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 on the guitar are a natural phenomenon. They occur over the 5th, 7th and 12th fret.
To play a harmonic all you have to do is gently touch the string over the fret - we'll use the 12th fret for this example - you 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.
Play the harmonic over the strings at the 12th, 7th and 5th frets.
This killer technique is a 'must know' in your armoury of tricks. Harmonics should be practiced and mastered by all guitarists.
If you would like to look at a good example of harmonics, take a look at the middle section of U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday.
Practice it until you have mastered it.
Now that you have had chance to practice harmonics I would like to show you how to tune your guitar using this technique.
Using harmonics is the most accurate way to manually tune up your guitar. Let's have a look...
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.
When you play the two harmonics together you will hear a wavering sound if the strings aren't in tune with each other. Tune one of the strings - lets say the 5th if the wavering 'speeds up' the string is going further out of tune!! If it 'slows down' its coming into tune - keep tuning until the wavering has stopped. The two strings are then in tune with each other. If you tune too far the wavering will start to 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.
Moving along to the last in ghis series of three on harmonics. We will have a look at what's known as pinched harmonics or also known as false or artificial harmonics.
To create this type of harmonic we need to touch the string very slightly with the side of the thumb immediately after you have plucked it. To get the best effect you need to have your distortion/overdrive turned on and sounds like a screech. Here 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 found.
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!! - 30404
We are going to look at a series of three tips on harmonics.
Harmonics on the guitar are a natural phenomenon. They occur over the 5th, 7th and 12th fret.
To play a harmonic all you have to do is gently touch the string over the fret - we'll use the 12th fret for this example - you 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.
Play the harmonic over the strings at the 12th, 7th and 5th frets.
This killer technique is a 'must know' in your armoury of tricks. Harmonics should be practiced and mastered by all guitarists.
If you would like to look at a good example of harmonics, take a look at the middle section of U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday.
Practice it until you have mastered it.
Now that you have had chance to practice harmonics I would like to show you how to tune your guitar using this technique.
Using harmonics is the most accurate way to manually tune up your guitar. Let's have a look...
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.
When you play the two harmonics together you will hear a wavering sound if the strings aren't in tune with each other. Tune one of the strings - lets say the 5th if the wavering 'speeds up' the string is going further out of tune!! If it 'slows down' its coming into tune - keep tuning until the wavering has stopped. The two strings are then in tune with each other. If you tune too far the wavering will start to 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.
Moving along to the last in ghis series of three on harmonics. We will have a look at what's known as pinched harmonics or also known as false or artificial harmonics.
To create this type of harmonic we need to touch the string very slightly with the side of the thumb immediately after you have plucked it. To get the best effect you need to have your distortion/overdrive turned on and sounds like a screech. Here 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 found.
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!! - 30404
About the Author:
About The Author: Mike Jones is a Pro Guitar teacher. Offering Guitar Lessons geared to bringing the beginner through to an great player in the shortest possible time, using amazing speed learning techniques engineered over twenty years of teaching and playing guitar as a Pro. To get more information about Mike's teaching methods and receive FREE tips and tricks each week visit his website at: Guitar Lessons
