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What is the name of this technique

S

suraci

Apr 11, 2005
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#1
This is a little different ( i think !) than playing harmonics

You pluck with the right hands finger

but your right thumb touches the string near where you are plucking ( obviously - the thumb and other fingers are all connected !! )

anyway you can coax all sorts of harmonics by doing this

can you show a video at a master of this technique ?
i seem to think playing bluesy lines work well with these harmonics
all sorts of pitches become available. thanks to the edge of the right thumb lying on the same string being plucked by other finger(s) of the right hand !
 
#3
Chickenwheels said:
They're called false harmonics I think. Jaco used them a lot. The intro to Birdland (Weather Report) is Jaco using this technique.
Click to expand...

This. I've also heard them called "pinch" harmonics. But "false" harmonics is more common in my experience. Billy Sheehan uses them a lot as well.
 
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#4
You're talking about Artificial Harmonics (as opposed to Natural harmonics). Back in conservatorium we used it often in classical guitar pieces.

Depending on the scale of your instrument (and the position of the intended note) you 'place' the harmonic either with your thumb or index finger (the technique we normally used on guitar) of your right hand and pick the string with one of the other fingers, usually the middle one:



As far as I know Pinch harmonics is a different technique where you usually play with distortion and attack the string with a pick in such a way that it 'squeals' a little...or a lot:

 
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#6
Pinch Harmonics… I do this on bass and on guitar.

Victor Wooten explains how he and Steve Bailey both do it differently.

In Zak Wylde and Dimebag recordings you hear this on guitar all the time. A bit different as the pick strikes the string and the thumb touches the string slightly to cause the resulting (pinch) harmonic.
 
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#8
suraci said:
This is a little different ( i think !) than playing harmonics

You pluck with the right hands finger

but your right thumb touches the string near where you are plucking ( obviously - the thumb and other fingers are all connected !! )

anyway you can coax all sorts of harmonics by doing this

can you show a video at a master of this technique ?
i seem to think playing bluesy lines work well with these harmonics
all sorts of pitches become available. thanks to the edge of the right thumb lying on the same string being plucked by other finger(s) of the right hand !
Click to expand...
I refer to these as "pinch harmonics". It's exactly the same concept as those squealing dive bomb pinch harmonics played by metal guitarists, just deployed differently. In fact, if you throw some string bends or vibrato in and kick on some gnarly distortion or fuzz, I'm willing to bet you could get in that neighborhood-- though using a pick helps a lot. I find them really satisfying, so my fingers like to tend toward doing them if I have distortion or fuzz on.

I'm aware that more proper terminology includes "false harmonics" or "artificial" harmonics, but I don't really like the rationales for using either term. "Pinch" harmonic at least describes the technique you use to produce them, both fingerstyle and with a pick.

If you want a cool harmonic-related trick, play a bassline low on the fretboard while plucking the string exactly 12 frets above. So if you fretted the G on the third fret of the E string, pluck the string right above the 15th fret, and so on. When you do this, it sounds primarily the low harmonics-- I believe the fundamental and the second/+8ve, but I've never checked on a spectrum analyzer or anything. Michael League taught this trick as a way to imitate the sound of an octaver pedal. He called it a proper sub-octave, but I don't think that's what it is.

Most people are aware that plucking closer to the neck results in a tone with more low end, but plucking exactly in the middle of the string (which is 12 frets up, regardless of whether it's open or stopped) gets you the extreme version of that. Obviously this is easier to do lower on the fretboard, because if you go high up, you run out of fretboard to use as a visual aid.
 
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#9
There are a couple of ways to do this with your plucking hand (using your thumb or your index as it is commonly used when playing with a plectrum)

There is a third way, used by Jaco to finish Portrait of Tracy, there is an E chord and he does it by using his fretting hand index at the note, while extending his pinky up 5 1/2 notes forward, slightly touching the strings…. Amazing resource I use a lot, that came from when Jaco was visiting Andromeda and learned a few of his tricks….
 
#11
Jaco covers the how-to in the old instructional video entitled "Modern Electric Bass with Jaco Pastorius".
He also touches on many other equally interesting subjects in that video.
I think it made it to DVD at some point in time.
It's probably still available someplace.
That tape was a mind blower for me back in the day.
 
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