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Artificial harmonic
 
 
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To produce an artificial harmonic, a stringed instrument player holds down a note on the neck with the non-dominant hand
Handedness

Handedness is an attribute of human beings defined by their unequal distribution of fine motor skill between the left and right hands. An individual who is more Dexterity with the right hand is called right-handed, and one who is more skilled with the left is said to be left-handed....
, thereby shortening the vibrational length of the string, uses a finger to lightly touch a point on the string that is an integer divisor of its vibrational length, and plucks or bow
Bow (music)

In music, a bow is moved across some part of a musical instrument, causing vibration which the instrument emits as sound. The vast majority of bows are used with string instruments, although some bows are used with musical saws and other bowed idiophones....
s the side of the string that is closer to the bridge. This technique is used to produce harmonic tones that are otherwise inaccessible on the instrument.






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To produce an artificial harmonic, a stringed instrument player holds down a note on the neck with the non-dominant hand
Handedness

Handedness is an attribute of human beings defined by their unequal distribution of fine motor skill between the left and right hands. An individual who is more Dexterity with the right hand is called right-handed, and one who is more skilled with the left is said to be left-handed....
, thereby shortening the vibrational length of the string, uses a finger to lightly touch a point on the string that is an integer divisor of its vibrational length, and plucks or bow
Bow (music)

In music, a bow is moved across some part of a musical instrument, causing vibration which the instrument emits as sound. The vast majority of bows are used with string instruments, although some bows are used with musical saws and other bowed idiophones....
s the side of the string that is closer to the bridge. This technique is used to produce harmonic tones that are otherwise inaccessible on the instrument. To guitar players, one variety of this technique is known as a pinch harmonic
Pinch harmonic

A pinch harmonic, also known as a squealie or squealer is a guitar technique pioneered by Roy Buchanan in which the player's thumb or index finger slightly catches the string after it is picked, cancelling the fundamental frequency of the string, and letting one of its harmonics ring out....
. Many guitarists, chiefly of the heavy metal
Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in England and the United States. With roots in blues-rock and psychedelic rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified Distortion , extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall...
 genre
Music genre

A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music....
 (such as Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen

Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen , is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and music producer, most famous as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen....
, Dimebag Darrell
Dimebag Darrell

Darrell Lance Abbott, also known as "Diamond" Darrell, "Dimebag" Darrell, or simply "Dime" was an American guitarist. Best known as a founding member of the heavy metal music bands Pantera and Damageplan, he also performed in the country music band Rebel Meets Rebel....
 and Kerry King
Kerry King

Kerry King is a guitarist, best known as one of the founding members of American thrash metal band Slayer....
, and the bands Tremolocaust and Nile), also rapidly bend
Finger vibrato

Finger vibrato is vibrato produced on a string instrument by cyclic hand movements. Despite the name, normally the entire hand moves, and sometimes the entire upper arm....
 or use a vibrato
Vibrato

Vibrato is a musical effect, produced in singing and on musical instruments by a regular pulsating change of pitch , and is used to add expression and vocal-like qualities to instrumental music....
 on the string to create a high pitched squeal, in addition to creating the artificial harmonic.

This technique, like natural harmonics, works by canceling out the fundamental tone and one or more partial tones by deadening their modes of vibration. See node
Node (physics)

A node is a point along a standing wave where the wave has minimal amplitude. For instance, in a vibrating guitar string, the ends of the string are nodes....
.

See also

  • 3rd Bridge
    3rd Bridge

    The 3rd bridge is an extended technique used on mainly electric guitars such as the Fender Jazzmaster that has the Strings continue through to the tremolo piece....
  • Harmonic
    Harmonic

    In acoustics and telecommunication, a harmonic of a wave is a component frequency of the Signalling that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency....
  • Pinch harmonic
    Pinch harmonic

    A pinch harmonic, also known as a squealie or squealer is a guitar technique pioneered by Roy Buchanan in which the player's thumb or index finger slightly catches the string after it is picked, cancelling the fundamental frequency of the string, and letting one of its harmonics ring out....