Harmonic
A note produced by the string vibrating in whole-number divisions of its length, which sounds a clear interval above the fundamental.
Plucking the string anywhere excites these partials alongside the fundamental, and the mixture is what gives an instrument its timbre. A harmonic can also be isolated deliberately: touching a string lightly at a node and picking it suppresses the fundamental and lets a specific partial ring, which is why the twelfth fret gives an octave, the seventh fret an octave and a fifth, and the fifth fret two octaves. Some harmonics need a node that the frets do not mark.
Example: lightly touching the string over the twelfth fret and picking it produces a bell-like octave with a purer, more glassy tone than the fretted note.
See also
Related
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