Harmonics

Harmonics, or Squelies, as they are called by some, are cool sounding noises produced by barely touching the vibrating guitar string. There are several ways to do this, and many guitarists who use this technique to enhance the sound of solos and riffs.

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Pioneers of Harmonics

The Harmonics, Particularly the pinch harmonic, is pioneered by Roy Buchanan. It is still used a whole mass of modern music. Some examples of fond users of harmonics are Zakk Wylde, and Dimebag Darrel. One band that has pinch harmonics in nearly every single of their solos is ZZ Top. There are also quite a few other guitarists using this technique, but far to many to be named in this article.

Pinch & Artificial Harmonics

Pinch and Artificial Harmonics are nearly the same thing, and are done about the same way. While picking the note the guitarist usually chokes up on the pick, just to make the harmonic easier. When they pick the note, they turn their hand to scrape the fleshy part of the thumb against the string to produce the desired sound. This technique is possible on any fretted stringed instrument.

Natural Harmonics

Natural Harmonics produce a similar sound, but there is a different, easier way of doing this. With the guitar distortion high the guitarist puts a finger of the fret just light enough to touch, but not pushing down at all. Then they just simply strum the string as usual, and get the desired sound. They are easiest to produce on the 5th, 7th, 12th, etc. frets.