Pinch Harmonics

Pinch harmonics are what can make your guitar squeal. In order to understand them, you will need a basic understanding of natural harmonics.

You start by finding a strong natural harmonic up by your pick-ups. A good place to do this is on your G String. You do it by slowly moving your left hand index finger lightly across the string until you find a good natural harmonic. This may be quite hard as there are no frets to guide you.

You perform the pinch harmonic by picking the string where you found the natural harmonic and placing the part of your thumb which is nearest to the string on the string lightly as you pick. After you have done this, you can take your thumb off of the string to let the harmonic ring out. Make sure that only a small amount of the tip of the pick is showing when you pick the string because this will make it easier to put your thumb on the string.

Now try this technique while fretting a note with your left hand. Try the 5th fret. Since the point where you place your thumb will vary depending on what notes you fret, you will need to experiment. There will be times when you will hear only the harmonic, and other times when you will hear a combination of the fretted note and the harmonic.