How to Get Pinch Harmonics Using Effects

Pinch harmonics come easiest with high-output electric guitars.

Beginning guitarists struggle with pinch harmonics, a technique that causes the guitar to produce high-pitched squeals. Performing a pinch harmonic is a lot like riding a bicycle: You struggle to learn how, but once you get it, you'll know how to do it forever. Effects pedals, particularly high-gain effects, filters and equalizers, can help these wild-sounding notes ring out as you develop and perfect the technique.

Things You'll Need

• Guitar pick
• Effects pedals

Instructions

1. Turn the volume control knob of the pickup you're using to 10 (or simply all the way up, if your tone knob has no numbers). The higher your guitar's output, the more clearly pinch harmonics will resonate.

2. Activate any effects that increase gain, such as overdrive, distortion or fuzz pedals. Pinch harmonics do not require any effects, or even amplification, but they stand out and sustain better with higher-gain tones.

3. Hold the pick as if you're hiding it, so that the tip is almost flush with the outside edge of your thumb. The trick to producing pinch harmonics is to pluck the string so that it snaps back and brushes ever so lightly against your thumb after the pick attack.

4. Activate other effects pedals in your chain, one by one, and continue plucking individual strings as in Step 3 until you find a sound you like. This is largely a matter of trial and error and personal preference. Wah pedals and equalizers, for example, can emphasize the high-range frequency of your tone and will alter the sound of the harmonic.

5. Move your pick attack up and down the string; the pitch and dynamic of the harmonic changes depending on where you fret and pick the string. According to the guitar-advice resource Red SG Shredder, pinch harmonics come easiest at points called integer divisions. For example, if you play a note at the second fret, try picking it with a pinch harmonic over the 14th fret.

Tips & Warnings

• Once you've mastered the technique, try performing pinch harmonics with a low-gain tone. Though metal shredders such as Zakk Wylde and Dimebag Darrell co-opted the pinch harmonic for use in metal, fine players such as Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top have incorporated them into their sound without using loads of distortion.

References

• RedSGShredder: Pinch Harmonics
• Cyberfret.com: From Touch To Pinch Harmonics