Those Steve Bailey Style Artificial Harmonics?

[Bass_Machine]

Hey guys.

I've been listening to/watching alot of Steve Bailey's stuff, and I've been trying to get down his technique for those awesome artificial harmonics. I've found a vague explanation of them, but I could do with some details. Could anyone who can use them explain in a bit more detail? More sepcifically:
What is the basic technique? (A really clear explanation or some pictures would be great!)

How do you get them to sound so clearly?

How is it possible to slide them so well?

How can you play chords with this technique?

Really, anyone with any info on this style of playing that can tell me anyting, or anyone who can tell me which (if any) of Steve's instructional videos explain in sufficient detail, will be very greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Hector

[penguinbass]

On a natural harmonic the 12th fret is an octave above the open string, right? So when you press a fret on your left hand, lets say the first fret of the G string and place your right finger on the 13th fret (one octave above the new open string.) and pluck you get the first fret of the G string (Ab) an octave up. You can pluck and fret with your right hand by lightly pressing on the string with your thumb and plucking with one of your other fingers.

1. To get them to sound clear, check your intonation. (Make sure that your left hand is exactly twelve frets behing your right.) After that you could also boost the mids on your amp or bass.

2. To slide an artificial harmonic, slide both hands at the same time.

3. I'm not too sure about these but, the only chords I know how to do are if you barr you left hand and lay your thumb or first finger over the barred notes an octave up as a harmonic and pluck you can get some chords. But I'm not sure about getting other chords.

Thats about it, good luck.

If you need more info you could go to http://bassplayer.tv/ click on Steve bailey and there is a small section where he explains the artificial harmonics he does.

[user101]

i only have the bass extremes DVD with bailey and wooten. He does some explanation there but in my opinion it's not that detailed. I'm still learning his technique and trying to apply to simple stuff first. Although i find AHs quite useless in "normal" bass playing because it always clashes with either the guitarist or the keyboard player.

I play a fretted so i always start by counting frets. If I fret a note with my left hand and use my right index finger as a node 12 frets (an octave) from the fretted note i will have the first "partial" of the AH which is an octave up. If my node is 19 frets away then i have an... octave 4th?? (sorry i have no idea about terminology). And then 24 frets (2 octaves) and 29 frets (2 octave 3rd). Hope that makes sense.

Now obviously counting frets is absurd because by the time you reach the 29th fret your somewhere near the PUs. So it's muscle memory. You have to find the spot for every possible note. Sounds like a lot of work, but after awhile you sort of get a feel of what i like to call the right hand fretboard. I just imagine that my fretboard goes right up to the bridge and then i sort of visualize where my nodes should be. Of course i still lack the accuracy. But even Bailey has trouble sometimes finding his notes.

Sorry no camera so no photos

[Baryonyx]

To get them to sound clearly give your mids a boost, use the bridge pickup and make sure you have fresh strings! Then be prepared to put in some long hours woodshedding! Steve didn't get to be one of the worlds best fretless players without a lot of hard work, thats for sure!

[AmazingGracePlayer]

Basically, if play a G on your open string, and put a finger on the 12th fret, you get a G higher than your open G. Put your finger on the 19th fret, and you get a D (fifth in the key of G). Now instead of having G as your root note, you can press down, let's say an F, 10th fret on the G-string. Now, F is your "open-string-note", and you can put a finger on the 22nd fret and pluck an F (1 octave above the 10th fret F), and to go to the fifth up (C), put your finger on the hypothetical 29th fret. Up there on the 34th fret is your F 2 octaves above your 10th fret F. 41st fret is your higher C, etc. Of course, your bass won't have 40 something frets, so you just have to assume where they are. Usually the 36th fret is around your neck pickup, and the 48th is somewhere around the front part of the bridge pickup. But keep in mind it's different for all basses.

As of harmonics or a.h. slides, it's nearly impossible on fretted basses, so I'd go with a fretless. On a fretless, let's say your are still playing that F on 10th fret on G, you can slide simply your fretting hand, and you'll get an a.h. slide.

I like how Steve does it, it looks cool, and it's hard too, but instead of using my index finger as the harmonics finger, I use my thumb. And I play the actual notes with my index and middle fingers.
As of playing chords, let's say you want to play a G M7 (G B F#), you'd play an actual G on the 15th fret on your E, F# on the 16th fret on D, and B on the 16th fret on G. Put your index finger on the 28th fret on both D and G string, and pluck the D with your middle finger and the G with your ring finger. And the root G is played with the thumb.

It looks very hard, but it's actually easy (at least to me it is). It's a long of muscle memory (like Steve says). So keep practicing

Good Luck!

[Bass_Machine]

Originally Posted by Chris2112

To get them to sound clearly give your mids a boost, use the bridge pickup and make sure you have fresh strings! Then be prepared to put in some long hours woodshedding! Steve didn't get to be one of the worlds best fretless players without a lot of hard work, thats for sure!

Hahaha. damn right man, damn right!

Well, thanks so far to everyone who's been helping me out so far - I really appreciate it!

Just to clarify: I have the basic concept of Artificial Harmonics down, but I use my thumb as a node instead of my Right Hand index finger, as I find it more comfortable. I was wondering if this makes any difference at all. I can't see it affecting linear playing at all, but it might be a problem with A.H chords, perhaps?
Also, the thing with Steve is that he plays them so fast! Is there something I'm missing there, or does he really just use one finger as a node and one to pluck with? Is it possible to use the thumb's edge as a node, and play the notes with index and middle fingers, or a similar idea with the index finger as a node and the middle and ring fingers plucking? How can I play double stops in Harmonics? (I haven't figured out that last one at all yet!)

[AmazingGracePlayer]

Originally Posted by Bass_Machine

Just to clarify: I have the basic concept of Artificial Harmonics down, but I use my thumb as a node instead of my Right Hand index finger, as I find it more comfortable. I was wondering if this makes any difference at all. I can't see it affecting linear playing at all, but it might be a problem with A.H chords, perhaps?
Also, the thing with Steve is that he plays them so fast! Is there something I'm missing there, or does he really just use one finger as a node and one to pluck with? Is it possible to use the thumb's edge as a node, and play the notes with index and middle fingers, or a similar idea with the index finger as a node and the middle and ring fingers plucking? How can I play double stops in Harmonics? (I haven't figured out that last one at all yet!)

What allows Steve to play fast is the fact that he uses his index finger and the harmonics finger instead of his thumb. When you use your thumb, you have to move a lot to switch string; if you use your index finger, it's much easier. Sound-wise, there's no difference.

[penguinbass]

It doesn't make much of a difference whether you use your thumb or index finger as a note. The reason Steve uses his index finger as a note instead of his thumb is because it leaves his thumb is free to pluck normal fretted notes, so he can play the artificial harmonics and a bassline at the same time. Steve uses his middle and ring to pluck.

[Erick Lam]

2. To slide an artificial harmonic, slide both hands at the same time.

Huh? Just slide one hand. It's pretty easy on a fretless.

I node with index and pluck with pinky. It gives clearer, fuller sound as you don't pluck so close to the nod. Sometimes I'll pluck ring for barred harmonics (or major 3rd or raised 4th).

[user101]

Originally Posted by Bass_Machine

How can I play double stops in Harmonics? (I haven't figured out that last one at all yet!)

If the notes are 4ths apart then the nodes fall on the same interval for the 2 consecutive strings you are going to pluck. So you can use your right index finger as a node for both strings. Sounds easy, but i have lots of difficulties doing it because the finger never sits perpendicular to the strings. Or maybe that's just me.

But double stops in general....no idea