Pinched harmonics

Lesson on Pinched Harmonics

The next one is the pinched harmonic, okay? You'll see this crop up in any kind of heavy rock context.

What is a Pinched Harmonic?

This is that sound! If you've ever listened to a recording and heard a guitar make a real squealing sound and thought, "Oh, how's he done that?" we're going to talk about that now. It's a pinched harmonic.

Notation

This is symbolized by the triangle shape around the note head or the tab's note.

• Diamond: Natural harmonic
• Triangle: Pinched harmonic

Technique

Whereas the natural harmonic was predominantly a left-hand technique, the pinched harmonic is the opposite. It's coming from the right hand. Here's how to do it:

1. Hold the Pick:

   • Hold the pick nice and close to the tip.
   • Normally, you might show that much pick to the strings for just normal picking.

2. Striking the String:

   • When you strike the string, let the side of your thumb catch the string as well.
   • That's what creates the harmonic.

Gain Settings

You're going to need quite a lot of gain for this sound.

• Tip: Practice with less gain to keep the technique clean.
• For beginners: You really need a lot of gain to catch a pinched harmonic.

Once you get a feel for how to catch them, you can start dialing it down from there.

Experimentation

If you're struggling to get a real squeal, experiment with where you physically hit the string with your right hand, as it makes a difference.

• There'll be a certain sweet spot on your guitar where the pinched harmonics really jump out.

Practice Technique

To practice, let's take the open G string:

1. Pick all downstrokes.
2. Keep catching the string with the side of your thumb.

You'll hear the tone of the harmonic change as you move across a certain region.

• Normal Picked Note: Here's me just picking the normal G.
• Pinched Harmonic: If I really dig the side of my thumb into the string, you can hear the harmonic changing.

I say that's a really good place to start with pinched harmonics.

If you're new to them, forget the left hand and just focus on getting that change.

• Without the side of the thumb technique, the sound will just warm up slightly as you get to the neck, but you won't hear the changing tone or the harmonic.

Once you've got this down, we can start trying to get them on fretted notes.

Fret-based Practice

Let's take the second fret on the G string and try to get a real squeal:

• Muting: I like to mute the strings below it and really attack the string by raking into the harmonic.
• You can hear the harmonic changing as I move around.

You don't have to mute; you can just straight up attack the G string.

Example Tracks

If you check out songs like "Sounds Like Noise," the grade six track, it has a ton of pinched harmonics in there.

Or any track by bands like Extreme or Van Halen, you're going to hear those squeals all over the place.

Moderation in Use

In my opinion, pinched harmonics can easily be overdone.

• Once you've got it, it's great fun, but be careful about where you use it.
• That kind of squealing every two seconds can get a bit much.

Another great player to check out is Zakk Wylde, who is a phenomenal guitar player. However, he can occasionally overdo the pinched harmonic.

• If you check out Live at Budokan with Ozzy, there's a pinched harmonic happening every two seconds, and it's pretty phenomenal.

Conclusion

If you're not familiar with the sound, check that out!

I hope this was useful. Spend some time with it; it's a tricky technique, and getting it right does take time.

If you're struggling, have a chat with your teacher about your pick holding and the thumb technique.

Remember, you'll accidentally get one sometimes and think, "Ah! What did I do?" Then you'll hone in on it and start to get it.

Just be patient, and have fun practicing!

Now, let's take a look at the next topic.