Pinch Harmonics?

[Silenced Fred]

How exactly do you do them? I have looked it up on youtube, but haven't really found anything that I understood

[duane v]

Pinch harmonics take a little practice.... I first learned them listening to Rick Hemmitt of Triumph

[Riffster]

I get them by plucking the string and touching the string immediately with my thumb while bending or applying vibrato to the string with my fretting hand.

[S t e v e]

this should help you mate

 

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-play-pinch-harmonics-71348/

[swleary]

This is what helped me get a nice refresher coarse on them

http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Lessons/Lesson-Of-The-Day/single-note-licks-using-false/

[surfpup]

The squealies are all in the thumb.

[charlie brown]

Also, you can use a bit different pick attack...almost like pushing down, on the string, as opposed to the

sweep "from the side" attack, and judicious palm-muting, at the same time. But, different people get

the same result, from various techniques. Practice, and experimentation, are the key.

 

CB

[duane v]

Fred I did a little recording for you with my phone..... BTW excuse the voice at the begginning... I had to use one of those free converters becuase it was a .amr file

 

[YOUTUBE]

[/YOUTUBE]

[SGguy]

Pinch harmonics takes a bit of time to master...not too long. I would think most on youtube suggest high gain + humbuckers. But keep in mind you do not need this. I can grab them on any pup and on my acoustic, and you can too with practice. I would assume you know all about natural harmonics, go and find some beyond your fretboard (above your pickups) as I think this will help. But as others have said it's all in the thumb, right after you pick your note you need the slightest touch with your thumb.

 

Try this, 2nd fret third string "A". Fret this note, now start picking as close to your bridge as possible and with every down pick let your thumb touch the string immediately after (slight touch remember). Now keep picking and let your pick hand start moving towards the neck. You are bound to hit one, try to remember this area where you found it and keep at it. Before long you will be able to grad it at will with no thought.

 

Hope this helps...

[ledzep59]

I think trial and error is the best if not the only way to learn this technique. Just do what everyone else has said, pick the string and let your thumb kind of "dampen" the string a bit. Move your pick hand up and down the string to get different harmonics. Keep at it and before long you'll be making that thing scream.

[rocketman]

I remember asking myself this question years ago too. I actually do it differently than the conventional way. I haven't seen anyone else really do it this way and it's kinda a weird. What I do is lightly rest my pinkie on the string, and then pick and lift my pinkie in a flowing type motion. So the harmonic is hit right where my pinkie rests. Even though it's a bit weird it gives me full control of what harmonic to hit.

[SGguy]

I remember asking myself this question years ago too. I actually do it differently than the conventional way. I haven't seen anyone else really do it this way and it's kinda a weird. What I do is lightly rest my pinkie on the string' date=' and then pick and lift my pinkie in a flowing type motion. So the harmonic is hit right where my pinkie rests. Even though it's a bit weird it gives me full control of what harmonic to hit. [/quote']

 

Watching EVH taught me about the same thing. Do a pull on 4th fret to 2nd to open (say 3rd string) again and again while running your pinkie from bridge to neck (touching the string of coarse).

 

But if this is the way you ALWAYS do it I think that is unique. I came across a player a few months ago who was top notch in all lead playing (different styles modes and all that) but when I did a couple pinch harmonics he was like "how do you do that?". After a few minutes of saying just go like this I looked at his pick hand, he had one of those thumbs that bend way back and he held is pick in the opposite angle of me and I would guess 99% of all other players. If you get what I mean about how he is holding his pick he would have to use his index (1st) finger to pull it off, or he could do it like you with his pinkie I guess.