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, you might have thought, "Oh, how's he done that?"

That's what we're going to talk about now.

• A pinched harmonic is symbolized by a triangle shape around the note head or the tab's note.
  • Subtle Difference:
    • Diamond = Natural Harmonic
    • Triangle = Pinched Harmonic

Whereas the natural harmonic was predominantly a left-hand technique, the pinched harmonic is the opposite. It comes from the right hand.

Playing Technique

Holding the Pick

• Hold the pick nice and close to the tip.
• Normally, I might show that much pick to the strings for just a normal pick.
• For a pinched harmonic, when you strike the string, let the side of your thumb catch the string as well. This is what creates the harmonic.

Note:

• You'll need quite a lot of gain for this sound.
• It's usually recommended to practice with less gain to keep your technique clean.
• However, when you're new to them, you really need a lot of gain to catch a pinched harmonic.

Finding the Sweet Spot

If you're struggling to get a real squeal, experiment with where you hit the string with your right hand. There will be a certain sweet spot on your guitar where the pinched harmonics really jump out.

Practice Exercise

Let's take an open string, the open G string.

• Pick all downstrokes.
• Ensure you keep catching the string with the side of your thumb.
• You'll hear the tone of the harmonic change as you move across this region.

Example:

• Here's the normal picked G. (Play a normal picked note)
• Now let me really dig the side of my thumb into the string. (Demonstrate the harmonic)

Focusing on Technique

If you're new to pinched harmonics, focus on getting that tone to change.

• If you don't have that side of the thumb action, you'll just get a slightly warmer sound as you get to the neck.
• You won't hear that changing tone or the harmonic.

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

Fretting for Harmonics

For example, let's take the second fret on the G string and try to get a real squeal out of this.

• One technique I like is muting the strings below it and really attacking the string by raking into the harmonic.
• You can hear as I move around, the harmonic is changing there.

Note:

• You don't have to mute the lower strings; you can just attack the G string directly.

Application in Music

Check out songs like "Sounds Like Noise," the Grade 6 track, it has a ton of pinched harmonics.

• Any track by bands like Extreme or Van Halen will feature those squeals.
• Be cautious: it can easily be overdone.
• An example is Zakk Wylde, who can get incredible screams out of the guitar, but sometimes might overdo the pinched harmonic.

Recommendation:

• Check out the Live at Budokan album with Ozzy.
• There's a pinched harmonic going on every two seconds, which is pretty phenomenal.

Conclusion

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

I hope this was useful. Spend some time with it, it's a tricky technique and takes practice. If you're struggling, chat with your teacher about your pick holding and the side of the thumb technique.

You'll likely accidentally get one and think, "Ah, right! What did I do?" Then you'll hone in on it and start to get it, but it may take a bit of finessing to get just right.

Have fun practicing that, and let's take a look at the next one!