How Can I Do Artificial Harmonics?

Hi!!

This a guitar player from Spain (please, excuse my English). I started with electric guitar about a year ago before some years with classic. I've in my hands the tab archive of 'Love Thing', well it's not very difficult except for two points:
- I can't coordinate my hands enough when tapping and I tend to make the "tapped" note much faster than the rest (when all notes should last the same).

- There's a point in the piece where I've to do artificial harmonics. Well, I know how to make natural harmonics... but never heard of those artificials

Can anybody help me (I know I'm incredibly new in this)?

Thanks in advance

An artificial harmonic is when you pick a note, and at the same time barely touch the string with the edge of your thumb or index finger. I think the thumb is the most common way to do this, but a lot of people use their index. But the first thing you need to do is crank up the distortion, the gain, and the volume. And by the way, for the best effect, you should pick the note directly above the pickup nearest the neck of your guitar. When you do it right, you should get a squealing, glass-breaking sound a few octaves above the regular fretted note.

-Christoph

try the exercise with your guitar unplugged too, because if you you see that you can do artificial harmonics with your instrument unplugged, when you plug it, you'll certainly do it much better...

The artificial harmonics are played as you were told before, but I learned that they are "geometrical". What I mean by this is that you have to pick the harmonicin the middle, at 1/3 or 1/4 of the distance between the bridge and the fret you are fingering. Thus you have to do a lot of experimentation. For example: I use a 22 fret Strat, and an harmonic in the 21st fret of the third string must be picked +/- ovetr the middle pickup, otherwise it won't come out. You have to be really precise with this.

Cowman, I think you are refering to natural harmonics used in rock playing with high distortion.

Yes, there are natural harmonics between the frets, but you won't be able to hear them unless you're playing with some major distortion. For example, on the D string between the 4th and 5th frets, or on the G string between the 2nd and 3rd.

These are natural harmonics. In other words you don't need to worry about touching the string with your thumb when you pick it and all that. Just "fret" the string with your left hand where the natural harmonic is located and pick.

Artificial harmonics are done exactly as stated. By the way, HTF, that's a good idea, practicing them unplugged or clean.

Most people say to do artificial harmonics by using the fingers on your pick hand. Ive tried that for about a year and still manage to actually pull it off maybe one time out of 10000000000. Another technique is to use the side of your picking hand. Pick the string that is to be played and lightly place the side of your hand over the vibrating string. This should cause a good deafining screatch that everyone sitting within a mile of you will love to hear over and over again.

Again dont forget to max out the distortion on this one.
:cool

Christoph

I am actually refering to artificial harmonics,what I mean is this:

If you are fingering the 21st fret, you must play exxactly in the middle of the distance between the 21st fret and the bridge as I show in this crappy diagram:

-------\_/-----------------X-------------------|OOO
^----^----^----^--^--^-|_______________________|----

Suppose you are viewing the guitar from the side...
Explanation:
-------= string

\_/= finger (pressing the string against the fret)

|OOO= bridge

^----^=fret

X= place where you have to pick the string and rose it with your thumb.

Remember"YOU HAVE TO BE REALLY EXACT, IF YOU GET IT NEARER OR FURTHER IT WON'T COME OUT.

In Hotel california there's a part where I use artificial harmonics, if you want an mp3, just tell me...

my email is yo_0@email.com (the 0 is a zero, not an uppercase o....)

remember to view the diagram in Courier font or a monospace font (It may be ununderstandable with any other font...)

Hmmm . . . I'm not really sure what you mean by that little diag up there, but I'll give it a try.

It's all cool, baby!

i actually understood your diagram so its cool. I thougth you were refering to pinch harmonics so for everyone that read my last post......just consider it a little lesson in....."side of hand harmonics."

Ahh, Victor, creo que lo que dice toda esta gente te va a liar, porque cada uno dice una cosa distinta. Los armonicos artificiales pueden conseguirse en cualquier parte del mastil. Tu pones la mano izquierda en el traste donde quieras tocar la nota. Tocas la nota con la pua y seguido, y con la misma mano de la pua, tocas levemente la cuerda doce trastes más abajo de la nota original (de la que se quería sacar el harmonico).
Así, para un armonico con la nota traste 2º, deberías "parar" la cuerda en el traste 14º después de tocar la misma.
No es muy chungo de hacer aunque si de explicar.

De todas formas hay alguna página web donde lo explican con dibus:

http://johncomino.tripod.com/harmart.htm

Esa manera de EdmaD es buena y funciona, pero creo que sera bastante dificil para empezar.

I've been doing artificial harmonics for a while now and I've found they come out much higher when I pluck the string (using my thumb to sound the a.h.) just above the centre of my bridge pickup. I've also found them harder to do with a soft pick so make sure you have a nice firm pick, and de-tuning your strings so they are a little slacker helps bring them out quite nicely. I've always admired Dimebag's artificial harmonics because he makes them absolutely *squeal* and he adjusts the settings on his amp so that bass and treble are turned all the way up and mid turned all the way down, for that real chunky sound and amazing pinched harmonics.

Originally posted by Victor Villa
Hi!!

This a guitar player from Spain (please, excuse my English). I started with electric guitar about a year ago before some years with classic. I've in my hands the tab archive of 'Love Thing', well it's not very difficult except for two points:
- I can't coordinate my hands enough when tapping and I tend to make the "tapped" note much faster than the rest (when all notes should last the same).

- There's a point in the piece where I've to do artificial harmonics. Well, I know how to make natural harmonics... but never heard of those artificials

Can anybody help me (I know I'm incredibly new in this)?

Thanks in advance

Hi Victor
the Artificial harmonic is on my web page learning tab,
with sound this way,you can hear the sound.
I Use the tip of the pick where your index finger or thumb,
is just barely touching the closed note your bending while,
striking ect.
And also thanks to everyone here for bringing up the the,
use of the index finger plus the thumb.
I checked my web page on learning tab and found that i did,nt include the index plus thumb part in the lesson.
Thanks again guys.
And yes when i use it on stage i have the volume cranked,plus the distortion on.
I also recomend Practicing it without your amp.
Note:If you do this awhile you will end up with a very,
sore index finger or thumb,and later on a new calice.
once you get where you can execute it where it sounds clean.With vol turned up plus useing distortion,while the harmonic is sounding put your guitar up close to your amp.
This will give a nice feed back affect<-Trick

Yours Truly Mark Toman
(Mark's Guitar Page)
>keep picking

hello peoples.... i have been doing a little experimenting on what cowman said... well, he was pretty right. i wanted to do an artificial harmonic on the 15th fret on the high E string. i then started moving around the area where i was picking till i got a prefect squeal. same thing happened with the 17th fret,19th, and 12th. I barely even had to worry about how much thumb i put into the squeal either, i got a perfect sound. i used to be able to maybe do 1 in a hundred maybe even 2hundred tries, now i do em all the time.