Members DarkHorseJ27 Posted August 9, 2009 Members Share Posted August 9, 2009 I'm working on Mark Hanson's arrangement of Over the Rainbow. A section of the song has a lot of harmonics in it. I'm having trouble getting the 5th fret harmonics to ring out well. Any tips other than more practice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members johnny esp Posted August 9, 2009 Members Share Posted August 9, 2009 Either your action is too low or your intonation is out. This can be adjusted by truss rod adjustment or lowering or raising bridge and moving saddle forward or backwards. I'm assuming you're using the guitar in your picture. Hit the harmonic at the twelfth fret and then play the not. If it's not exactly the same it's wrong. Best to use a strobe tuner to do this. Remember the twelfth fret has to be exactly halfway from where the strings cross Th saddles and the nut> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DarkHorseJ27 Posted August 9, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 9, 2009 Either your action is too low or your intonation is out. This can be adjusted by truss rod adjustment or lowering or raising bridge and moving saddle forward or backwards. I'm assuming you're using the guitar in your picture. Hit the harmonic at the twelfth fret and then play the not. If it's not exactly the same it's wrong. Best to use a strobe tuner to do this. Remember the twelfth fret has to be exactly halfway from where the strings cross Th saddles and the nut> I play it on my acoustics. Action is good, and intonation is correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rogers6210 Posted August 9, 2009 Members Share Posted August 9, 2009 Are you using a pickup? Some pickups, even expensive ones like Sunrise, don't give you much of a 5th fret harmonic. The 5th fret is never quite as loud as the 7th and 12th anyway. It seems to me that the thinner the top is the better it will ring that harmonic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members riffmeister Posted August 9, 2009 Members Share Posted August 9, 2009 It's a weaker harmonic than the 12th & 7th fret. You have to have your fretting hand finger in just the right location AND you have to find the right spot to pluck the string with your picking hand. The LH position is pretty obvious......right over the 5th fret so I'm guessing you got that right. Now try plucking the string in different locations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zoomone Posted August 9, 2009 Members Share Posted August 9, 2009 I'm working on Mark Hanson's arrangement of Over the Rainbow. A section of the song has a lot of harmonics in it. I'm having trouble getting the 5th fret harmonics to ring out well. Any tips other than more practice? They're harder to get to ring out - do you play with nails? If not, try picking with the nail only. 5th fret harms respond better to sharp-edged picking attacks, such as with a plectrum or thumbnail, rather than flesh. Also, try plucking at different positions along the string between the soundhole and the bridge. Finally, take your fretting finger away quickly after playing the harmonic, to let the string vibrate more freely. Bon chance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AndrewGG Posted August 9, 2009 Members Share Posted August 9, 2009 Either your action is too low or your intonation is out. This can be adjusted by truss rod adjustment or lowering or raising bridge and moving saddle forward or backwards. I'm assuming you're using the guitar in your picture. Hit the harmonic at the twelfth fret and then play the not. If it's not exactly the same it's wrong. Best to use a strobe tuner to do this. Remember the twelfth fret has to be exactly halfway from where the strings cross Th saddles and the nut> The truss rod isn't there for adjusting the action and should not be used as such. Its purpose is to adjust the relief of the neck as part of an overall setup. Action is set at the nut and bridge saddle.In any case the truss rod only works over the central portion of the neck and has virtually zero effect at the extreme ends; so if you have an uncomfortably high nut action you can play with the truss rod forever and it won't do a thing. New strings help a lot to bring out clear harmonics-that and practise. ___ Yamaha LL26Martin D-18Martin D-28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scodiddly Posted August 9, 2009 Members Share Posted August 9, 2009 It's a weaker harmonic than the 12th & 7th fret. You have to have your fretting hand finger in just the right location AND you have to find the right spot to pluck the string with your picking hand. The LH position is pretty obvious......right over the 5th fret so I'm guessing you got that right. Now try plucking the string in different locations. Yup. And if it's a magnetic pickup then you have to make sure it's not in a bad place as well. The 5th fret has dead spots ("nodes") in three places - at the 5th fret, at the 12th fret, and right around where the neck pickup on a strat is located. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seagullplayer77 Posted August 9, 2009 Members Share Posted August 9, 2009 The 5th fret harmonic is never as strong as the other ones to begin with, so getting it to ring might be kind of tough. Riff suggested plucking the string at different locations and he's a smart guy, so I'd give that a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted August 9, 2009 Members Share Posted August 9, 2009 It's a weaker harmonic than the 12th & 7th fret. You have to have your fretting hand finger in just the right location AND you have to find the right spot to pluck the string with your picking hand. The LH position is pretty obvious......right over the 5th fret so I'm guessing you got that right. Now try plucking the string in different locations. I agree. It takes practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Samilyn Posted August 9, 2009 Members Share Posted August 9, 2009 They're harder to get to ring out - do you play with nails? If not, try picking with the nail only. 5th fret harms respond better to sharp-edged picking attacks, such as with a plectrum or thumbnail, rather than flesh.Also, try plucking at different positions along the string between the soundhole and the bridge.Finally, take your fretting finger away quickly after playing the harmonic, to let the string vibrate more freely.Bon chance! What these guys said. ^^^ It's really tricky, moreso for me because I'm doing it on a 12-er. I have a hard time getting a clean ring at the 5th - had to practice ad infinitum - but it's worth it. And, as suggested, I, too, get better results when using my nail or a pick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DarkHorseJ27 Posted August 9, 2009 Author Members Share Posted August 9, 2009 Right now I'm doing it unplugged. I do take my fretting finger off the string right away, and I use my fingernails. I haven't tried plucking the string in different spots, I'll have to try that. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Raj Posted August 9, 2009 Members Share Posted August 9, 2009 They're harder to get to ring out - do you play with nails? If not, try picking with the nail only. 5th fret harms respond better to sharp-edged picking attacks, such as with a plectrum or thumbnail, rather than flesh.Also, try plucking at different positions along the string between the soundhole and the bridge.Finally, take your fretting finger away quickly after playing the harmonic, to let the string vibrate more freely.Bon chance! Ha, wow, it's Tristan Seume. For the US majority here, he's (among other things) the acoustic-techniques guy for the UK's Guitarist magazine. Knows his onions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zoomone Posted August 9, 2009 Members Share Posted August 9, 2009 Ha, wow, it's Tristan Seume. For the US majority here, he's (among other things) the acoustic-techniques guy for the UK's Guitarist magazine. Knows his onions. Hola! TS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GuitarVlog Posted August 9, 2009 Members Share Posted August 9, 2009 Also, try plucking at different positions along the string between the soundhole and the bridge. Pluck the string closer to the bridge. See at about 2:00 minutes for demonstration. [YOUTUBE]kpmPqNQ9Hbc[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JerryBob Posted August 10, 2009 Members Share Posted August 10, 2009 Hola! TS Welcome aboard. Hope to hear from you often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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