Proper tap harmonic name?

[lyle]

I was wondering what the proper term for when you fret a note then tap 12 frets above it (the octave on the fret) producing a harmonic was?

[Sonorous]

Percussive harmonics, I think.

[lyle]

any one else have info. Not that your answer wasnt good

[Malodorous]

Artificial, I believe.

[Sonorous]

Originally Posted by lyle

any one else have info. Not that your answer wasnt good

[taviswardlaw]

+1
yeah, i've always heard of them as artificial harmonics... You can tap any harmonic of it too, not just 12 up. saying your fretting the 2nd fret, you can tap the 9th to get a 7th fret harmonic. And then you slide your fretted finger to get a harmony line from the harmonic. fun fun fun

[Sonorous]

I thought that percussive and artificial harmonics were two different things.

Percussive involves actual tapping with a quick pull off, while artificial involves fretting with one finger and stretching your pinky to a different location and lightly touching the string like a normal harmonic.

This is speculation of course.

[luisnovelo]

Originally Posted by Sonorous

I thought that percussive and artificial harmonics were two different things.

Percussive involves actual tapping with a quick pull off, while artificial involves fretting with one finger and stretching your pinky to a different location and lightly touching the string like a normal harmonic.

This is speculation of course.

I think artificial harmonics are those produced when you pluck/slap/pick/scratch a string and slightly mute it with a fingers in the plucking hand which is closer to the neck or with the thumb. Like guitar players do strumming with a pick and muting with the thumb. No matter if it's an open string or fretted.
For the case which you called artificial, I think they're natural harmonics but in the key of the note fretted.
I could be wrong but they're just different ways of calling them anyway.

[Malodorous]

Originally Posted by luisnovelo

I think artificial harmonics are those produced when you pluck/slap/pick/scratch a string and slightly mute it with a fingers in the plucking hand which is closer to the neck or with the thumb.

I've always known those as pinch harmonics.

[luisnovelo]

Originally Posted by Malodorous

I've always known those as pinch harmonics.

I din't note that. Thanks.

[Sonorous]

Originally Posted by Malodorous

I've always known those as pinch harmonics.

+1. But then again, it isn't that different than what I'm thinking an artifical harmonic is. It's just instead of muting with the pinky, you mute with the plucking hand in a place that happens to be beyond the reach of the pinky.

[lemur821]

An artificial harmonic is any harmonic played on a stopped string. Natural harmonics are harmonics played on open strings.

Tapping them and playing pinch harmonics are just techniques used to sound then, so both can be either natural or artificial.

A pinch harmonic is any harmonic played by touching a node (the spot you touch the string to make it sound) with your fretting hand. You don't mute; you just touch the string like when playing other harmonics.

Tapped harmonics are harmonics played by tapping on a node.

[Audiophage]

Originally Posted by Malodorous

Artificial, I believe.

They don't have to be artificial if they're tapped.

Percussive or tapped are the most accurate.

[lyle]

Thanks alot guys, Im pretty sure I understand now.


Looking back in an old bass guitar mag, Stu Hamm mentions "polyphonic harmonics, or a mixture of harmonics and fretted notes."

Is that exactly what it is? Playing harmonics along with regular fretted notes as well.

[Sonorous]

Polyphonic usually refers to two seperate melodies.

Think of how a piano player plays one thing with his left hand and another with his right. The same can apply to the way a bass player does two-handed tapping, or perhaps the way a chapman stick is played.

These can all be polyphonic, but just because they're played that way doesn't automatically make them polyphonic.

[lyle]

thanks