Pinch Harmonics, that is today's lesson. Let me show you how to do them. It's very, very easy, and the cool thing about these guys is that when you are trying to figure out how to do them, you obviously know what they should sound like but you are not too sure what it should feel like when you are taking them out.
But, the great thing about them is the first time you actually do one, becomes pretty addictive, and you know exactly pretty much how the picture strike the string. So after that, it gets more and more consistently easier to do. So we will go in for a really close look and I am going to show you how to do this.
Now, I am trying to give you the best perspective that I can here. If you look at my pick now -- the plectrum which is the point of the pick this area right here, I have got it sticked out about maybe an eighth of an inch or so, and what you are going to do is you are going to pick the string with the down stroke and immediately after that, there is a follow through with the thumb, and it brushes the string about like that it's almost right on top of it, and it's pretty close to being flush with the tip of the pick, not exactly quite somewhere in there. And so if you pick down like that, see on my thumb, just brushes the string right after. You can do this elsewhere. So it's really simple. I mean there's not much more to tell you other than that because it's one of those things that you have to experiment with.
However, a good way to understand Pinch Harmonics is because first of all I do, I was doing this one on the fifth fret, and I can set there and change the sound just by moving the pick into different areas and a way of looking at is to imagine this area which is like a grey area as a mini fret board like a replica of your main fret board. And by experimenting in different areas, you can really get a lot of play out there.
Another thing let me change the shot real-quick. Okay, so another thing is that if you do a Pinch Harmonic, that's great. But eventually, the sound is just going to kind of die on it. So we need to help them out a little bit and doing this by prolonging them, and the best way to do this is to use little vibrato, and if you are unsure what vibrato is, it's basically a series of successive bends -- like that, and I use my middle finger. I have seen a lot of people use multiple fingers, but it's not really economical. The reason I use my middle finger is because it's the center point access on my hand, so it's the strongest finger and it allows you a great strength and control, and so you can do mass amounts of vibrato.
So when you are doing Pinch Harmonics, whatever fret you are using, a good technique is to start bending the note at the same time that you are striking. I am going to put vibrato on to it. So that's definitely something to know how to do. So I hope you have enjoyed this lesson, and next lesson, we will begin to do some really cool stuffs to stick around.
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