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{{Short description|String instrument technique}}
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[[Image:Flageolette.svg|thumb|280px|Playing a harmonic on a string. Here, "+7" indicates that the string is held down at the position for raising the pitch by 7 semitones.]]
Playing a '''string harmonic''' (a '''flageolet''') is a [[string instrument]] [[musical technique|technique]] that uses the [[node (physics)|nodes]] of natural [[harmonic]]s of a musical [[string (music)|string]] to isolate [[
==Overtones==
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When a [[Strings (music)|string]] is plucked or bowed normally, the ear hears the [[fundamental frequency]] most prominently, but the overall sound is also colored by the presence of various [[overtone]]s (frequencies greater than the fundamental frequency). The fundamental frequency and its overtones are perceived by the listener as a single note; however, different combinations of overtones give rise to noticeably different overall tones (see [[timbre]]).<ref>{{Cite web|title = The Physics of Everyday Stuff - The Guitar|url = http://www.bsharp.org/physics/guitar|website = www.bsharp.org|access-date = 2015-08-03|archive-date = 2010-12-09|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101209191707/http://www.bsharp.org/physics/guitar|url-status = dead}}</ref> A harmonic overtone has evenly spaced nodes along the string, where the string does not move from its resting position.
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==Nodes==
{{Unsourced section|date=November 2024}}[[Image:Table of Harmonics.svg|thumb|700px|Table of harmonics, indicating in colors on which positions the same overtones occur|alt=|none]]▼
▲[[Image:Table of Harmonics.svg|thumb|700px|Table of harmonics, indicating in colors on which positions the same overtones occur|alt=|none]]
▲The nodes of natural harmonics are located at the following points along the string:
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Guitar harmonic nodes.svg|600px|Harmonic mode shapes and their corresponding node locations on a guitar]] -->{| class="wikitable"
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[[File:Natural_versus_artificial_harmonic.png|thumb|256x256px|Natural versus artificial harmonic]]
When a string is only lightly pressed by one finger (that is, isolating overtones of the open string), the resulting harmonics are called '''natural harmonics'''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=MasterClass |date=Jun 7, 2021 |title=Learn How to Play Natural Harmonics on Guitar |url=https://www.masterclass.com/articles/learn-how-to-play-natural-harmonics-on-guitar |access-date=May 14, 2024 |website=[[MasterClass]]}}</ref> However, when a string is held down on the neck in addition to being lightly pressed on a node, the resulting harmonics are called '''artificial harmonics'''.<ref name=":0" /> In this case, as the total length of the string is shortened, the fundamental frequency is raised, and the positions of the nodes shift accordingly (that is, by the same number of frets), thereby raising the frequency of the overtone by the same interval as the fundamental frequency.
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Artificial harmonics are more difficult to play than natural harmonics, but they are not limited to the overtone series of the open strings, meaning they have much greater flexibility to play chromatic passages. Unlike natural harmonics, they can be played with [[vibrato]].<ref>Sevsay, Ertuğrul (2013). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=yBwu2t_5ZVIC
This technique, like natural harmonics, works by canceling out the fundamental tone and one or more partial tones by deadening their modes of vibration. It is traditionally notated using two or three simultaneous [[
The most commonly used artificial harmonic, due to its relatively easy and natural [[Fingering (music)|fingering]], is that in which, "the fourth finger lightly touches the nodal point a perfect fourth above the first finger. (Resulting harmonic sound: two octaves above the first finger or new fundamental.),"<ref name="Modern">Grimson, Samuel B. and [[Cecil Forsyth|Forsyth, Cecil]] (1920). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ltgrAAAAMAAJ
In some cases, especially in the electric guitar technique, it is common to refer to Pinch Harmonics as Artificial Harmonics (AH) and to refer to harmonics produced by other means as Natural Harmonics.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}
==Guitar==
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There are a few harmonic techniques unique to guitar.
===Pinch harmonics===
{{anchor|Pinch|Pinch harmonic}}<!--[[Pinch harmonic]] redirects directly here-->
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{{Listen|filename=Pinch harmonic1.ogg|title=Example of pinch harmonic|description=Pinch harmonic example on the 3rd fret of the G string}}
A pinch harmonic (also known as squelch picking, pick harmonic, or squealy) is a guitar technique to achieve artificial harmonics in which the player's thumb or index finger on the picking hand slightly catches the string after it is picked,<ref>
===Tapped harmonics===
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{{Unreferenced section|auto=yes|date=December 2009}}
Tapped harmonics were popularized by [[Eddie Van Halen]]. This technique is an extension of the [[tapping]] technique. The note is fretted as usual, but instead of striking the string the excitation energy required to sound the note is achieved by tapping at a harmonic nodal point. The tapping finger bounces lightly on and off the fret. The open string technique can be extended to artificial harmonics. For instance, for an [[octave]] harmonic (12-fret nodal point) press at the third fret, and tap the fifteenth fret, as {{nowrap|12 + 3 {{=}} 15}}.
=== Flicked and struck harmonics ===
Some players, such as [[Dimebag Darrell]], used a less common technique to play natural harmonics. His variation consists of "flicking the string, dumping the [<nowiki/>[[Whammy bar|whammy]]] bar (...), [making] the string kinda flap, and just tap a harmonic"<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P6GKRJ8s6k |title=Dimebag's Squeals Lesson |date=2021-09-10 |last=Overdrive |access-date=2025-06-18 |via=YouTube}}</ref> on the corresponding nodal point before releasing the bar.
[[Mattias Eklundh]] has a similar technique, but it does not require flicking the string first. Instead, he uses his middle finger to strike the string on any nodal point, hard enough to make the string ring but without letting the finger press down on the fretboard.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7yxQU36w3c |title=Harmonics #2 - Mattias Eklundh Guitar Lesson |date=2014-05-07 |last=Musicoff - Where Music Matters |access-date=2025-06-18 |via=YouTube}}</ref> The vibrato bar can be used in a similar way Dimebag used it, making it easier to make the harmonics ring, but it is not required. Eklundh also frequently uses such harmonics in combination with normal notes, allowing him to use them in a more musical way.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3Auie2Oq6c |title=Harmonics #3 - Mattias Eklundh Guitar Lesson |date=2014-04-10 |last=Musicoff - Where Music Matters |access-date=2025-06-18 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
===String harmonics driven by a magnetic field===
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{{DEFAULTSORT:String harmonic}}
[[Category:Harmonic series (music)]]
[[Category:String performance techniques]]
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