Harmonics

Created by William Johnston, Modified on Mon, 1 Jun at 12:13 AM by William Johnston

Guitar harmonics are bell-like, chime-sounding notes produced by lightly touching a string at specific mathematical points rather than pressing it down against a fret. When a string is gently touched directly over a fret wire and plucked, specific overtones are isolated by stopping the fundamental frequency from vibrating. This technique cancels out the lowest main pitch and allows the higher frequencies of the string's natural vibration to ring out clearly.

Natural Harmonics: Created on open strings by lightly touching the node directly above the 12th, 7th, or 5th fret wires before plucking.
Artificial Harmonics: Produced by fretting a normal note with one hand while the other hand touches the string exactly twelve frets higher and plucks it.
Pinch Harmonics: Executed by letting the edge of the picking thumb slightly catch the string immediately after the pick strikes it to create a sharp squeal.
Tapped Harmonics: Achieved by fretting a note normally and then sharply bouncing a finger tip off the fret wire twelve frets higher.