Harp harmonic

A harmonic sounded by plucking the string with the picking hand while the fret hand lightly touches a node above a fretted note.

Harp harmonics invert the usual arrangement: the fret hand does the damping and the picking hand does the sounding, which frees the picking hand to place the harmonic exactly and lets the player produce clean, ringing chords of harmonics. The technique is associated above all with Lenny Breau, who used it to play chord melody arrangements in harmonics. It demands accurate fret-hand pressure, since the finger must touch without pressing, and a strong, confident pluck.

Example: A chord-melody passage in which every note rings out as a bell, sounded by the picking hand, uses harp harmonics.

Harp harmonic

See also