Playing Natural Harmonics
Playing Natural Harmonics
Hi guys. I have been trying for a little while now to play natural harmonics but having trouble perfecting it on lap steel. At the 12th fret I can get nice chimes without worrying about where my picking hand is and can just pick the string, lift the bar at the right moment and get nice harmonics. However, at the 4th, 7th, 9th fret, Cant get it down properly. I have placed right hand at suggested position, even curled middle finger up as one guy suggested to me so that little finger on picking hand is is dead straight. It's bugging me. Anyone else have this problem?
Re: Playing Natural Harmonics
Hi Ophir,natural harmonics are finicky , I know a man who can play them all over a guitar neck and make you green with envy , only place i could play them is at the 12 , 5 and 7th frets with a few exceptions here and there if i hit them just right and i know if your off by a fraction it wont chime , i guess it just takes time and pratice . Russ
Re: Playing Natural Harmonics
Hi Russ.
Yeah I'll keep working at it. I find that If I'm reading Tab and it might show natural harmonics like in the tune Tear Drop. Natural harmonic and slide from 4th to 7th to 10th and 13th, I find I still get a nice sound just picking it normally. But I'll keep working at it.
Cheers
Ophir
Yeah I'll keep working at it. I find that If I'm reading Tab and it might show natural harmonics like in the tune Tear Drop. Natural harmonic and slide from 4th to 7th to 10th and 13th, I find I still get a nice sound just picking it normally. But I'll keep working at it.
Cheers
Ophir
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Don McGregor
- Posts: 49
- Joined: Sun Nov 01, 2009 9:18 pm
Re: Playing Natural Harmonics
I am confused. Forgive me if I've misunderstood.
Are you talking about getting harmonics as a standard guitarist would by touching the string at, say, the 4th, 5th, or 12th fret, only with your bar instead of a finger?
This doesn't seem very useful to me.
On steel, the common way to achieve harmonics is to bar a note just as you would bar any other note, at any fret anywhere on the neck, and do your "touch-release" with either a finger, or some part of your hand. To get the easiest of the harmonics of a given note on the string, he touch-release must be done at exactly the mid point between whatever fret the bar is on, and the bridge. This would be the same note, only one octave higher. I curl the third finger of my picking hand under so I can see at what fret it's touching, and pluck the string with the thumb pick as I lift my finger. For instance, if the bar is on the 2nd fret, then your touch-release point must be at the 14th fret.
With this method, the chimed note, once plucked and set to ringing, can be slid up or down the scale, and I find that vibrato helps the sustain.
You can also pluck harmonics at other points between the bar placement and the bridge, (such as at 5 and 7 frets up from the bar) but these are, just as with standard guitar harmonics, a little harder to pull off consistently. So far, I haven't made much use of these.
Anyway, please correct me if I've misunderstood the question. Writing this out was a good exercise.
Are you talking about getting harmonics as a standard guitarist would by touching the string at, say, the 4th, 5th, or 12th fret, only with your bar instead of a finger?
This doesn't seem very useful to me.
On steel, the common way to achieve harmonics is to bar a note just as you would bar any other note, at any fret anywhere on the neck, and do your "touch-release" with either a finger, or some part of your hand. To get the easiest of the harmonics of a given note on the string, he touch-release must be done at exactly the mid point between whatever fret the bar is on, and the bridge. This would be the same note, only one octave higher. I curl the third finger of my picking hand under so I can see at what fret it's touching, and pluck the string with the thumb pick as I lift my finger. For instance, if the bar is on the 2nd fret, then your touch-release point must be at the 14th fret.
With this method, the chimed note, once plucked and set to ringing, can be slid up or down the scale, and I find that vibrato helps the sustain.
You can also pluck harmonics at other points between the bar placement and the bridge, (such as at 5 and 7 frets up from the bar) but these are, just as with standard guitar harmonics, a little harder to pull off consistently. So far, I haven't made much use of these.
Anyway, please correct me if I've misunderstood the question. Writing this out was a good exercise.
Re: Playing Natural Harmonics
Thanks Don
I really appreciate you taking the time to write about this. Thanks heaps. At the moment I am trying a couple of different methods. One is to curl the middle finger up against the base of the thumb and this is supposed to keep little finger straight so that it sits nicely at the octave fret. I'll keep at it. Once again thanks for your post Don.
Ophir
I really appreciate you taking the time to write about this. Thanks heaps. At the moment I am trying a couple of different methods. One is to curl the middle finger up against the base of the thumb and this is supposed to keep little finger straight so that it sits nicely at the octave fret. I'll keep at it. Once again thanks for your post Don.
Ophir
Re: Playing Natural Harmonics
Ophir, I share your frustration. I played a six-string for 40 years till my left hand seized up with arthritis. I can hold a steel bar though, no problem. Adoor closes, another opens.
But harmonics?? Oh yes, I could do them with my right hand, I just picked the string with my thumb while damping the string at the 5/7/12 fret position with the tip if my second finger. But you can't do that with a steel. the angle of the hand is different and if you're wearing finger picks it's impossible.
I've been working hard to try to hit reliable chimes by damping with the right edge of my right hand. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Then I started thinking: is the way I'm doing it different from the good guys? The answer is yes. The angle you hit the string at seems to be very important to the success - or otherwise - of the chime.
I was trying to strike the string in the plane of the strings - horizontally, as it were. If you hit the string downwards at an angle, you magnify the effectiveness of the chime, the edge of the palm doesn't quench the life out of the string like it does in the horizontal plane. Hit it hard, the striking of the string coinciding with the momentary palm contact. Try it - it works for me. Practice, practice, practice!
Will
But harmonics?? Oh yes, I could do them with my right hand, I just picked the string with my thumb while damping the string at the 5/7/12 fret position with the tip if my second finger. But you can't do that with a steel. the angle of the hand is different and if you're wearing finger picks it's impossible.
I've been working hard to try to hit reliable chimes by damping with the right edge of my right hand. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Then I started thinking: is the way I'm doing it different from the good guys? The answer is yes. The angle you hit the string at seems to be very important to the success - or otherwise - of the chime.
I was trying to strike the string in the plane of the strings - horizontally, as it were. If you hit the string downwards at an angle, you magnify the effectiveness of the chime, the edge of the palm doesn't quench the life out of the string like it does in the horizontal plane. Hit it hard, the striking of the string coinciding with the momentary palm contact. Try it - it works for me. Practice, practice, practice!
Will
Re: Playing Natural Harmonics
Thanks Will. Yes I have been hitting the strings at horizontal angle. Thanks for your post. I'll start practicing hitting the string at an angle.
Thanks a lot . I also noticed, I've been too gentle with the striking of the string. Like you said "practice, practice,practice"
Thanks a lot . I also noticed, I've been too gentle with the striking of the string. Like you said "practice, practice,practice"