Online Guitar Lessons - Achieving Sustain and Pinch Harmonics
By Blogger - Thursday, February 24, 2011
Achieving sustain on the guitar can be done and is accomplished a number of different ways. It starts with your instrument, its quality, and string choice. Since we are addressing pinch harmonics as well, there are a couple of things that are a part of achieving both. A neck through body is always going to give you more tonal options. The strings vibrate more evenly, there is no variance on tension, and of course that is why you pay the big bucks to own such a guitar.
String selection is also a common denominator with sustain and pinch harmonics. A new student will ask me during online guitar lessons about string selection, and I always advise them to start out with lighter gauge strings. After all, you should be more concerned with learning how to execute technique rather than tone. A heavier gauge string though will add sustain and give you the ability to create better pinch harmonics because of a decrease in signal decay. When I say a heavier gauge, I'm talking about a set with the high E at.010. Your pickup selection also makes a difference when it comes to sustain on a guitar. Active, or "hot pickups" provide a gain boost that will increase this attribute. They work by pre-amplifying the signal before it gets to your amp, thereby boosting the signal. The same thing can be accomplished using a distortion "stomp box" or foot pedal. The combination of the two can add even more sustain.
Last but not least, you can add a compressor as another effect. A compressor works by squashing the signal so that all the sound waves peak at the same point. What this does is make the hard to hear tonal qualities the same as the easier to hear qualities of a signal, thereby reducing the decay time and adding sustain. Basically, like I tell my students during online guitar lessons when this subject comes up, you'll have to experiment with the right combination of the above mentioned. If you overdo compression and distortion, you will get feedback and unwanted string noise. This is because the boosted and compressed signal is making all of the formally not heard noises very much heard.
So to pinch harmonics, what are they?
If you've ever listened to Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society) play lead guitar, you have heard a pinch harmonic. Also known as "squealies", they are an accent to highlight a particular note passage, and of course they just sound really cool. As noted in the above paragraph, you will need a little heavier string set,.010 or higher to hit them as easily as Zakk does. You will also need to raise your action, or string height off the finger board. The string needs to vibrate freely without hitting the frets in front of a depressed note.
So as you can imagine on the thicker lower strings why hitting a pinch harmonic is harder. Once a note has been pressed down with your left hand, the string should be struck with your pick finger and pick hitting the string simultaneously. To do this, you need to hold the pick with your thumb and index finger very close to the tip. As you hit the string with the pick tip, you pinch your two fingers holding the pick together, thereby creating the harmonic. Your signal will also definitely need to be boosted as discussed above. Just like I tell my online guitar students, practice makes perfect. If you can master this technique, and hit these anywhere anytime, it adds a very cool element into your style.
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