightly closer to the bridge so that it is halfway between the 15th fret and the bridge. This will be where the "27th" fret would be. Pinch harmonics halfway along a string sound an octave higher than the fretter note.

Then you can do 1/4 of the distance along between the fret and bridge. For e at 12th fret, pinch at the 17th fret. You can get the same harmonic 3/4 of the way along the string, closer to the bridge. This will sound two octaves above the fretted note.

Try also 1/3, 1/5, 1/6 etc..

It shouldn't be harder to get harmonics on different frets. It's a matter of finding the right position with your pick.

Can anyone get pinch harmonics on up strokes? I've never been able to get that to work. Any tips appreciated!

[mattyvegas43]

The only times I can get pinch harmonics on an upstroke is by accident!

[TheJeffinator]

For upstrokes, study Billy Sheehan's bass pinch harmonics. He 'stacks' his middle finger on top of his index finger and hits the string over a node, so his index finger starts the string's motion like a pick would, and the middle finger lightly taps it over the node to activate that harmonic - I say study it because it's hard to make sense of it by reading it, partly because it's a strange technique and partly because I babble on endlessly about stuff like this and lose coherency quite frequently. Once you have an idea how that technique is used, it can be employed with slight modification to the guitar - just line up your middle finger along the side of your index finger and use the inside (closer to the index finger) tip of your middle finger to hit the node - it takes practice, but it *can* be done - not as quickly as tremolo picking, of course, seeing as how there is more resistance with the technique and you have to pick a little harder and go a little farther out to pinch, but you can learn to alternate pick pinch harmonics.

This is probably confusing as hell, so respond with all your questions because I probably left something very important out.

Rock On,
The Jeffinator

[oRg]

Check out this article by EricV http://www.ibreathemusic.com/article/38/0

It gives great insight to various forms of harmonics, including something called harp harmonics which I recommend you to check out.