Van Halen know how?

im really trying to figure out how to play a crazy pinch hamonic, whammy bar deal that eddie does at the beginning of his live versions of eruption. does anyone know how, any tips or instructions would be gr8

Well, just watch and listen really carefully to what he does. Then sit down with your guitar, a lot of distortion and a hard pick and pick hard.

Hope that helps a little.

for pinch harmonics try turning your thumb and hit the string with the meat of your thumb right after you hit it with your pick, this should all be done in a smooth motion, it take a lot of practice and doing it over and over again. EMG active pickups make it a lot easier to do.

First off, I've never heard it before... but I mite know your problem.

There are two possibilities...

if the harmonic is first... then choke up on the pick and make your thumb rub against the string, it takes time but you'll get it... then use the bar to your hearts content.


if the dive is first.... do a huge dive bomb and as you come up from it, lightly touch the string with your ring finger, and you should hear the harmonic (don't pick it!)


hope it helps!

i've always wondered this.....

do you have to do pinch harmonics on certain notes?

like i don't know exactly what kind of harmonic it is called, but the easy kind i can do are picking like normal while LIGHTLY touching the string above the 5th/7th/9th/12th fret and so on.....it doesn't work holding my finger lightly above other frets.....is that artificial harmonics?

and do you have to fret only in certain places to do those pinch harmonics? (ie 5th/7th/9th/12th....)

THANKS! :cool:

Clearly a definite set of terms need to be defined here and I'm not the one to do so.

Artificial
Natural
Pinch

Pinch are easier in some places on the fretboard and I think that's using your thumb. Artificial and Natural beats the hell out of me. From my brain I'd say natural harmonics is just a term for something else and artificial are the 5,7,12 as well as all the other ones, 2,4, bla blah blah.

lol, yes it seems every board i'm at there's always confusion and this is always a hot topic :p i've never really addressed it so i'm trying to learn now....

could anyone who knows about it all lay it down for all of us?

thanks :)

I'm no expert, but I'll try to clear some things up.

Natural - played by having your fretting finger lightly touching the fret (as in the actual wire) on the 5th, 7th, 12th, 17th etc.....

Pinch - Can be played on any position on neck, much harder than natural. Press down on the fret (as if you were to play the note), then choke up real hard when you pick so your thumg and index finger rub against the string as the note is picked (I hope that made sense), the result is a wild screaming pinch harmonic! The pitch of the harmonic depends not only on the fret position, but also where you pick the note. This is why it is easier to pull off a pinch in certain spots.

I haven't had much experience with artificial. I used to think that the two mentioned above were the only kind. Its not my fault - in Rock Guitar For Dummies Pinch and artificial are used interchangeably. The same goes for Zakk Wylde's lesson on pinch harmonics. But most of the people on this site say otherwise, so I trust 'em.

Peace Out!

the ace,
thanks.....that was my assumption. just needed a little clarification on pinch harmonics.....i know amp eq and pedal settings as well as pickups make a big difference on how easily it is to pull these off too....

thanks again now all i gotta do is sit my arse down and drink some tequila and PRACTICE!

Yeah. The booze is the key and we all know it. =)

until you pass that certain threshold and can't move your fingers anymore.

Who need fingers anyways?

I'm trying to borrow a webcam to check if I could even record the various harmonics in video and how you do them. Atleast the way I do em (the hardcore style =)

Yeah, good idea, I think a close up of the picking hand while doing a harmonic will help alot of people. That's definately a technique I can't explain to anyone properly. Just have to give them the vague idea and wait for them to figure it out.

- J

i'm by no means an expert either but recently i have been nailing these harmonics beautifully. I figured pinch and artifical harmonics were just different names for the same thing. were as natural is caused by putting your finger lightly on the string.