Pinched Harmonics

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

Understanding Pinched Harmonics

A pinched harmonic is symbolized by a triangle shape around the note head or the tabs note. Here are some subtle differences:

• 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.

Technique to Create Pinched Harmonics

To execute a pinched harmonic:

1. Hold the pick nice and close to the tip.
2. Normally, I might show that much pick to the strings for regular picking.
3. For a pinched harmonic:
   • When you strike the string, have the side of your thumb catch the string as well.
   • This is what creates the harmonic.

Gain Settings

You will need quite a lot of gain for this sound. I usually recommend practicing with less gain to keep the technique clean, but to catch a pinched harmonic, especially when you're new to them, you'll really need a lot of gain. Once you get a feel for how to catch them, you can start dialing it down.

Finding the Sweet Spot

If you're struggling to get a real squeal, one thing to experiment with is where you physically hit the string with your right hand, as this can make a difference. There will be a certain sweet spot on your guitar where the pinched harmonics really jump out.

Practice Exercise

To practice, let's take an open G string.

• Use all downstrokes.
• Make sure to keep catching the string with the side of your thumb.
• As I move across this region, you'll hear the tone of the harmonic change.

Here's me just picking the normal G:

• That's a normal picked note.
• If I dig the side of my thumb into the string, you can hear that kind of harmonic changing as you go.

This is a great starting point for pinched harmonics. If you're new to them, forget the left hand and just try to get that changing tone.

If you don't have that side-of-the-thumb technique going, you'll just get a warmer sound rather than hearing that changing tone.

Moving to Fretted Notes

Once you get to that point, we can start trying to get them on fretted notes. For example, let's take the second fret on the G string and try to get a real squeal out of this:

• Mute the strings below it.
• Really attack the string by raking into the harmonic.

As I move around, the harmonic is changing there. You don't have to mute; you can just go straight in and attack the G string.

Listening Suggestions

Check out songs, for example, 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'll hear those squeals all over the place!

In my opinion, it can easily be overdone, so once you've got it, it's great fun. But be careful where you place it, squealing every two seconds can get a bit much.

Another great player to check out is Zach Wild, who is a phenomenal guitar player. He can get some crazy screams out of the guitar. However, he might be guilty of overdoing the pinched harmonic on occasion.

If you listen to the Live at Budokan album with Ozzy, there's a pinched harmonic going on every two seconds, and it's phenomenal. If you're not familiar with the sound, then go check that out!

Conclusion

I hope this was useful. Spend some time with it. It's a tricky technique that takes time to master. If you're struggling, chat with your teacher about how you're holding the pick and that side-of-the-thumb technique, it just takes a little time to get used to it.

You'll accidentally get it one time and think, "Ah, right! What did I do?" Then you'll hone in on it and start to get it. Just remember, it takes a bit of finesse to get it just right.

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