What’s this week’s question? Let’s dive straight in…
Question: I’ve been practicing but the way they explain it on some websites is really hard to understand so can any one give me a good expalination of this thanks!
Answer: to make a proper pinch harmonic, or an artificial harmonic (?), you have to hold the pick so that most of it is in between your thumb and index fingers, and the edge is really close to the side of your thumb, and as you pick, youve got to just graze the string with the side of your thumb immediately upon picking the note. A pull off, youve got to just build your finger strength and dexterity up, and ring the strings a bit as you pull your fingers off the string/frets
It’s easier with a little volume and gain on your amp. Hold the pick so that just a little bit of it is sticking out from your thumb and finger. Strike the string with the pick and let your thumb catch it instantly after the pick hits it. You also may find that certain pickups will produce a pinch harmonic easier, meaning either the neck or bridge.
There’s another way of getting nice pinch harmonics which can be done with a thumb pick but it’s a little more complicated and takes some thought. As you probably know, the string has the natural harmonic at the 5th, 7th, 12, & 19th frets which can be had by lightly touching the string on those points and releasing the finger as soon as the string is struck. By using a thumb pick you can fret the string anywhere on the neck and pick with the thumb pick and touch the string right in front of where you just picked it. You will have to move the point where you pick the note depending on where you are fretting it. It takes a little practice but you’ll get used to the distance and be able to play scales or whatever else you want to play because now the possibilities are limitless.
Well to do a pull off you simply pull your fingers off the strings sideways with enough force to make a note ring out.
I don’t really know how much detail you can go into for such a thing… it’s so simple. Yes, it takes practice, but there’s really not much to say about it.
As for pinch harmonics, watch this series of videos I did on harmonics. Watch ALL of them, don’t just skip to part 4 (the part about pinch harmonics). If you do, nothing will make sense.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?p=PLED4AAB6B0E11BF3E