How Harmonics Work (Guitar Lesson TE-010) How to play

[sumindiandude]

Poor guy ran out of frets!

[smellbrad1]

cool lesson

[WITHDASAUCE]

very cool.

[kyunaynne]

Wow, I finally understood how this works.. thanks J

[TheAskatinghobo]

what manner of sorcery is this?

[EnduringKadjar]

@TheAskatinghobo the sorcery of physics

[pikelesdenagar]

"Y que te peinas, cuña'o"

[Guitaristified]

Uhhh....I ran out of frets..

[Ambulanceo]

I can't do this and it's seriously pissing me off. Doesn't help that my amp is a piece ofs hit and the strings are constantly buzzing. As soon as I barely touch the fret anywhere, it stops.

[umrandommuch]

@Ambulanceo mayb check your tuning n tone cuz that affects the buzz. mayb borro a freinds amp or sumthih

[freshmilk980]

@Ambulanceo same

[Tcrumpen]

@Ambulanceo just keep trying, if u want a song which uses harmonic the intro to Nothing Else Matters has 3 harmoics at the 12th fret, the trick is to touch the actual metal bar of the fret rather than the fret board

[deanpritch333]

@Tcrumpen You don't even have to touch the fret, just touch the string directly over the fret

[fredsassy5]

subscribe

[MultiBill81]

that is to cool! good post man!

[sirasy]

era cosí difficile che gli si sono drizzati i capelli!!!!!

[alfother]

alright, im learning Ebon Coast by Andy Mckee (great song, check it out) and the intro consists of a chord formation with one note fretted and the rest harmonics...i can play the formation well, the only problem is that the 5th fret harmonics are rather weak. Any tips on technique that may increase the volume on an acoustic guitar?

[Tatemo1]

isn't there a harmoinic on the 3rd fret?

[wushuCross]

Fantastic!! Love this vid Justin

[UltimateFlank]

This is a seriously amazing lesson. Thanks so much!

[11202]

I was shocked at 3:57 when the harmonic stopped when he touched the 17th fret, then I realised my video was buffering. Whew..

[darkwaver517353]

Cick here to skip the bullshit: 0:00

[rp94cobra]

dude thanks so much you freaking rule 

[fluffys88]

Thanks so much, I was playing Nothing else Matters and was finding it very difficult to get the Harmonic down the 12th, I was touching in the middle of the fret rather than on the end of it :)

Thanks so much for this and Sultans of Swing ;)

[arok89]

Like lueckster1 said, best explanation i've ever heard. you actually EXPLAIN! the white board thing was a beautiful idea, i didn't understand why harmonics occured untill now. I fricken love this and I'm going to check out ur website now!!! :D thanks a ton man, 99% of the lessons on here SUCK. you sir...are a true teacher.

[MasterSheep999]

I always did it for the fun of it and thought it's useless...when I learned a song with harmonics I thought "What the heck are harmonics?!" Thanks for showing ! =D

[brooklynstudio]

DOOO-dead... DOOO-dead... DOOO-dead...

[Y0u7ub3d3r3k]

=o This is the most interesting lesson evar !

[DreamOfHarmony]

brilliant lesson but when i tried it on my guitar the harmonic wouldnt sound on the fifth fret?

any idea why?

[TheWatchGoesTick]

justins main site is awsome. the man got me started playing LITTLE WING.

[spartns12344]

=Thumbs up=

if you think this should be what we learn in school : D

[kgeorgeg7]

@spartns12344

Actually we learn this at school... Didn't you attend Physics?

en wikipedia org wiki Wave <-- check. It might remind you those lessons.

Unless you don't do that stuff at US.

[Corethreeking]

@kgeorgeg7

you're trying to be too clever,

don't

[kgeorgeg7]

@Corethreeking

I am not trying to be, haven't you learnt that at school? If not, it's not my problem, I learnt this when I was 16... shame on your education system

[Corethreeking]

@kgeorgeg7

We didn't learn this in school no, however I did learn all about standing waves in my Physics degree, my problem isn't about that because obviously different syllabi teach different areas of science in high school, my problem is your condescending attitude towards someone on a youtube video over not being able to correlate what they may or may not have learned earlier on in life with something as universally interesting as music

[kgeorgeg7]

@Corethreeking You shouldn't emphasize so much to my comment, can't you tell I was trolling? Please

[Corethreeking]

@kgeorgeg7 Then either you're a terrible troll or it wasn't a troll atall and you're just using that as some cover up for being wrong

Probably the latter seeing as the aim of trolling is to never reveal it

[kgeorgeg7]

@Corethreeking I haven't been wrong to any of my statements here. But the fact that I tried to blame your education system worked. That is what I'd call trolling here. And you bite. We have been having this conversation for 4 days and you still reply to me. That is a succesful trolling attack.

[kgeorgeg7]

@Corethreeking In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory,[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[3] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

Wikipedia : Troll_(Internet)

[Corethreeking]

@kgeorgeg7 You're an idiot, you don't 'troll' someone and then go 'lol I was trolling you' at the first opportunity

[DiegoTheCrazy]

wait, after playing a harmonic u can only touch 24,12,5?

[RJTV22]

@DiegoTheCrazy nope, it's just that there are natural harmonics on the 5th, 7th, and 12th string. now if u press the 1st fret on any string, and add 12 to it, you can lighly press the 13th fret and u'll hear a harmonic. just add 12. :) i hope i can explain this better, but u can watch redsgshredders tutorials. :)

[DiegoTheCrazy]

thanks man i really need to learn these

[houdinimeanie]

this lesson drove my roomates dog crazy

[cloud50006]

I can't get it on the 5th fret but i can get it on all the others and also the 4th for some reason =/

[RJTV22]

@cloud50006 not exactly on the 5th fret, the middle one, before it turns to the 6th fret. ok? :)

[cloud50006]

@RJTV22 Yeah i kow but i still can't get it, it's weird =/

[octdrt1]

thats pretty cool haha nice lessons

[masterpiecebeta]

At last i learnt Harmonics

[e104jokerr]

3:41 his finger XD

[UomoNeroMetallaro]

that's how to use a Pinch harmonic!!

[BigPackage23]

hey um the 1 on the 12th u can swich the sond with its going to 5th so like swich the harmonic its cool

[redhotchamira]

You actually explained it! Thanks a lot. I find it helpful to perform stuff better when I know why it happens.

[68928550]

lol... physics stantionary waves

[BrownPeopleGetUp]

Thanks very much -it's very helpful to see why (your diagram) so that it's not so abstract-

[Commiteee]

Can Harmonics only be played on the specific notes?

[skint0n0minted]

yes

[g4me0ver4680]

they can be played everywhere but at some-most places its VERY quiet its just random places where they are loud enough

[Dany1148]

holy shit, IDK any of this@!!!

[Amazongrassmonster]

does this work on acoustic too?

[Dokdude]

@Amazongrassmonster it works on everything, also a knife has vibration modes and harmonics.

[Hedukfan23]

this also did not help

[arado240dd]

thats amazing, you can see where the string isnt moving and touch it and it dont stop as quick.

wow

[McSlapped]

you are the man

[DANIELISOCKS]

That was so hypocritical, yet funny as fuck.

[TheElectricalDonkey]

Well, sometimes to shut someone up you need to beat them at their own game.

I dont like affending people but it gets to me when people make fun of my own kind :)

[DANIELISOCKS]

My teacher is Scottich and his accent is way more noticable. I'm not so sure Justin is.

[XGUNITGIRLX]

bring your guitar in and do it.. lol dont care about what other people think. It'd be good for a school project... Physics and shit

[Svetty00]

Did you know that you can sometimes create multiple harmonic tones at the same time on the same string? For instance, a dominant 7th chord (with no 5th) can be played between the 9th and 10th fret, a little closer to the 10th fret.

[Naturepheonix]

are you Scotish?

I used to have a Math teacher (now my project teacher) NOT MY CHOICE!

he is a total dipshit motherfucking piece of shit, and he's scotish, before I used to think all Scotish people are assholes (well most are in my school)

but you are different :)

[monkeyfodder]

How the hell does he sound Scottish?! He's Australian!

[Naturepheonix]

I Know yea?

[DANIELISOCKS]

If that was a joke, good one. If you're serious you're a dumbass(Unless he's now a citizen which used to live in another country but hasn't lost his accent). I'm Australian. We don't even have accents. We don't have an accentuated 'a' sounds in words like grass like alot of other countrys and lots of other speech differences. Everything we say is just - flat.

[monkeyfodder]

but he is actually Australian!

[DANIELISOCKS]

Well he hasn't lived there his whole life I'm pretty sure because his accent isn't.

[MrJazzguitarfreak]

Wrong. Australians have a very noticable accent. You just don't notice it because you're FROM there. Just like I don't notice my accent because I'm FROM Minnesta. (If you don't know the accent, watch "Fargo")

[dannythrashwhore]

australians actually dont have accents. have you ever heard an english person speak? most don't even pronounce their own words properly, everything is shortened to slang. australian speech is exactly what danielsocks says, flat. i wouldnt expect you to know it anyway you sound like a total dick

[MrJazzguitarfreak]

How am I a dick? I'm simply saying that to someone who is used to hearing a certain style of speech, Australians sound different. It is in no way an insult. I'm also not denying that the speech is 'flat'. However, when one isn't used to the style, that very flatness sounds like an accent.

[PastorJayJay]

@dannythrashwhore Australians dont have accent? Please, they have the most noticeable and annoying accent next to the Kiwi's

[Wex1117]

Love your accent.

[tybittz]

this actually might be a good idea for a science project hheh ^_^ but I don't think I really feel like bringing my guitar into school though...

[PeterTheMob]

I bring my guitar all the time in school. a very good exercise to be able to play in front of people

[tybittz]

I'd do it but only for a school performance or talent show or whatever

[Ignore14]

Neato!

[armycadet127]

thanks!

[OnlyInhuman666]

7th fret harmonic is the first one i learned. love the video

[abraham8886]

bewrbe

[jakdax77]

i notice you can't fo it for the top 3 string (GBe), when you touch after you pluck it stops immediately

is there anything im doin wrong

[jakehr3]

you should be able to do it one any string. it isn't a matter of the frequency but whether you can find the node (where the string isn't moving). so maybe your string is off tune which means you'd be touching where there is no node, meaning no harmonic noise or your frets are a little off, either way you should be able to find a harmonic near the 12th fret.

[JamleSalisbury]

WOW, thank you so much. How do i donate? on your site?

[AtAtGuyVideos]

OMG we have the same guitar. Except I have a hum-bucker pickup.

[2und2sind4]

thats actually a HUGE difference :D

[brandon9klay]

omg i love you lol jk i finally get itz!

[rowanzabala27]

so hardcore

[Larrymarx]

Justin.. is that a tattoo on your forearm (what is it?)... I love all your lessons... LM

[ajisdabomb88]

i've always wondered how the harmonic principle worked. this was very helpful and now i can play a lot of my favorite songs!

[StrikeBlack]

Thanks Man!! :D

[TheScottishPole]

Hahaha that's really really neat... I keep pressing the 7th and 9th for like 5 seconds and then you press any other part and boom it stops...

[bibiranger]

example of this technique :a good 1 is, the intro is Pushing me away from the band linkin park, that helped me to get on, watch it and learn it:D

[WorldWarrior19]

also one step closer is a good one for harmonics :)

[lawkang]

THANKS

[WorldWarrior19]

this guys a beast

[sk8erboy4416]

agree

[JustinSandercoe]

a beast??? i'm not that hairy dudes ;) actually quite the opposite, especially on my head... ha ha J

[WorldWarrior19]

haha its an american saying that just means you are really good at something, so i was saying you are really good at guitar and you know what you are talking about...no worries im not calling you hairy haha xP ...but i just have to say i really like your website and everything with the free lessons (which sometime down the line i will probably donate)...very helpful...i hope you the best with your career

[JamalRahman00]

@WorldWarrior19 Calling something/someone a beast when they're awesome isn't an American saying >.> He was making a joke of it :P

[tardich180]

@JustinSandercoe beast is a good thing lol :)

[theguitarhero1000000]

@JustinSandercoe do a vid lesson for hotel california please :)

[umrandommuch]

@JustinSandercoe its a compliment, bro. it means ur awesome

[TheIntellegentRetard]

the two guitars, or two notes, are equal in volume, what's called a 'standing wave' is created. This means the two waves cancel each other out in order to create a constant, which can be represented as a straight line (like he attempted to show I think), in reference to having two curved lines, or waves drawn moving in opposite directions. To me that's a much simpler explanation, it's easy to tell by ear when something is a harmonic once you learn to pick it up.

[freedomorfearthem]

you are a little confused I must say. Lets start with "hormonics" which I assumed was how a pimp made his money... (spelling error in first sentence)

Now then. On a string, when plucked and touched at the 12th fret, aka Dead Center, the string is cut into two equal but smaller parts. Therefor you get a string half its length and you get a sound half its length the same as you would if you played that fret. But instead of deadening it with your finger and fret it floats freely and rings.

[ThattBlondeGuy]

thank you very much. helpful.

[fckingsicbyd]

i finally get it thank you.

[kuramha]

I saw it i tried,and it worked,on my flamenco.

Thanks very much!

[07bheng]

NICE

[falige]

omg omg i get it! in simpler words the strings vibrate when you hit notes and when you play say a G note, you go up an octave and touch that same G it wont vibrate, but it vibrates at other notes =)

[delpuckett]

very good dude - you are super clear in your explaination and you are right on the money as far as your theory goes. 5 stars

[Tyler18GoPhils]

Wow, this is awesome.

[thedjjp]

I still don't get it.

[niranjanamurthy]

Super cool, very very informative

[Slashattacks]

huh? that's weird my guitar doesn't do that.

:(

[icps86]

great as always justin. but he looks a little blue :(

[delhomewrecker]

I've made full riffs out of harmonics but I didn't know the 'science' behind it. Good show!

[djshnibz]

wow, that was really informative

[lueckster1]

That has got to be the BEST explanation on harmonics I have ever heard!

[biggugly0402]

want even better explanation? check out Hans Kaysers Text Book Of Harmonics

[julianf1994]

thank u very much for the lesson Justin, your a great teacher and you know what you are doing!

[thetenfold]

Thank you.

[thetenfold]

If you create a harmonic at the 12th fret, it divides the string in half. So does that mean that 2 sounds are ringing on either side of the 12th fret at the same time? Is that why it's called an artificial harmonic? because there's 2 notes playing at the same time in harmony?

[delhomewrecker]

It's not an artificial, it's not a harmony, it's a [natural harmonic]. There's only one note and it's ringing on both sides.

[RandomBeRad]

great lesson but i have a large ringing sound in my ears now :P

[gibsonlesfan14]

how in the world did u figure this out??? you rock dude.

[TehManofMusic]

its common knowledge among most guitarists... and it dosn't take long to figure out where the string is moving and where it isn't.

[paulp757]

Outstanding Justin, as always!

[classicaxe01]

justin mate, your an absolute legend! i am extreamly greatfull for all your videos, everything i know about guitars iv learnt from you, cheers bro !

[FearIsWhatIAim4]

"We'll show you how to make cool squeally sounds" xD.

These videos are very helpful :D

[megamanxu]

THIS IS SCIENCE RIGHT HERE!!! OMG WOW LAW OF PHYSICS I WAS kinda shocked when he said it will stop anywhere else... i was like... wth.... lol nice XD i'll show my friends XDXD

[DylanKershaw]

You'd look better with a shaven head (Y)

[DuTubsch]

lol

[bigboy1295]

here dead, here not dead, dead dead dead. lol

[windoes98se]

wow, u rock

[richi223]

here dead, anywhere dead , dead, dead, dead xDxD

[tanreu]

i never knew thats how harmonics work. my music teacher never said a word about this =(

thanks loads =)

[DayTripperLennon]

awesome. thanks man!

[brionnach]

Awesome tutorial, thanks heaps :-D

[tanreu]

yea certain guitars have 24 frets. the one in the video doesn't but i've tried on mine and there is a harmonic on the 24th fret. cheers dood! =)

[kupoandmoogle]

on alot of guitars, the 24th fret is about above the bridge pickup (or something like that)

[ninjafrank1337]

You can also go to the hypothetical 36th fret and get an even higher harmonic.

[gj15987]

That's amazing. I've been playing guitar for over 10 years and it's never occurred to me how the work.

[thepowditchinator]

thanks alot!your teaching me thing that crappy books cant!

[19735165]

Thanks man.

[AgitatedPancakes]

so you're like increasing the frequency while keeping the amplitude the same

[havenagreenday]

thanks I learned a lot off to squelies!

[funkin182]

if my physics teacher were half as good as you i might have passed, dunno how those clowns are even allowed to be teachers

[TheB1gEd]

haha great im learning just the same thing in school at physics lesson, we got the exact same draft =)

[1337leo]

nice scientist hair

[thehunjo2]

hahahaah

[bluedoor4]

WOW! COOL BANANAS

[vanzantyt]

Thanks! Great Video!

[ozzyfoeva]

kinda v=confusing for me, i just watched this to learn pinch harmonics

[garrodtheif]

Wow, learnt all this in high school physics, about nodes and harmonics and wave divisions. Great lesson dude, thank you for posting it.

[Spinker1]

Excellent explanation brother.  I thank you.

[denisman93]

Really helpful lesson tho, keep it up Justin

[denisman93]

That kinda looked like a magic trick or something xD

[acidicmisfit]

Ah man, something that's been baffelling me since i picked up the guitar, cheers for the clearup understand it 1000x more now

[nofoodforchickens]

STOP THE WAR!! (Y)

[nonkeljef]

hey i saw a tab of SPIRITUAL GROOVE by ANTOINE DUFOUR, which says that the action antoine does on the 12th fret (right after slapping the 7th, just in the beginning of the song) are harmonics. Is that correct? It looks slapping-like... but not like these harmonics... CAN SOMEONE help me? Would be great!

[ChosenOne41]

I already knew the theory behind harmonics from physics class, but I never knew how to do them on the guitar. Thanks

[AJashaman]

haha same, somehow classes never told me how to pull of a harmonic on my guitar although i aced the test on it -_-"

[jernov]

that's a good explanation of the theory behind a guitar technique.

it's pretty cool that you don't just spend time on actual guitar lessons, but have some theory lessons up as well.

I'm getting around.. intermediate level guitar playing, but my theory isn't as good :p

[zzzyax]

awesome thanks for clearing the technique up with video and scientific expanation

[aidler2]

OMG THANKS!!!!! i used to think that harmonics were like a distortion thingy that you use with your amp lol, this is real good science!!!! THANKYOU SOOOO MUCH!!!!

[caradumei0]

wow man, nice xP

[arios211]

What! That's Amazing I didn't know harmonic worked like that.

[braydos9]

good lesson 4 all those beginers. dividing the string in 5 (next step) is on the 4th fret, 9th fret, 16th fret and approx 26th fret... however, there is no need to use the 26th fret as all the notes are the same. also, natural harmonics plucked at the 5th, 12th and 24th frets are exactly the same note as the open string they are plucked on...