Artificial harmonics?

sadscaryguy

for almost a year ive been trying to learn artificial harmonics and its a real bitch to learn i was wondering if any of you have any tips. I know regular harmonics with barring the frets which is pretty easy to do. but the artificial harmonics are a mystery to me. I have a marshall mg 10 watt which is crap and my effects rig is a digitech rp 50 which is basically a toy in my opinion and something that a child would select but i bought it long time ago when i started out. im trying so hard to learn the zakk wylde style harmonics its a bitch to do

any ideas

Anon

sadscaryguy wrote:

for almost a year ive been trying to learn artificial harmonics and its a real bitch to learn i was wondering if any of you have any tips. I know regular harmonics with barring the frets which is pretty easy to do. but the artificial harmonics are a mystery to me. I have a marshall mg 10 watt which is crap and my effects rig is a digitech rp 50 which is basically a toy in my opinion and something that a child would select but i bought it long time ago when i started out. im trying so hard to learn the zakk wylde style harmonics its a bitch to do

any ideas

Practice.
Have you seen this? It's awesome.

http://www.guitar-stuff.net/2006/10/14/zakk-wylde-guitar-lessons-instructional-videos/

westsidepie

Do you mean pinch harmonics? Probably the most important factor to doing pinch harmonics is having enough distortion so the spectrum is rich enough to produce the harmonic. You have to pick and quickly lightly touch the side of your thumb on the string to produce the squeal. It helps to pick where natural harmonics would be produced. Here is another sight with good instructions:

http://www.cyberfret.com/techniques/harmonics/pinch/index.php

HTH

...pie

ianvomsaal

PINCH - HARMONICS . . .
To get it come out right you need a decent overdrive, and better yet a good tube amp with a lot of gain.
Zakk uses a Marshall JCM-800, and many other people use Mesa Boogie Recto’s.
You’ll need to choke up on your pick a bunch, and basically while you pick the string, the fleshy side
of your thumb also needs to touch the string.
You'll get a PING sound unplugged (I can get them with an acoustic), and a squeal when plugged in.
Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

lucylespian

I have always played these on an upstroke, with teh tip of my finger producing teh harmonic, choked up on teh pick of course.

I am trying to learn to play them on a downstroke, using my thumb, but it's a lot harder.

Aim for the middle point of the string, half way from where you are fretting to the bridge. It's not teh only place to get one, but it is the easiest.

DOSW

Are pinch harmonics what Neil Young uses to get that squealing sound also?

lucylespian

DOSW wrote:

Are pinch harmonics what Neil Young uses to get that squealing sound also?

Listen to La Grange by ZZ Top. There are a few pinch harmonics in teh first solo, but the second one is nearly all pinch harmonics.

Anon

DOSW wrote:

Are pinch harmonics what Neil Young uses to get that squealing sound also?

Absolutely is.

Glorified Irish Guy

im always breakin out pinch harmonics in my solos, i love that squeal sound, zakk wylde maybe over does it a little at times but he is pretty awesome at doing it

Mr. Cateeto

Artificial harmonics were a mystery to me for years. I just knew them as that sound that sometimes came out of my amp that sounded badass, but then one day I learned how to harness the power of the pinch harmonic thru experimentation.

Pinch harmonics are nothing more than cutting off intervals of a vibrating string. I'm able to get 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, etc. harmonics. First, you need an amp that will distort enough. You can pull this out of one of those small 10 watt Marshalls, but I recommend at least a 20 watt tube amp. Next, you need a good guitar. Although I'm quite happy doing pinch harmonics on my Strat, I recommend getting some ballsy humbucker pickups. For example, my humbucker guitar has a DiMarzio Evolution in the bridge and a Fast Track in the neck. After all of this, you need to experiment. Use a pick with a sharp edge (I use red Dunlop Big Stubbys) and "pinch" your thumb right on top of the edge. Then, fret a note. Pick the string, letting your thumb brush the side of the string. If you're damn lucky, you'll hear a pinch harmonic squeal thru. Also, start your picking hand by the bridge and slowly move it toward the neck so you can find all of the "hot spots" that produce the best harmonics.

Trailer

Pinch harmonics are a lot easier to do with distortion, however they can also be done without any. I learned how to do it on my acoustic after reading a Dimebag Darrell column in Guitar World a while back. The trick is to pluck the string with the same pressure from your pick as well as your right thumb. Your thumb should be horizontal and laying across your strings, and you should be holding your pick so the tip of it is even with your thumb. Then play a string with your pick and quickly dampen it with your thumb. It should all happen in one quick downstroke. The thumb will produce the harmonic after you have plucked with your pick.

Like it has been said before, distortion will give you that squeal sound that Dimebag and Zakk get, but if you do it with a clean sound you can get a totally different vibe... such as in the intro solo of the song "Mayonaisse" by the Smashing Pumpkins.

Pearl Jam and toast

Trailer wrote:

Like it has been said before, distortion will give you that squeal sound that Dimebag and Zakk get, but if you do it with a clean sound you can get a totally different vibe... such as in the intro solo of the song "Mayonaisse" by the Smashing Pumpkins.

Yes.