Pinch Harmonic question


dlwalke
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dlwalke
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04/21/2020 9:13 pm

I understand how to do pinch harmonics (not that I'm particularly good at it) but I don't understand why they work. In particular, why do you not have to touch the string at the exactly 12 frets up from where your left hand is fretting?

Secondly, and related to this, I am aware that there are places on the string that are generally better for getting pinch harmonics (apparently independent of what notes you are playing / what frets you are fretting). Why is this? Is it related to where you are pinching in relation to the pickup? In this instructional video, the sound really changes a lot depending on where he's pinching. Are these all the same notes just with different octaves emphasized? I assume they must be, right?


# 1
ChristopherSchlegel
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ChristopherSchlegel
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04/22/2020 4:18 pm
Originally Posted by: dlwalke

I understand how to do pinch harmonics (not that I'm particularly good at it) but I don't understand why they work. In particular, why do you not have to touch the string at the exactly 12 frets up from where your left hand is fretting?[/quote]

Good question! The reason is that the 12th fret isn't the only location for harmonic nodes.

Place your finger lightly on the low E string right over the 12th fret. Don't press down, we are after the natural harmonic. It helps if you have a little gain (overdrive) to boost the signal & help those overtones pop out. But it's not necessary. The most important part is a light touch.

Now start regular picking (not pinch harmonic technique!) the E string & slowly slide your finger toward the nut (the headstock, down in pitch). If you doing it right you'll hear natural harmonics near or at the 9th, 7th, 5th, 4th & 2.5th!

There are harmonics all over the place! But those are the strongest & most used ones.

Now you can do this with any string starting on a fretted note! But it's much harder to do. You have to fret a note, then find a way to play a harmonic node 12, 9, 7, 5, 4 or 2.5 frets higher than your fretted note.

Usually this is done by lightly tapping on the harmonic fret. And you can pick the note with one finger while plucking with another finger or your thumb. Anders does some of that here.

https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=15239&s_id=1046

The harmonic list of related intervals is:

12th fret - root

9th fret - major 3rd

7th fret - root

5th - 5th

2.5 - minor 7th

Those are the natural places that a harmonic nodes occurs. This is the result of physics in a linear closed end system! Those are the places that the string gets divided into equal potions. Now we're ready for pinch harmonics.

Originally Posted by: dlwalkeSecondly, and related to this, I am aware that there are places on the string that are generally better for getting pinch harmonics (apparently independent of what notes you are playing / what frets you are fretting). Why is this? Is it related to where you are pinching in relation to the pickup?

It's related to the distance between the fretted note & the artificial node or "temporary bridge" you are forming with the side of your thumb when you "pinch" after picking.

[quote=dlwalke]Are these all the same notes just with different octaves emphasized? I assume they must be, right?

No. The first 3 notes are a high A (an octave pinch harmonic), the next 2 are C# (octave plus major 3rd), the next an E (5th), and the next a G (minor 7th).

He's fretting one note, the A 2nd fret G string. And by moving his picking hand (most importantly, his thumb which grazes the string) he can create artificial nodes of the harmonic series.

Anders covers pinch harmonics in this tutorial.

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1520

And this tutorial also has some info on pinch & natural harmonics.

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1520

Hope that helps!


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dlwalke
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dlwalke
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04/23/2020 1:55 am

Yes, that helps. I don't get the sense though that when people are playing pinch harmonics, they are aiming for specific notes, like you might if you are playing tap harmonics for example. Without any frets up there, where you're pinching and picking (sounds like an old Hee Haw routine), it seems like it would be difficult to figure out where to touch the string with your thumb, and it just doesn't appear, from the videos I've seen, that people are moving their thumb into different positions as if they are aiming for specific notes. The fretting fingers are jumping around to different frets, but the position of the other hand seems to remain pretty stationary. And yet, it still sounds good. Is this because the pinch harmonic is most liklely going to have some familiar relationship to the note you're fretting (3rd, 5th, m7th) rather than being something that would sound way out of key (like a tritone or m2nd) and also because the actual pitch of the pinch harmonic is generally secondary to it's general coolness (for lack of a better word) in terms of what it adds to a passage?


# 3
ChristopherSchlegel
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ChristopherSchlegel
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04/23/2020 2:06 pm
Originally Posted by: dlwalke

Yes, that helps. I don't get the sense though that when people are playing pinch harmonics, they are aiming for specific notes, like you might if you are playing tap harmonics for example.[/quote][p]I can't speak for everyone. But I know which note is where & how to play which one I want, when I want it.

I personally know players that use pinch harmonics, but are not as familiar with what note they are playing when doing so. Nevertheless, simply by trial & error they know what notes they like the sound of regardless of how much they know about the theory.

This is kind of like a baseball athelete that can throw a perfect pitch against the wind without knowing the wind speed or the physics involved. As long as his practical experience & physical skill can accomplish his goal, then what difference does it make? Sure it might help him improve. And some players actually learn that much because they are that devoted to their craft. But it's not absolutely necessary to achieve the practical result they are after.

However, I do know other players that, like me, do know exactly what they are doing.

Originally Posted by: dlwalkeWithout any frets up there, where you're pinching and picking (sounds like an old Hee Haw routine), it seems like it would be difficult to figure out where to touch the string with your thumb, and it just doesn't appear, from the videos I've seen, that people are moving their thumb into different positions as if they are aiming for specific notes.

Lots of things are difficult until you've spent years working on them & can do them with knowledge, confidence & ease. :)

[quote=dlwalke]

The fretting fingers are jumping around to different frets, but the position of the other hand seems to remain pretty stationary. And yet, it still sounds good. Is this because the pinch harmonic is most liklely going to have some familiar relationship to the note you're fretting (3rd, 5th, m7th) rather than being something that would sound way out of key (like a tritone or m2nd) and also because the actual pitch of the pinch harmonic is generally secondary to it's general coolness (for lack of a better word) in terms of what it adds to a passage?

Yes, it can help that most harmonics are part of the natural overtone series. And thus more likely to be on a certain chord tone. But I've heard plenty of people use them inappropriately. And knowing what you're doing is better than not knowing.

Hope that helps!


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dlwalke
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dlwalke
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04/24/2020 1:34 am

So this was a fun little project. I calculated the points beyond the fretboard that would give me octaves (2 octaves up) if playing at the indicated frets, as an aid to getting accurate pinch harmonics. Seems to work pretty well.


# 5
ChristopherSchlegel
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ChristopherSchlegel
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04/24/2020 1:53 pm
Originally Posted by: dlwalke

So this was a fun little project. I calculated the points beyond the fretboard that would give me octaves (2 octaves up) if playing at the indicated frets, as an aid to getting accurate pinch harmonics. Seems to work pretty well.

Looks like a Brian May guitar! Looks like your postions work for the natural harmonics. But remember that as soon as you fret a note the entire harmonic location changes based on the adjusted length of the string.

And the entire point behind pinching in different places is that you are effectively "replacing" the bridge with your thumb graze temporarily. This means the calculated distance is between the fretted note & your thumb when you pick. At that point the open string harmonics are irrelevant.

Hope that helps!


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dlwalke
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dlwalke
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04/26/2020 8:03 pm
Originally Posted by: ChristopherSchlegel
Originally Posted by: dlwalke

So this was a fun little project. I calculated the points beyond the fretboard that would give me octaves (2 octaves up) if playing at the indicated frets, as an aid to getting accurate pinch harmonics. Seems to work pretty well.

Looks like a Brian May guitar! Looks like your postions work for the natural harmonics. But remember that as soon as you fret a note the entire harmonic location changes based on the adjusted length of the string.

And the entire point behind pinching in different places is that you are effectively "replacing" the bridge with your thumb graze temporarily. This means the calculated distance is between the fretted note & your thumb when you pick. At that point the open string harmonics are irrelevant.

Hope that helps!

Yep, it's a Black and Gold "Red" Special. Once I get an amp, I'll be all set. Actually, I quite like the tone of the unamped guitar, and with my wife working from home right now, it's just as well (but still, I'm itchin' to get an amp). I'm trying to pace my gear purchases, using them as sort of desert for completing more skill-based things.

The marked positions on the tape are more like extended fret markers (3, 5, 7, 9 are "fret" positions past the 24th fret, so the positions of a 27th, 29th, 31st, 33rd fret if there were actually frets there). They're not meant to be used, necessarily, to play open string harmonics or to indicate where I must pinch to get a specific tone. So, for example, if I were fretting on the 3rd fret of the A string (which would make my functional string length 20-1/4" [fret to bridge]), a pinch harmonic at the place marked "3" on the tape would give me a C two octaves higher (i.e., higher than the C that I would get if I were picking normally and not doing a pinch harmonic) because the node-to-node (bridge-to-thumb) distance at that point is 5-1/16", or 1/4 of the previous functional string length. If I then wanted to go up a whole tone (maybe I'm running up the G minor pentatonic scale, going from C to D), I would fret at the 5th fret and place the pinch harmonic at the "5" mark to get a high harmonic D. If I wanted instead to go 3 semitones up (to D#), I would place the pinch harmonic just slightly ahead of the "5" mark.


# 7
ChristopherSchlegel
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ChristopherSchlegel
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04/27/2020 1:02 pm
Originally Posted by: dlwalkeI'm trying to pace my gear purchases, using them as sort of desert for completing more skill-based things.[/quote]

Good plan!

[quote=dlwalke]The marked positions on the tape are more like extended fret markers (3, 5, 7, 9 are "fret" positions past the 24th fret, so the positions of a 27th, 29th, 31st, 33rd fret if there were actually frets there). They're not meant to be used, necessarily, to play open string harmonics or to indicate where I must pinch to get a specific tone.

Got it! Glad it helps you understand the guitar better.


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# 8

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