Where do you hit pinch harmonics and which is the *right* one?

Playing Technique
#1

I’ve always had trouble with these, but my band is doing some hair metal covers and they’ve become essential. Plus they just sound awesome.

So when I play them, I’m aiming for 12 frets roughly above the fretted note. That’s where my pick and thumb should make contact simultaneously to produce the harmonic, right?

I get it sometimes…maybe 40% of the time but really often it’s not loud enough. I’ve also come to learn that there are various harmonics that you can pinch and so I come to the point of this post. Which one is correct? I want the fundamental, right? The same note as the one I’m fretting? 12 frets up? Is any of this right? Any tips on technique also very welcome!

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#2

Two lessons that came to mind :slight_smile:

#3

12 frets up is trying to cut the string in half. That is one place for your flesh to touch. The pick location is not very important. The thumb must come after the note is struck, it is just like a harmonic with your fingers.

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#4

There was some good advice on my recent thread on the same topic

@kgk gave some good rules on where to find them based on the length of the string from where you are fretting to the bridge, dividing that length by 2, 3 or 4 or 5 will give the location of the harmonics and basically the locations are mirrored. So on an open string the harmonic at fret 2.6 can also be found 2.6 frets down from the bridge etc.

Also check out in that thread that @WhammyStarScream has a technique where he uses his ring finger to touch the string and execute the harmonic and I use my palm.

Actually I tend to use my palm alot now as I still have trouble getting the PH technique right and this morning I was playing some Satch stuff and getting some screaming harmonics with my palm on the G and B strings.

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#5

Hey, if it helps you, I wouldn’t necessarily think about trying to visually split the length between your finger into fractions or trying to estimate what 12 frets higher looks like. Have you ever tried the “ray-gun” sound effect? You can hammer on and pull-off between a fretted note and the open string (for talking sake, let’s say at the 2nd fret on the 3rd string). With distortion on, just trill your left hand on and off that note, and at the same time, take a finger on your right hand and run it along the higher end of the string. At various points, you will hear harmonics. When you do this quickly, it can be used to make the old sort of Van Halen style sound effects. But actually, you can also just take note of the locations where the various pitches lie, then you just hit the same place with your pick and finger next time. [Of course, if you are already pretty comfortable with how to hold a pick to produce these sounds, you can just fret a note than quickly pick your way along the length of the higher string to find the harmonics.] And you can take note of roughly where they lie in relation to the pickups or something else memorable. :slight_smile:

#6

I’m still confused though – aren’t there different sounding harmonics depending on where your pick/thumb strikes? So if I fret the 2nd fret, I’ll get differently pitched harmonics depending on where my pick/thumb strike relative to toward the bridge or toward the neck. Which one of those do I actually want? Which do most players use?

#7

There’s actually lots of harmonics that are at different points but there’s 6 main ones. Dividing the string length from your fretted hand to the bridge into 2, 3 4, 5, 6 and 7.
Players use different ones depending on which pitch they want.
There are 3 notes possible, root, a 5th up, a major 3rd up and combinations of all those together but some are 1 or 2 octaves above. So on an open E string you’ve got pitches E, B, G#, and combinations of all 3 together.

The one used by a lot of players for whammy bar dives is at fret 2.6 or 22 on an open string (E + G# on E string). That’s an Eddie Van Halen or Satch type dive but some use the 5th fret (3rd harmonic, G two octaves up on an open G string).

I hope you can read this ok it’s from an old book I’ve got. Doesn’t show the 2.6 free harmonic tho because I guess it’s not a single pitch so can’t be defined very well.

1627789985379-532627160
1627789985379-5326271601494×2656 1.31 MB

(I hope there’s no copyright issues with me posting it on here).

You will also find that a lot of players use the 2nd (octave and a 5th up) and 3rd (root note 2 octaves up) pinch harmonics in solos and riffs like Zakk Wylde and Steve Vai. If you fret on 12th fret - G string for example, you’ll find them just before or on the middle pickup on a strat.

Some tabs will give you the harmonic pitch, like B or G# or whatever or sometimes you will have to work it out from the musical notation by reading the note then it will say 8va or 15ma which means 1 or 2 octaves up respectively.

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#8

Thanks for going to all that effort to answer me @SlyVai. It does help. I need to think about it a bit and put it all together. My brain is a little mushy at the moment. Or normally. :slight_smile:

#9

Another question – can you play a pinch harmonic on every fretted note?

#10

Yes you can theoretically, but it’s harder to do on some strings, like the top E or bottom E.

Something I didn’t realise or forgot recently was that you need a good new, clean, set of strings to really get them singing. I was trying for ages on my old strat to do pinch harmonics and then someone in this forum reminded me if the strings are old you’ll have problems.

#11

Ah! interesting. I was having a hell of a time on my LP and the strings definitely need a changing.

#12

I know he is using a thimble, but I still like his explanation of how these notes are produced xD

#13

Just another question if you guys don’t mind.

I’m a little unclear on this. Are all of the pinched harmonics produced fundamentals of the fretted notes? Meaning different octaves? Or can they be different notes?

For example, if I fret the 5th note on the B string and play a pinch harmonic, is the resulting harmonic always an E regardless of where on the string I strike? I’m trying to use my ears but it’s hard for me to tell.

#14

You can play many DIFFERENT pinch harmonics on a string, depending on where you touch it with your thumb. One of them—flesh touching the middle of the vibrating string, the same as touching on the 5 + 12 fret—will be an E. Reread what @SlyVai explained for more clarity. I have not tried this but I suspect that your tuner should work on them.

#15

I apologize if I’m misunderstanding. You’re saying that if we fret and E and sound a pinch harmonic with our picking hand, we will always get an E note regardless of where we pick? The notes obviously sound different when you move across the string (but always fretting the same note), but I can’t tell if they’re the same note or different.

#16

Hi @RyanMW,

so just to summarise:

  • There are 4 different harmonic notes you can get wherever you fret.
  • So if you fret an E note, you can get harmonics in the pitch of E, G# and B, D (rare 2.6 fret, or 21.4 fret)
  • Some are 1, 2 or 3 octaves above the note you fretted.
  • However, the really high ones are actually combinations of the 4 notes. Confusing I know, but probably best not to worry about that because the ones you can hear are mostly a single note.

I hope that helps.

Best thing todo is just experiment and see what you get.

For example, say you are trying to learn a cover or a solo from a song, but the tab just says something like “12” on string G and “P.H.”:

  • If you need to work out which harmonic it is you can just try all 4 until you find the right one (that high up it will be one of the 3 main ones and not one of the 6th harmonics or higher).
  • If it’s 12th Fret string G, then the pitch of the harmonic will be a G, B or D.
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#17
Harmonic String Length Division (L/X) Pitch above root note Example E note Example location open string (fret)
1st 2 One octave E + 1 octave 12th
2nd 3 One octave and a 5th B + 1 octave 7th, 19th
3rd 4 Two octaves E + 2 octaves 5th
4th 5 Two octaves and a major 3rd G# + 2 octaves 4th, 9th, 16th, 21st
5th 6 Two octaves and a 5th B + 2 octaves 3.33
6th 7 Two octaves and a minor 7th D + 2 octaves 2.6, 21.4
7th 8 Four octaves E + 4 octaves 2.4, 21.6
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#18

I think I’m starting to get it. So when you fret any note you can get that note’s root, a major 3rd, a 5th and a …minor 7th?

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#19

Yes mate that’s right.
It’s a shame that most tabs are not very good at telling us which harmonic is being played, but if you can read the musical notation then you can get the note and work out where it is with a couple of experiments.

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#20

I’m a genius!!! Haha, thanks man I appreciate your willingness to help.