How To Make an Electric Guitar Squeal

Squeals rank high in the trick bags of metal and rock guitarists.

Novice guitarists often learn their instrument by practicing hard-rock and metal songs, and one of the staples of those genres is the guitar squeal. These wild-sounding, high-pitched notes come by way of a technique called pinch harmonics, which require a specific pick-hand technique that can take months to master.

Things You'll Need

• Electric guitar
• Amplifier/PC guitar interface
• Pick
• Distortion/high-gain effects

Instructions

1. Turn your guitar's volume knob to 10. Higher output makes for more pronounced squeals.

2. Turn on any overdrive/distortion effects or turn your amplifier's gain-control knob clockwise. High-gain settings are not necessary to create pinch harmonics, but they do help those harmonics resonate and sustain.

3. Position the pick so the tip sits flush against the outside edge of your thumb.

4. Fret a note on the low E string.

5. Pluck the string with the pick, slowly and deliberately. The trick is to get the string to snap back and brush lightly against the outside of your thumb. A properly executed pinch-harmonic pick attack produces either a high-pitched squeal or a combination of the squeal and the true pitch of the note you're fretting.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice. Few players produce pinch harmonics on their first, second or even 100th attempt. Pinch harmonics require precise technique that rarely comes quickly. Once you do it right, however, the technique will be at your command for the rest of your guitar-playing life.

References

• Ultimate Guitar: Pinch Harmonics
• Cyberfret: Pinch Harmonics