high pitch

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scott333_newbie

New member
how do the rock guitarist's make those cool high pitch sound's whenever they hit a note, that is not exactly highpitch

is it something with there guitars or is it an effect pedal that does this

i allways wandered how they did that

i know in midi they use velocity to make a not high pitch on the volume so if its the same with electric guitars

how would i do it
 
It's called a "pinch harmonic". Choke down on your pick a bit (i.e. hold it closer to the bottom), fret a note, and then pick the note while making sure that your thumb barely grazes the string at the same time. Boom...you're Zakk Wylde.
 
It helps to use humbuck type pickups and the gain on your amp turned up...if the mids are scouped, it's a little more difficult for newbs. Once you get the hang of it, it's a piece of cake...even doing it on acoustic is easy once you've got the feel for it. Definetly not one of the top ten hardest "tricks" to learn.

Its a single motion, get a good bite into the string with your pick and at nearly the same instant the pick pulls of the string the side of your thumb just barely touches the sting for just an instant...hold the thumb there too long and you've got a dead note.

Check this site out...http://www.cyberfret.com/techniques/harmonics/pinch/page2.php

There's a couple good videos that demonstrate how they're done.


Merry Christmas!
 
Purge said:
It's called a "pinch harmonic". Choke down on your pick a bit (i.e. hold it closer to the bottom), fret a note, and then pick the note while making sure that your thumb barely grazes the string at the same time. Boom...you're Zakk Wylde.
Click to expand...

It's one of those things that once you learn how to do it..................you're up up and away..............Zakk Wylde has an awesome technique to his pinch harmonics, applying vibrato to the pinch is awesome sounding!
 
IronFlippy said:
vibrato makes every long note sound better!
Click to expand...

except tri-tones...play them loud play them clean play them straight and play them often...dissonance rules! :D
 
Steve Vai used to do a lot of those with Eventide's- Judgement Day with Whitesfake was a very cool example of that in the lead section
 
Try moving the point where you pick the string. You'll change the tone up and down. Also this helps you find the "sweet spot" where it'll really squeal like a stuck pig.
 
Harmonics

Off the top of my head, I can think of a few ways to get harmonics.

1) go to second position "G"string, and put your index finger on the second fret,your pinky on the fifth fret, and pull off on the open string over and over (sounds like the beginning of the solo on "heartbreaker" by Led Zep ..the first 4 notes of it anyway) now while doing this, touch the string litely with the opposite hand over the pickups and slide it back on forth.You'll get a whole barrage of harmonics.

2)the old standard,litely touch the string over the metal of the 7th fret and bounce you finger off it while picking the string.This should ring out a natural harmonic.There are actually TWO sets of these between the 3rd and 4th frets...one closer to the third, one closer to the forth...they're VERY high harmonics and tough to get,but they're there. First fret harmonics can be done as well,but it's a chore.

3)Eric Johnson uses this on the "Cliffs of Dover" solo. I also saw Stever Morse do this live. It's a variation of what classical guitarist do.Fret a note somewhere past (or around) the 12th fret. Hold the pick between your middle finger and thumb leaving your index finger about 2-2 1/2 inches away from it.Now while you pick the string, BARELY touch the string with your index finger at the same time...a high harmonic will sound.It helps if you have a distorted reverby stadium sound on the amp

4) Tapping harmonics.Eddie VanHalen does this on the solo in "Dance the Night Away". If you tap the fret (metal part,not the wood), 12 frets above a note you are playing, you'll get the harmonic.You can even do this with some chord voicings and have three harmonics going at once.

If I sat here a while I'd probably come up with more,but this should keep you busy...hope this helps

J.P.
 
Once you learn how to do them, the hardest part becomes learning where to hit the sweet spot on each string and for what note on the neck. Pinching right above the neck pickup might be the perfect spot for this note, but if you slide up the neck, you just get a "thunk" sound. :(
 
Roy Buchanan was pretty cool with them as well - there's a song on Hot Wires where every note of the solo (which goes the whole song) is a pinch harmonic - sort of a bit much, but shows he can (could - RIP) do them...

Cheers
 
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