Guide to getting and playing better gigs
Harmonics
A harmonic is basically a flutelike tone that comes from the guitar by touching the string at or near the node. There are 2 kinds of harmonics used in guitar playing, Natural and Artificial.
Natural Harmonics:
Put your index finger above the 12th fret on the bottom E string. (actually, any string will do). Do not press down or add pressure, just set it on the fret. As you pick the note, pull your index finger off.
|--------------------12--------------------|
|--------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------|
You should hear a nice flutelike sound. If you don't, your timing was off. The hardest part about playing the Natural Harmonic is timing. If you pull off too soon, it'll sound normal. If you pull off too late, it'll sound muted. (if you do not know what a fret is, they are the ridges along the neck; not the spaces between where notes are usually played) Once you've done that, play all the strings on the 12th fret.
|---12-------------------------------------|
|--------12--------------------------------|
|--------------12--------------------------|
|-------------------12---------------------|
|-------------------------12---------------|
|-------------------------------12---------|
Cool, eh? Now try these on the 7th and 5th frets respectively. If this is too easy for you, then try the 3rd fret. You really need to get the timing just right on the 3rd. Try putting your finger slightly ahead of the 3rd fret. When you play a single note on your guitar, you hear what is know as the Fundamental. This is the most dominant frequency. But there are also many other frequencies and fainter notes within that note, it just that the Fundamental frequency is most apparent to our ears. When we play a Natural Harmonic, we absorb the Fundamental with our finger (along with other frequencies, depending on which fret we are on) The tone of the harmonic decreases exponentially. Which means the higher the fret., the lower the tone is of the harmonic. This is because your finger absorbs much more of the energy of the harmonic.
Artificial Harmonics:
This harmonic will make the note sound much higher and sometimes blends with the original fretted note. The resulting note will sound like it's screaming out of your guitar. It adds a lot of excitement to your solos when placed tastefully, or even not so tastefully. Anyway, the technique can be done in many ways. The general idea is to get some fleshy part of your picking hand (usually part of the thumb) to gently touch the string while it is being picked. Some people like to choke up on the pick to get their thumb close to the strings. They touch the string with part of the tip of the thumb. Personally, I have found an easier way to achieve the same results. I use the side of my thumb instead of the tip. I actually rub the string with the part of my thumb that's behind the pick. The pick touches the string and after the pick has passed the string, my thumb gets in there to create the harmonic. Actually my thumb is touching the string while the pick crosses the string so I rub my thumb across the string during picking. It takes some practice. I tend to think of it as digging in with the picking hand.To play Artificial Harmonics best, grip your pick even lower so that your index finger and thumb are almost toughing the string. Now pick the note, as you pull off the note slightly pluck it with your thumb. You should get a nice clean tone. This is not easy at first, but keep trying. Try this little riff. (The harmonics are in parentheses)
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|-----------7-9--(9/10)--(7)-----------|.
|----7-9----------------------------------|.
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