Problem with harmonics

[jeanray1113]

I have no problem getting a great sounding harmonic at the 12 fret, but find it difficult, if not impossible, anywhere else. What am I missing?

[Charlie Bernstein]

It should work fine on the fifth and seventh fret. Same technique. It's all right there. No?

[rick-slo]

With the fretting finger lightly touch the string for the harmonic and when you pluck the string lift the fretting finger off the string immediately.

With the higher harmonic overtones (second, third, forth...) you can pluck the string closer to the bridge. For example say for the third overtone
(fifth fret ) on the sixth string as an experiment get that overtone not by a somewhat random located pluck on that string but closer to the bridge
(plucking distance from the bridge of about 1/2 the distance of the fifth fret from the nut). That is ideally the location where you want to pluck the
string. Of course that may not be all that practical depending on what else the plucking hand is doing at the time.

[JackC1]

They don't happen on all frets. As Charlie Bernstein and Rick-slo mentioned, can you get the natural harmonics at the 5th and 7th frets?

You should lightly touch the frets at those locations and pluck the string while releasing your touch. If you can't get them, then maybe your guitar's fret locations are incorrect; how's your guitar's intonation?

You can also play artificial harmonics to check fret locations too; e.g. fret 1st fret play harmonics at 13th; fret 2nd , play at 14th. It should be as easily played as the 12th without fretting.

[JackC1]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

With the fretting finger lightly touch the string for the harmonic and when you pluck the string lift the fretting finger off the string immediately.

A possibly much easier way to do it is to just use the strumming hand: lightly touch the string with the thumb, pluck with a finger (normally a pinky for me, but depends on the music), release the hand. This method frees up your fretting hand and much faster.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by JackC1

A possibly much easier way to do it is to just use the strumming hand: lightly touch the string with the thumb, pluck with a finger (normally a pinky for me, but depends on the music), release the hand. This method frees up your fretting hand and much faster.

I will do that usually with the index finger to touch the string and another finger of that hand to pluck the string. This would be done in the case of playing artificial harmonics (i.e. string fretted on some fret with the fretting hand).

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by jeanray1113

I have no problem getting a great sounding harmonic at the 12 fret, but find it difficult, if not impossible, anywhere else. What am I missing?

It is easier to find the harmonics on the bass strings compared to the treble strings. And it can be easier to find the harmonics in the second half of the scale (12th fret to the bridge) than in the first half (nut to 12th fret).

When you play harmonics you are forcing the string to vibrate in different fractions - it is like cutting the string up. The 12th fret harmonic sets up the two half's of the string to vibrate separately. The 7th fret harmonic sets off 3 equal parts of the string vibrating independently. The 5th fret harmonic sets off 4 equal parts etc. The higher these whole fractions go, the more difficult they are to sound (following everyones advice to gently touch the string with a finger whilst plucking it). It can be easier to sound the higher harmonics close to the bridge.

Anyway, think about harmonics chopping a string up into fractions and you won't go far wrong. You'll start to find the same harmonic repeating itself at different points on the same string.

[rick-slo]

Example of how I used harmonics in a couple of my pieces

[jeanray1113]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

With the fretting finger lightly touch the string for the harmonic and when you pluck the string lift the fretting finger off the string immediately.

With the higher harmonic overtones (second, third, forth...) you can pluck the string closer to the bridge. For example say for the third overtone
(fifth fret ) on the sixth string as an experiment get that overtone not by a somewhat random located pluck on that string but closer to the bridge
(plucking distance from the bridge of about 1/2 the distance of the fifth fret from the nut). That is ideally the location where you want to pluck the
string. Of course that may not be all that practical depending on what else the plucking hand is doing at the time.

Thanks so much! It never occurred to me to try plucking the string closer to the bridge. That works!

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Example of how I used harmonics in a couple of my pieces

Derek, those were absolutely wonderful pieces! Beautifully arranged and played. That is sooo far above and away from the way I hack 3 chords on the acoustic guitar!

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Robin, Wales

Derek, those were absolutely wonderful pieces! Beautifully arranged and played. That is sooo far above and away from the way I hack 3 chords on the acoustic guitar!

Thank you. I love the sound of a dobro that I first heard on The Dillards albums. Never got around to buying one however.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by jeanray1113

I have no problem getting a great sounding harmonic at the 12 fret, but find it difficult, if not impossible, anywhere else. What am I missing?

The problem with other harmonics is two-fold:
1. You have to be more careful about where you touch, and where you pick it.
2. The smaller the string fraction, the harder it is to get it moving.

IOW, each harmonic is a fraction of the string. The "node" - the point you touch - is at that fractional point (any one of them). Where you pick needs to be exactly between those nodes (or between the bridge and the first node) to be most effective.

Here's a pic:

Blue = fret 12 = octave = 2nd harmonic (The open string is the "1st harmonic" in the "harmonic series")
Red = frets 7 or 19 = octave + perfect 5th = 3rd harmonic (1/3 of the string, 3x the frequency)
Green = frets 5 (or 24 if you have one) = 2 octaves = 4th harmonic (1/4)
Yellow = frets 4, 9 or 16 = 2 octaves + major 3rd = 5th harmonic (1/5)

The smaller and higher the harmonic, the more precise, firm and careful you need to be. You have to touch gently in exactly the right place - might not be exactly over the fretwire - and pick in the right place quite forcefully. And of course remove the touching finger immediately.

The best place to pick the string is in the middle of the movement of each fraction. If you pick over a node point you'll get nothing. E.g., if you were to touch over fret 7 and pick over fret 19, nothing would happen. (Pick between fret 19 and the bridge; or between frets 7 and 19). The best general strategy for the higher harmonics is to just to pick close to the bridge.

With good technique you can bring out harmonics higher than the 5th. The node points get closer and closer to each other - at the nut end, between frets 5 and 2. Over fret 2 is a node point for the 9th harmonic (3 octaves and a major 2nd above the open string).

With the major 3rd (frets 4, 9, 16), it's worth knowing that it's out of tune with the tempered interval. E.g., if you tune your string exactly, your tuner should tell you the harmonics at frets 7 and 5 are in tune, but the 4th fret harmonic will read noticeably flat, even on the cheapest tuner. It's 14 cents (14/100 of a half-step) flat. This is why the node points are not right over the fretwire, but just to one side. (In fact the 5th and 7th harmonics are also out of tune, but by a negligible 2 cents.)

[jeanray1113]

Originally Posted by JonPR

The problem with other harmonics is two-fold:
1. You have to be more careful about where you touch, and where you pick it.
2. The smaller the string fraction, the harder it is to get it moving.

IOW, each harmonic is a fraction of the string. The "node" - the point you touch - is at that fractional point (any one of them). Where you pick needs to be exactly between those nodes (or between the bridge and the first node) to be most effective.

Here's a pic:

Blue = fret 12 = octave = 2nd harmonic (The open string is the "1st harmonic" in the "harmonic series")
Red = frets 7 or 19 = octave + perfect 5th = 3rd harmonic (1/3 of the string, 3x the frequency)
Green = frets 5 (or 24 if you have one) = 2 octaves = 4th harmonic (1/4)
Yellow = frets 4, 9 or 16 = 2 octaves + major 3rd = 5th harmonic (1/5)

The smaller and higher the harmonic, the more precise, firm and careful you need to be. You have to touch gently in exactly the right place - might not be exactly over the fretwire - and pick in the right place quite forcefully. And of course remove the touching finger immediately.

The best place to pick the string is in the middle of the movement of each fraction. If you pick over a node point you'll get nothing. E.g., if you were to touch over fret 7 and pick over fret 19, nothing would happen. (Pick between fret 19 and the bridge; or between frets 7 and 19). The best general strategy for the higher harmonics is to just to pick close to the bridge.

With good technique you can bring out harmonics higher than the 5th. The node points get closer and closer to each other - at the nut end, between frets 5 and 2. Over fret 2 is a node point for the 9th harmonic (3 octaves and a major 2nd above the open string).

With the major 3rd (frets 4, 9, 16), it's worth knowing that it's out of tune with the tempered interval. E.g., if you tune your string exactly, your tuner should tell you the harmonics at frets 7 and 5 are in tune, but the 4th fret harmonic will read noticeably flat, even on the cheapest tuner. It's 14 cents (14/100 of a half-step) flat. This is why the node points are not right over the fretwire, but just to one side. (In fact the 5th and 7th harmonics are also out of tune, but by a negligible 2 cents.)

And this exactly the missing piece. My focus was entirely on the fretting hand. I never considered where the string is plucked as part of the equation. My lack of knowledge on how harmonics work. Thanks to all for educating me.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hi, JR —

There's another kind of guitar harmonics that we haven't mentioned, and it will let you hit single notes at any fret, not just the fifth, seventh, and twelfth.

Firmly fret a string at any fret. Pluck it as you would any note, but with the heel of your right hand very lightly touching the string. Remove your hand the instant the note has been plucked.

It takes some experimenting and practice, but if you're patient you can get the octave for any note.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Charlie Bernstein

Hi, JR —

There's another kind of guitar harmonics that we haven't mentioned, and it will let you hit single notes at any fret, not just the fifth, seventh, and twelfth.

Firmly fret a string at any fret. Pluck it as you would any note, but with the heel of your right hand very lightly touching the string. Remove your hand the instant the note has been plucked.

It takes some experimenting and practice, but if you're patient you can get the octave for any note.

Yes, the heel of the hand (at least on the lower frets) contacts the string in the vicinity of a second harmonic node for a note frequency two octaves above the fundamental. As you fret somewhat higher up you get to a point where you cannot curl your hand enough.