Metal Rhythm Guitar: Pinch Harmonics

Firstly, if you don’t know what a pinch harmonic is, watch this awesome example:

Wanna know how to get the guitar to squeal like that? Those are “Pinch Harmonics”.

Playing Harmonics

A while ago I did this video for bass, which explains where the natural harmonics live on the strings (and what notes they are). Pinch harmonics are essentially the same thing, except you’re “pinching” the string with your picking hand thumb as you pick it.

So in order to do this technique, you’ll need to hold the pick right down near the tip so that you can “catch” the string with it when you play. It really evolved from when blues-rock guitarists would “dig in” with their picks a bit too much which would create a kind of squealy tone. Check out “Squank” from ZZ-Top’s first album and listen closely to the lead guitar tone to see what I mean.

Turning up the Gain

First, try this on a clean guitar (or one without too much gain) and see if you can get close to the ZZ-Top “Squank” sound (or the tone from the first part of the Zakk Wylde video). Then you’ll want to turn up the gain to let those notes really squeal!

Why do it this way? I know, it’s actually easier to get pinch harmonics with more gain…but it’s also more difficult to concentrate on getting the technique down with too much gain. I suggest you try both methods.

Any questions? Please leave them in comments below.
Rob.

May 24, 2011 at 2:43 pm | Guitar Technique and Exercises, Rhythm Guitar | No comments