Tuned In

May 2, 2008

An Introduction to
Harmonics
By Scott Blanchard

What are those beautiful bell-like tones I hear in my favorite acoustic recording? How
did that metal guitarist color those red-hot screaming licks? No matter what style of
music you play, you’ve probably heard of harmonics. Harmonics are pure, chime-like
tones that are produced by picking rather than fretting the string at various points along
its length. This article will focus on natural harmonics, or harmonics produced on open
strings. Understanding the theory behind harmonics and adding them to your bag of tricks
will not only make you a more versatile musician, it will allow you to identify musical
situations in which playing harmonics can transform the ordinary into the
extraordinary.

In this edition of the Theory Corner, we’ll take a look at an excerpt from rock virtuoso
Tobias Hurwitz’s book, The Total Rock Guitarist, available through Alfred Publishing.
Hurwitz will introduce the concept of harmonics, how to produce a good sound, show
you where the most common harmonics are played and give you a few exercises to build
up your chops. If you want guidance on all the skills you’ll need to be a well-versed
guitar rock master, then this book is for you. Hurwitz’s clear approach and excellent
examples make learning rock guitar fun! The book comes with a CD so you can easily
follow along with all the examples. Speaking of audio, be sure to listen to the examples
included in this document. Check it out!

Harmonics
Harmonics are pure, ringing tones that are produced by picking the string while gently
touching it at various points along its length. In most cases, the finger should touch the string
directly above the fret. As soon as the harmonic is picked, the finger should be removed so
that the string can vibrate freely, without interference. The root, 3rd and 5th of any string
can be produced easily with natural harmonics, or harmonics of the open strings. The best
spots to get harmonics are the 12th, 7th, 5th, 19th and 24th frets.

All guitars are not created equally when it comes to harmonic response. Some work much
more easily than others. Fresh strings help on any guitar, as does picking close to the bridge.
Whether you’re using your fingers or a pick, attacking the strings about ¾’s of an inch from
the bridge will make any harmonic ring more loudly and clearly. Also, on electric guitars the
bridge pickup usually works best, and high gain distortion may enhance certain harmonics,
or create harmonic “sweet spots” where none previously existed. A freshly strung acoustic
steel-string guitar produces a wide array of beautiful harmonics.


© MMVIII WorkshopLive, Inc.
 Playing a Harmonic:

1. Touch the 6th string directly above the 12th fret with your left-hand
1st finger.

2. Pick the 6th string.

3. Remove the left-hand finger immediately.

Roman Numeral Key
Roman Numeral Key

·
V=5= 5
VII=7
= 7
Harmonic
== Harmonic = 12
XII=12
= 19
X1X=19
XXIV=24
= 24

≥
XII

Track &O
1

·
Harm.

T
A
B 12
1
Playing a harmonic.
Sound and The Overtone Series
As you begin to play harmonics, it’s important to have a basic knowledge of the properties
of sound so you can better understand why harmonics sound the way they do, and how
these sounds relate to the open strings. Each note on the guitar is a combination of several
frequencies that define the highness or lowness of a particular note. For each open string on
the guitar, there is a primary tone or pitch—for example, the open 1st string is an E-note.
This primary pitch is called the fundamental (the lowest frequency). If we focus our listening,
we can hear other pitches ringing out above the fundamental—these other pitches are called
overtones. Overtones contribute to the instrument’s overall timbre, or sound quality. The
overtone series includes the fundamental and its overtones.

Believe it or not, when you play a harmonic, you’re really just highlighting an overtone.
To produce these, you’re dividing the string at specific points that allow the sound to ring
out clearly and prominently, just as a fundamental would. At each fret you decide to play
your open-string harmonics, a different interval will sound above the fundamental. For
example, any natural harmonic played at the 12th fret will sound one octave higher than the
fundamental. This occurs because when you hit the harmonic, you are dividing the string
in half, or causing the string to vibrate at a ratio of 1:2. In addition, the octave is the first
overtone in the series. The 7th-fret harmonics are next in the overtone series, sounding one
octave and a 5th above the fundamental, vibrating at a ratio of 1:3. Following that come the
5th-fret harmonics, which sound two octaves above the fundamental, with a ratio of 1:4.
The overtone series continues as you divide the string more and more, and you’ll notice the
clarity of harmonics diminishes as you progress further in this sequence.

© MMVIII WorkshopLive, Inc.
 The following fretboard chart shows the note names of the easiest natural harmonics.
Harmonics played at these frets are by far the most common in all forms of guitar
music.

E B E B E
B F# B F# B
B D B D B
D A D A D
A E A E A
E B E B E
3 5 7 9 12 15 17 19 21 24

This exercise will get you started playing harmonics on the frets in the chart above. The
Roman numerals indicate at which fret to play the harmonic. If you don’t have 24 frets on
your guitar, you can still get those harmonics by placing your finger where the 24th fret
would be if you had one.

√
‚≤ ‚≤ ≤ ≤ ≤ ≤
V VII XII

#6 ‚ ‚ ≥ ≥ ‚≥ ‚≥
‚ ‚
≥
‚ ‚ ≥ ‚≤ ‚≤ ≤ ≤ ≤ ≤
& 8 ‚ ‚
‚ ‚ ‚ ‚
Track
2

· · · · · ·
Harm.
etc.
5 7 12
T 5
5 7
7 12
12
A 5 7 12
B 5
5 7
7 12
12
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

(√ )
‚≤
XIX XXIV

‚≥ ‚≤ ≤ ≤
4
# ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥
‚ ‚≥ ‚≤ ‚
≤ ≥
& ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ O.
‚
19 24
T 19 24
A 19 24
19 24
B 19
19 24
24 24
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4


© MMVIII WorkshopLive, Inc.
 This short, meditative etude, or study, is entirely composed of natural harmonics formed
on the 5th, 7th and 12th frets. It’s important to let each note ring as long as possible to get
the most musical effect.
Midnight Wind Song

ó
Let ring throughout
≥ ≥
j ‚ OO .. ‚‚ ≥
‚‚ OO .. ‚‚ ‚‚ O. ‚ ‚‚ OO .. ‚‚ ‚‚‚
#4 ‚ O.
‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚
‚ ‚ ‚ ‚J
& 4 ‰ Œ ‚ ‚ ‚J ‰ Œ ‚ ‰ Œ ‚ ≤ ≥ ≤ ‰
Track
‚ ‚ ≤
J
≤ ≤ ≥ ≥ ≤ ≤ ≥
3

≥
≤ ≥ ≤
Harm. throughout
5 (5) (5) 7 (7) (7) 12 (12) (12)
T 5
5
(5)
(5)
(5)
12
7
7
(7)
(7)
(7) 12
(7) 12
(12)
(12)
(12) 7
12 7
A 12 12 12 7
B 12
7
7 12
7 7
12 12
7
7
1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4 4 4 1 4 1 4 1
1 1 4 1
1 1 4 1

√ ≥ ≥
‚‚ Œ Œ ‰ ‚j O .
≥ ‚ OO .. ‚‚
‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ O. ‚‚ ‚‚ O. ‚ ‚‚
# ‚ ‚ ‚ O. ‚
‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚
4

& Œ Œ ‚ ‚ ‚J ‰ Œ J ‰
≤ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ ‚ ‚ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ ≥
≤
≤ ≥
≤ ≥
5 (5) (5) 7 (7) (7) 12
T (7)
(7)
12
12
5
5
(5)
(5)
(5)
12
7
7
(7)
(7)
(7)
(7)
12
12
A (7) 7 12 12 12
B 7 12
7
7 12
7 7
12
4 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4 4
1 1 4

√
1 1 4
≥j
Œ Œ ‰ ‚‚‚ ‚‚ Œ Œ ‰ ≥j
‚‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ OO
7
# ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚
‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ ‚ J ‚‚ O
& Œ Œ ‰
≤ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≤ ≤ ≥ ≤ ≥ ≤

(12) 7 (7) 12 5 (5)

T (12)
(12)
12 7 (7)
(7)
12 5 (5)
(5)
A 12 7 12 7 5
7 12 7
B 7
4 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4 1 4 1
1 1
1 1


© MMVIII WorkshopLive, Inc.
Conclusion
For more information on harmonics, be sure to check out the Licks and Tricks section of
this newsletter for some fun playing examples that’ll blow others away at the next jam
session!

If you liked this excerpt, order Tobias Hurwitz’s book, The Total Rock Guitarist, at
www.guitarworkshop.com/books. In addition, be sure to check out his rock guitar lessons
at www.WorkshopLive.com today!

To learn more about harmonics, guitarists should check out any rock, acoustic or blues
lesson having to do with harmonics, which include technique-specific lessons as well as
tuning lessons.

Bassists will enjoy the rock bass lessons “Introduction to Harmonics” and “Playing
Chord Voicings with Harmonics,” taught by Dave Overthrow.

Have fun experimenting with these new sounds—see you in June!


© MMVIII WorkshopLive, Inc.