What is a guitar harmonic and how to play it?

One of the interesting tricks of sound production on the guitar are the ways of producing harmonics. In addition, harmonic sounds are unique in timbre, and they also expand the standard range of the instrument.

A guitar flag is an overtone (sound) of a particular note.... And the term "harmonolet" itself arose from the similarity of the resulting overtone with the sound of the flute, which in ancient times was called "harmonolet" (from the old French flageol). The dull sound of the harmonic in timbre resembles this particular musical wind instrument.

The sound of the overtone of any note is always higher than that very note.... On the guitar, open strings are used to produce harmonic sounds. The sounds of the open strings are, in fact, the fundamental notes from which overtones are extracted.... And this happens by dividing the length of the strings into parts with a light touch of your fingers over certain fretboard pads:

Dividing, for example, the open 1st string, which sounds at the classical tuning by the note “mi"The first octave (true sound), in 2 parts (at the XII fret), get the same note, but only an octave higher -"mi»The second octave. When dividing the length of the open string into 3 parts (VII and XIX frets), a harmonic is obtained.si", The pitch of which is 9.5 tones higher than the" E "note drawn from the open string. The same thing happens on the other five strings of the instrument.

Flazolettes are divided into natural and artificial according to the method of extraction..

Natural harmonic is only played on an open string. with the participation of both hands: the finger of the left hand lightly touches the string at certain points of the neck while simultaneously extracting a sound with the finger of the right hand.

The brightest sounds are reproduced at the place where the string is bisected. (above the sill of the XII fret) and into 3 parts (VII and XIX metal sills). They also sound good above the V-fret nut (at this point the string is divided into 4 equal segments). Not on every guitar and not on all strings you can hear the overtones above the III metal nut (on high-quality instruments you can hear only overtones on the 4th, 5th and 6th strings). The same goes for the IX fretboard.

Interesting that at the XII fret, a natural harmonic produces exactly the same pitch that is produced here with a normal finger-clamping of the string.

An artificial harmonic is obtained from a string already clamped at a fret.... That is, the length of the string is artificially reduced by a certain number of frets. In this case, the finger of the left hand completely clamps the string at this fret, thereby indicating the main sound, and the fingers of the right hand reproduce the harmonic: one finger touches the string in a place that depends on where the string is clamped and what height the final sound is required, and the other simultaneously extracts sound.

The method of obtaining artificial harmonics is more difficult than reproducing natural ones - it requires the skill of the guitarist and knowledge of the neck.

When extracting natural overtones, you need to remember at what height they sound above the XII, VII and V sills:

And to extract an artificial harmonic an octave above the main sound, say, on the 3rd fret, you need to add these 3 frets to the 12 frets, since the middle of the string, which gives the pitch of the overtone one octave above the main sound, moves exactly 3 frets above the XII. As a result, the point of contact with the finger of the left hand will be above the XV nut... In this case, you also need to extract a sound with another finger of the same hand.

It is convenient to calculate only those artificial harmonics that are an octave higher than the main sound. The overtones of greater pitch, obtained by dividing the string into 3 or 4 equal parts, must be correlated with frets above XII, where they can still be taken (XIX and XXIV, respectively), and the fret clamped with the left hand should be added to them.

Symbols of natural and artificial harmonics in musical literature are not brought to one denominator, which, of course, depressing novice guitarists. Here are some examples:

This is not to say that harmonics of any type are used by guitarists in any selective style of music. They have found their application in the classical style, and the newfangled fingerstyle, and rock music.... On acoustic guitar and electric guitar, the overwhelming majority of musicians use artificial overtones, while classical guitarists equally use natural and artificial types in their playing. Rock guitarists in their solo parts emphasize the climaxes with harmonics, especially in those cases when it is necessary to move from the melodic part of the composition to a heavier one.

In melodic pieces for two or several guitars, the harmonic sections of the piece are well listened to accompanied by brute force (arpeggio). Many classical compositions for guitar end with a harmonic chord or brute force, and sometimes even begin with them.

It is more difficult to perform an artificial harmonic on an electric guitar than on an acoustic one, since it is required to drown out the fundamental tone, but leave the overtone, immediately after the start of the sound of the string with a practiced movement of a finger or a pick.

You can do it like this:

• hold the string at the desired fret with your left finger;
• with the index finger of your right hand, touch the same string above the corresponding nut after the XII fret, and with the other free finger (thumb or ring), simultaneously make a sound;
• after sound production, the index finger is removed from the string and immediately touches it again to drown out the main tone;
• only the overtone remains, the index finger is again removed from the string.

On an acoustic instrument, muffling is not required, and everything else is done in the same way.... When playing with a pick, the string touches the middle finger of the right hand, since the index finger is involved in holding the pick.

When the natural harmonic is extracted, the left hand finger touches the strings above the corresponding nut, and the right hand produces the sound (with a finger or a pick).

Some helpful tips help beginners to master the harmonic technique.

1. You should start learning how to extract overtones from their natural types at the XII, then at the VII and V frets.
2. The strings should be touched very gently, but firmly, over the harmonic pegs.
3. Touching the string and extracting sound from it is necessary at the same time.
4. After the start of the overtone sound, the finger is immediately removed, otherwise the sound will go out.
5. You can touch the string when removing the artificial harmonics with a pick, and you can produce a sound with your right finger.
6. The correctness of the overtone sound can be understood independently: the note is heard clearly, it is bright and rather long.