Members Jables66 Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 I'm using the glancing thumb approach, but it's really hit and miss. Is there anyway to guarantee that I'll get a nice squeal every time? OT: Sig'd by a Hall Of Fame Member? I'm honoured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 Practice man... I did so many pinch harmonics in the 80s that now I can get them out of acoustics. Sometimes when I'm playing stuff I used to play back then, I'll inadvertently pinch them out of muscle memory even when I don't want to. There's no trick though I guess I'd suggest using a thicker than average pick and maybe trying a couple of the little Dunlop Jazz picks if you haven't already. Less 'extra' pick forces you to hold the pick lower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 depends on where you're plucking [YOUTUBE]5I5O8P-r5Rk[/YOUTUBE] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jables66 Posted December 7, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 Practice man... I did so many pinch harmonics in the 80s that now I can get them out of acoustics. Sometimes when I'm playing stuff I used to play back then, I'll inadvertently pinch them out of muscle memory even when I don't want to. Practice it is then. My Washburn seems to pinch alot better than my Strat, could this be because of the thicker strings? And about this screaming acoustic, that's something I'd be very interested to hear. Always been a fan of treating acoustics like electrics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scud133 Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 try turning the pick sideways in your hand so that you actually hit the string with the side/shoulder of the pick. it makes it a lot easier to do the glancing thumb thing (that's the way Billy G does it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IamBurnout Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 Use mids. Jazz picks. Pick around the general area of the middle pickup. Use wide vibrato on pinched notes. Use humbuckers. Eventually you won't notice that you're doing it. Oh yeah, there are quite a few pinched harmonics that can be found for each note. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kuroyume Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 try turning the pick sideways in your hand so that you actually hit the string with the side/shoulder of the pick. it makes it a lot easier to do the glancing thumb thing (that's the way Billy G does it) While this makes achieving pinch harmonics easier, I feel that this adds unnecessary complexity to the technique which distracts from and makes more difficult the process. I stopped using it many years ago. The 'glancing thumb' works with fewer complexities but just requires more practice to 'perfect'. As I wrote in another thread, glancing the thumb is more a matter of slight changes in picking attack than concentrating on getting the thumb to glance the string (as the slight changes naturally do that for you). In most ways I hate to say it: you'll know it when you 'see' it - then you'll be able to use it almost unrestricted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spike Li Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 Ive found picking towards the neck pup helps a great deal. Some guitars do it better than others, Im not sure why I know that God kills a kitten everytime I mention this guitar, but here it goes- I recently bought a Hello Kitty strat and found that I have complete control over pinch harmonics, which is weird cause ive always struggled with them. I thought to myself- i guess all that practice has paid off and ive finally got it! So i pick up my explorer and.... you fail, 30% ... I tried it on 2 explorers actually, one with 11s and one with 10s and couldnt do them as good or as often, although it handled natural harmonics brilliantly The HK strat has a very bright pup (sounds like a fender single coil really) so maybe this has something to do with it? Try some different EQ settings... Or maybe its because it doesnt have a neck pup, or the scale length or something? F'd if i know So in short: practice, adjust EQ, or get a Hello Kitty Strat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members I<3breakdowns Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 you just gotta practice A LOT. when i first tried when someone showed me how to do it, it took me like a week just to get a weak sound out of it every once in a while. now i can do it on basically any guitar on any note with 12 gauge strings and all that. just keep working at it. it'll come to you sometime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kuroyume Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 Some guitars do it better than others... This is definitely true and I've encountered it often. Some guitars are easy to coax out harmonics while others are not. Some are more responsive to certain harmonics while others are not. To me, it seems that it might be related to the overall qualities of the guitar itself. Since we're talking about artificially produced harmonics, the results would depend upon the acoustic (vibratory and feedback) qualities of the guitar (and in this I include electrical pickup acoustics). What I'm saying is that the harmonics are there but the quality is dependent upon how loud and sustaining they are. I'm definitely capable of doing pinch harmonics on an acoustic guitar (even a classical) but the quality differs. Electric guitars are typically easier to coax them out. For instance, the neck pickup of a Fender Stratocaster isn't as amenable to natural harmonics as the bridge pickup. Why is that? It can't simply be bad 'pickup reception'. I can do better on other guitars using the neck pickup. It must be some combination of variables. Maybe the Hello Kitty Strat is the key after all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PanaDP Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 Try picking in different places between the bridge and the fretboard. You can get several totally different pitch harmonics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members notcool Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 Practice? What's that? I've been able to 'make it squeal' for over thirty years with no problem. All you have to do is hold the pick as close to the pointed end as possible and let the skin of your thumb and finger come into contact with the strings. And if you pick in between the pickups (on a two pickup guitar) or around the middle pickup (on a three pickup guitar) you'll find all the squeals you want. I never call it 'pinch harmonics'. I have my own terminology for the technique. I call it puttin' some skin into it or makin' it squeal, because that's exactly what I'm doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members evh1984 Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 try turning the pick sideways in your hand so that you actually hit the string with the side/shoulder of the pick. it makes it a lot easier to do the glancing thumb thing That's how I do it also. When I first started playing, I didn't know which way to hold the pick(!) and holding it sideways w/ my index and thumb close to the edge was most comfortable to me. But I kept getting frustrated b/c I'd be shredding along and there'd be all these dang squeals. I didn't realize until years later that this was something to be desired Example #1 Example #2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jables66 Posted December 7, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 Practice? What's that? I've been able to 'make it squeal' for over thirty years with no problem. All you have to do is hold the pick as close to the pointed end as possible and let the skin of your thumb and finger come into contact with the strings. And if you pick in between the pickups (on a two pickup guitar) or around the middle pickup (on a three pickup guitar) you'll find all the squeals you want. I never call it 'pinch harmonics'. I have my own terminology for the technique. I call it puttin' some skin into it or makin' it squeal, because that's exactly what I'm doing. Your description of your technique is amusing, therefore the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scud133 Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 While this makes achieving pinch harmonics easier, I feel that this adds unnecessary complexity to the technique which distracts from and makes more difficult the process. I stopped using it many years ago. The 'glancing thumb' works with fewer complexities but just requires more practice to 'perfect'. As I wrote in another thread, glancing the thumb is more a matter of slight changes in picking attack than concentrating on getting the thumb to glance the string (as the slight changes naturally do that for you). In most ways I hate to say it: you'll know it when you 'see' it - then you'll be able to use it almost unrestricted. this is true, it's defnitely more work to flip the pick sideways in your hand, but once it is sideways, you will hit the pinch harmonics infinitely more easily than if the pick is held the normal way. at the very least, it's helpful to practice "sideways" until you get the hang of how it's supposed to work, then you can focus on learning to do it with the pick the normal way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 I never call it 'pinch harmonics'. I have my own terminology for the technique. I call it puttin' some skin into it or makin' it squeal, because that's exactly what I'm doing. I call it fucking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kuroyume Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 this is true, it's defnitely more work to flip the pick sideways in your hand, but once it is sideways, you will hit the pinch harmonics infinitely more easily than if the pick is held the normal way. at the very least, it's helpful to practice "sideways" until you get the hang of how it's supposed to work, then you can focus on learning to do it with the pick the normal way I cannot contest that. And, to another poster, you can definitely push the technique into the fretboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jables66 Posted December 7, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 I call it fucking Penis harmonics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 I cannot contest that. And, to another poster, you can definitely push the technique into the fretboard. yep. fave position is right between the neck and the neck pup on a strat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 Penis harmonics? kinda like how jimi played with his teeth, but lower Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jables66 Posted December 7, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 You'll have a cock like a rhino if you keep using it for that. Use protection? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roy Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 nah, makes it hard to hold the pick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kuroyume Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 kinda like how jimi played with his teeth, but lower Owwww. Owwww. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members i386 Posted December 7, 2009 Members Share Posted December 7, 2009 Just like when you do a regular harmonic with your left hand, the pinch harmonic has to be done in the right place. If your technique is perfect, but your right hand is in the wrong place, you still get nothing. Like a previous poster said experiment at all points between the bridge and fretboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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