In this guitar lesson, Colin will teach you how to play harmonics on your guitar. If you don’t know what guitar harmonics sound like, then play the video, and you’ll find out. One song that I always think of regarding harmonics is Summer Song by Joe Satriani. He uses them a fair bit in the beginning part, although if you listen closely you’ll find harmonics being used in all different genres and all different styles of music.

The most common places to find harmonics on your guitar are the 5th, 7th, and 12th frets, as well as the octaves of those (ie 17th, 19th, and 24th frets).

How to Play a Natural Harmonic

The technique is simple but takes a light touch. Place your finger directly over the fret wire — not behind it like you normally would. Don’t press the string down to the fretboard. Just rest your fingertip lightly on the string, pick it, and lift your finger off immediately. You should hear a bell-like chime instead of a regular note.

If you’re getting a dead thud instead of a ring, you’re probably pressing too hard, or your finger isn’t sitting right over the fret wire. The 12th fret is the easiest place to get a clean harmonic, so start there and work your way to the 7th and 5th once you’ve got the feel for it.

Where Harmonics Live on the Fretboard

Here’s a quick reference for where to find the strongest natural harmonics:

  • 12th fret — the easiest and loudest. Produces a note one octave above the open string.
  • 7th fret — one octave plus a fifth above the open string. Slightly harder to nail cleanly.
  • 5th fret — two octaves above the open string. Needs a precise touch.
  • 4th and 3rd frets — these exist but are quieter and trickier. Fun to experiment with once you’ve got the main three down.

Acoustic vs Electric

Harmonics work best on amplified electric guitars, however you can make them work on an acoustic as well, it’s just harder to hear them as the amplification really helps on the electric. Using distortion further amplifies their sound as well. This is one of those handy guitar techniques it is nice to have at your disposal, it can add some extra spice in certain situations, although you certainly don’t want to use it all the time. A little spice is nice… too much and you get accused of being a bad cook! 🙂

Tuning With Harmonics

One practical use that comes up all the time: you can tune your guitar using harmonics. Play the harmonic at the 5th fret of the low E string and the 7th fret of the A string at the same time. If the two notes are in tune, they’ll ring together smoothly. If they’re slightly off, you’ll hear a wavering “beat” — the faster the wobble, the further out of tune you are. This works for most adjacent string pairs and it’s a great skill to develop.

Ok, grab your guitar, and let’s learn how to play some guitar harmonics!