Artificial harmonic
A harmonic produced by fretting a note with the left hand and touching the string with the right hand or thumb at a nodal point above it.
Because fretting the string moves the node away from the open-string positions, the right hand has to supply the light touch that creates the harmonic, usually with the side of the picking-hand thumb or the index finger while the pick sounds the string. The technique unlocks harmonics on any fret, which is why it appears in everything from classical tremolo studies to high-gain lead playing. The pitch follows the interval between the fretted note and the touched point.
Example: A rock solo note that sounds an octave above where it is fretted, because the picking hand brushed the string an octave higher, is an artificial harmonic.
See also
Related
- PageNatural harmonic
- PagePinch harmonic
- PageTap harmonic
- PageAccent
- PageAction height
- PageAlternate picking
- PageAaron Dessner
- PageAce Frehley