Este artigo é escrito por um amigo meu de Slidell, Louisiana area, que frequenta o mesmo curso de Professor de Música de Elite que eu.
So what are harmonics? Harmonics are overtones that naturally accompany underlying (fundamental) tones on a musical instrument.
Harmonics are a product of precise mathematical divisions of a string. When harmonics are played at these precise spots along the string, it naturally creates patterns of less vibration across the string at certain points called nodes.
See graphic below:
Second question you might ask is why would you want to add harmonics to your playing? Harmonics give a guitar player some unique and cool options to ornament their sound.
There are many ways to articulate harmonic sounds on your guitar but we will cover the most common ones below.
There are 3 main types of harmonics you can play on your guitar.
Natural Harmonics: these are played in specific spots on the guitar fretboard by just barely touching the string with and one of the fret hand fingers and then strike the string with the right hand.
Artificial Harmonics: Artificial harmonics are created when you fret a note and you lightly tap/touch up 12 frets on the same string.
Pinch Harmonics: Pinch harmonics are created on any note on the fretboard by using the side of your thumb to touch the string immediately after picking the string.
Natural Harmonics are most commonly played on the frets 5, 7, and 12. They can also be played on frets 4, 3, and 2, but are harder to hear unless played with an electric guitar. Natural Harmonics can be played by either slapping the string with your left hand at the sweet spots mentioned above, or lightly touching the string above those frets with the left hand then picking the string with your right hand.
Artificial Harmonics have 2 ways to be played.
The first way is that you can pick any fretted note and then lightly tap with your first finger on either 12, 7, or 5 frets up to produce the harmonic sound. This way of producing harmonics is best used on electric guitar, because you can barely hear, it if at all on acoustic.
The second way is to use your right handed index finger to first lightly touch the string up 12 frets from a fretted note, and then use your ring finger to pluck the string behind the index finger. You could also use a pick and hold it between your second finger and your thumb to strike the string to produce artificial harmonics. This technique of using the right hand to touch and pluck/pick the string is also known as Harp Harmonics.
Pinch harmonics are best suited to be played on electric guitar and cannot easily be heard on an acoustic guitar. These have a “squealy” sound and can be played all over the guitar neck by letting the string hit your thumb after you pick it. You will find that you need to experiment with the right hand to find the precise spots to play along the string, in order to make them sound cleaner.
For example, if you play a pinch harmonic from the 7th fret of the G string, you will find that you have to articulate the pinch harmonic on a different spot between the pickups than you would if you had played it from the 9th fret.
There a number of guitar players that have added harmonics to their playing over the years, and some have very memorable sounds.
Now it’s your turn to take out your guitar and start working on adding harmonics into your practice routine today!
About the Arthur: Josh Clayton is a professional guitar instructor based in the Slidell, Louisiana area. If you or any one you know are interested in guitar lessons in Slidell then be sure to contact Josh through his website.