Hi welcome again to your FREE tips from myself Mike at KillerGuitarTips.com
We are going to look at a series of three tips on harmonics.
Harmonics are a natural phenomenon of your instrument and occur over the 5th, 7th and 12th fret.
If you gently touch the string over the fret and pick the string you will play a harmonic. We'll use the 12th fret for this example. DO NOT fret the string, just touch it directly over the fret and pluck the string.
Once plucked you should hear the harmonic note. If you find you get a dull muted sound simply move your finger towards the fret. Keep plucking the string as you move your finger until it becomes clear.
Try this over all the strings at the 12th, 7th and 5th frets.
You really do need this killer technique and is a 'must know' for any guitarist and should be part of their bag of tricks.
For a good example have a look at the middle section in Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2.
Practice it until you have mastered it.
Now that you've had chance to practice I'm now going to give you another tip on how to tune your guitar using harmonics.
This is a very easy and accurate way to tune your guitar. Following on from last weeks tip...
The harmonic over the 5th fret on the 6th string is the same pitch as the harmonic over the 7th fret on the 5th string.
The two harmonics when played together will produce wavering sound if the strings aren't in tune with each other. If for example you tune the 5th staring and this wavering sound speeds up then this means the string is going further out of tune. If the sound slows down then this means it's coming into tune. Keep tuning until the wavering has stopped, when stopped it means the two strings are in tune with each other. If you tune too far then the wavering sound will speed up again!
Repeat this with strings 5 & 4 and 4 & 3.
To tune the 2nd string we have to be a little innovative as this string is tuned 4 frets higher than the 3rd whereas the others are tuned 5 frets higher so this technique has to be adapted here. Play the harmonic on the 3rd string at the 12th fret (the note is G) then FRET the 8th fret on the 2nd string (the note is G of course!) now use your strumming hand to turn the tuning peg and tune the string!
We're now back to normal by tuning the 1st string 7th fret harmonic to the 2nd string 5th fret harmonic.
It is best to try this tuning technique with your distortion turned on as this makes the wavering sound really stand out.
As stated earlier this is a great way to tune your guitar and much more accurate than the normal and tuning method.
Now we'll move onto the last in this series of three on harmonics. The third is a look at pinched harmonics that's also known at artificial or false harmonics.
This type of harmonic is created by slightly touching the string with the side of your thumb immediately after you have picked it. It works best with a lot of distortion/overdrive and sounds like a screech.This is how we do it:Move your picking hand up and down the string whilst picking constantly to find where the different harmonic notes are.
If you would like to see an absolute master of this technique, you need to listen to Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top'
Remember practice equals progress!!
We are going to look at a series of three tips on harmonics.
Harmonics are a natural phenomenon of your instrument and occur over the 5th, 7th and 12th fret.
If you gently touch the string over the fret and pick the string you will play a harmonic. We'll use the 12th fret for this example. DO NOT fret the string, just touch it directly over the fret and pluck the string.
Once plucked you should hear the harmonic note. If you find you get a dull muted sound simply move your finger towards the fret. Keep plucking the string as you move your finger until it becomes clear.
Try this over all the strings at the 12th, 7th and 5th frets.
You really do need this killer technique and is a 'must know' for any guitarist and should be part of their bag of tricks.
For a good example have a look at the middle section in Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2.
Practice it until you have mastered it.
Now that you've had chance to practice I'm now going to give you another tip on how to tune your guitar using harmonics.
This is a very easy and accurate way to tune your guitar. Following on from last weeks tip...
The harmonic over the 5th fret on the 6th string is the same pitch as the harmonic over the 7th fret on the 5th string.
The two harmonics when played together will produce wavering sound if the strings aren't in tune with each other. If for example you tune the 5th staring and this wavering sound speeds up then this means the string is going further out of tune. If the sound slows down then this means it's coming into tune. Keep tuning until the wavering has stopped, when stopped it means the two strings are in tune with each other. If you tune too far then the wavering sound will speed up again!
Repeat this with strings 5 & 4 and 4 & 3.
To tune the 2nd string we have to be a little innovative as this string is tuned 4 frets higher than the 3rd whereas the others are tuned 5 frets higher so this technique has to be adapted here. Play the harmonic on the 3rd string at the 12th fret (the note is G) then FRET the 8th fret on the 2nd string (the note is G of course!) now use your strumming hand to turn the tuning peg and tune the string!
We're now back to normal by tuning the 1st string 7th fret harmonic to the 2nd string 5th fret harmonic.
It is best to try this tuning technique with your distortion turned on as this makes the wavering sound really stand out.
As stated earlier this is a great way to tune your guitar and much more accurate than the normal and tuning method.
Now we'll move onto the last in this series of three on harmonics. The third is a look at pinched harmonics that's also known at artificial or false harmonics.
This type of harmonic is created by slightly touching the string with the side of your thumb immediately after you have picked it. It works best with a lot of distortion/overdrive and sounds like a screech.This is how we do it:Move your picking hand up and down the string whilst picking constantly to find where the different harmonic notes are.
If you would like to see an absolute master of this technique, you need to listen to Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top'
Remember practice equals progress!!
About the Author:
About The Author: Mike Jones is a Professional Guitar teacher. Offering Guitar Lessons geared to bringing the beginner through to an accomplished player in the shortest possible time, using amazing speed learning techniques developed over two decades of teaching and playing guitar as a professional. To find out more about Mike's teaching methods and receive FREE tips and tricks each week visit his website at: Guitar Lessons
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