TANúñez -> RE: Harmonics Question for Luthiers (May 26 2006 14:26:28)
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When you strike a guitar string, the note that you hear is called the 'fundamental'. It's the loudest note created, but along with it you are also hearing 'harmonics'. These are subsidiary tones that accompany the fundamental, and are responsible for making each instrument sound the way it does. Guitar 'harmonics' are created when you lightly touch the string with your finger at specific positions and then pluck the string. This causes both sections of the string, to the right and left of the spot you're touching, to vibrate simultaneously, giving a bell like quality to the note. What you are doing is removing the fundamental and only hearing the harmonics. There are three points along the string : the fifth, seventh and twelfth frets ... directly above the fret-wire. At these points, the string is divided exactly into fourths, thirds and halves respectively. The sound comes from these perfect fractions of string ringing together. If you try it anywhere else on the string, you hear a dead sound without any ring. The notes created are not always the same notes as the fretted note. At the 12th fret, they are the same note, and in fact playing one after the other is a good way to see if the intonation on your instrument is right: both fretted note and harmonic should be identical in pitch. If they're not, there could be a problem with the bridge. At the 7th fret, the harmonic is one octave higher than the fretted note. At the 5th fret, the harmonic is the 'fifth' of the fretted note, but 2 octaves higher. In other words, on the E string, the fretted note at the 5th fret is an A note, but the harmonic played at the 5th fret is an E note two octaves higher.
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