Guitar Harmonics & Overtones
Every guitar note is really a stack of higher pitches called overtones. Touch a string lightly in just the right spot and you can hear one of them on its own: a chiming harmonic. See where every natural harmonic lives on a guitar in standard tuning (E A D G B E), and hear why.
How a String Vibrates
A plucked string swings as a whole, but at the same time it also vibrates in halves, thirds, quarters, and so on. Each of these patterns adds a higher pitch to the sound. The still points are called nodes . Lightly touch the string at a node and every vibration pattern that needs that spot to move gets stopped. Only the patterns with a node there keep ringing.
Find Them on the Fretboard
Each dot is a spot where a natural harmonic rings. The number is the harmonic it produces. Tap a dot to hear it. Dots past the 24th fret sit over the pickups, where you can still find them by ear.
The Overtone Series
Every open string carries the same pattern of overtones above it. The first few line up almost perfectly with notes on the fretboard. Higher up, some fall between the cracks of our 12-note system.
| # | Note | Compared to fretted note | Where to touch |
|---|
Where You Pick Shapes the Tone
Picking a string also chooses its overtones. Pick right at a harmonic’s node and that harmonic can’t start, so it drops out of the sound. That’s why picking near the bridge sounds bright and twangy, and picking over the 12th fret sounds round and hollow.
Strength of the first 12 harmonics for a string plucked at this spot (a simplified model).
Harmonic Techniques to Try
Natural harmonics
Rest a fingertip directly over the 12th fret wire without pressing down, pick, then lift your finger. Try the 7th and 5th frets next. Picking near the bridge makes harmonics ring louder.
Artificial harmonics
Fret any note, then lightly touch the same string 12 frets higher with your picking hand’s index finger and pluck with your thumb or a pick. The fretted note becomes the new “open string.”
Pinch harmonics
Hold the pick so the side of your thumb grazes the string right after the pick strikes it. Move up and down between the pickups to find squealing upper harmonics. It works best with distortion.
A note on tuning with harmonics
The 5th- and 7th-fret harmonic method tunes the strings in pure fourths, which are about 2 cents off equal temperament. Fine for a quick check, but finish with a tuner or fretted notes.
Want to Play Harmonics in Real Songs?
Our guitar teachers help students of every age and level build technique and understand how the instrument works. Private lessons at our Ann Arbor studio.