An introduction to guitar harmonics
Harmonics on guitar are notes that are played by lightly touching
the string as opposed to fretting it at a certain point on the
guitar neck. Instead of creating a simple vibration sound, these give
a chime-like quality that adds depth and flavour to playing and can
also be used as pedal tones or drone notes. There are, however,
many kinds of harmonics and understanding all of them, whilst not
essential to guitar itself, greatly increases your melodic and
tonal possibilities. So without further ado, let's have a look at
what we can do:
Natural Harmonics
The most common form of harmonic and the easiest to do. To create a
natural harmonic, you lightly touch the string at the desired fret,
pluck the note and then swiftly pull your finger away to allow the
note to chime. Technically speaking, natural harmonics can be
performed anywhere on the guitar neck, but certain frets will have a
clearer sound and a preferred intervalic quality relative to their
open string:
12th fret - octave
7th/19th fret - octave + perfect 5th
5th/24th fret - second octave
4th/9th/16th fret - second octave + major 3rd
3.2 fret - second octave + perfect 5th
Songs to listen to: Yes - Roundabout
Tommy Emmanuel - Angelina
Touch Harmonics
Essentially the same concept as a natural harmonic, a touch
harmonic is created by fretting a note and then creating a harmonic
relative to that fret. Example - a 12th fret touch harmonic made whilst
fretting the 2nd fret would be performed on the 14th fret. There are
several ways to do this, but the most common is to use the index
finger of the picking hand to rest above the fret and either the
thumb or a plectrum held between the thumb and middle finger of the
picking hand to chime the note. These are also known as 'classical
harmonics'.
Songs to listen to: Eric Johnson - SRV
Pinched Harmonics
Particularly common in heavy metal. These are basically an
extension of the touch harmonic concept. The actual harmonic itself is
made by chiming the note with the plectrum and creating the harmonic
with the picking hand thumb immediately afterwards. It's a difficult
technique to master requiring a great deal of trial and error
playing. To get the really high-pitched 'squeal' harmonics, you have
to go past the 24th fret and look to the harmonics above the guitar
body itself.
Songs to listen to: Just about anything with Zakk Wylde or Dimebag Darrel
Slap Harmoics
Another extension of the touch harmonic concept, this method is
fairly self-explanatory. You basically slap the guitar with your index or middle finger at the desired
harmonic node. The advantage of this style of harmonic is that it can
be used to chime a whole chord at once.
Songs to listen to: Eric Johnson - Trademark
Harp Harmonics
My personal favourite. This really is just a concept that utilises
both touch harmonics and normal fretted notes. The idea behind harp
harmonics is to alternate between playing a touched harmonic and a
fretted note so that the notes blend into each other and create a
'cascading' sort of sound. Tommy Emmanuel is particularly known for
having mastered this technique.
Songs to listen to: Tommy Emmanuel - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
That just about covers it. Not all of these techniques are going
to be essential to every guitarist of course, but if you undertake to
getting at least some of them under your belt, you're going to be armed
with a wider range of tonal qualities to experiment with. Look to
people like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani for ideas on how to
embellish simple ideas with harmonics with use of the whammy bar.
Above all, experiment with these and just have fun!