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Now that we’ve seen some stuff about strings, ratios, and harmonics Lets work on some methods to produce actual sounds from all that theory.
We know where to find the most useful harmonic nodes: 12th fret, 7th fret, 5th, etc. For those of us that don’t already know this, lets talk about how we produce a clear tone.
Harmonics are produced by touching the string at a harmonic node with the fretting hand, and plucking the string. With the fretting hand, the release must be very nearly simultaneous with the attack, otherwise the string will be muted and cannot sing out. Other useful tips are to use more bridge pickup, mid, and treble controls. The final tip is to pluck closer to the bridge. The strings will feel more solid there. After a little practice, you’ll get the hang of it.
Now let’s focus on the harmonic nodes of the third, fourth, and fifth partials. The third partial will be directly above the fifth fret, assuming the intonation is properly set.
The fourth partial is just behind the fourth fret. By behind, I mean slightly closer to the nut.
The Fifth partial is slightly ahead of the third fret (moving toward the fourth fret).
Summing this up, let’s work with the G string alone, assuming a four-string bass.
The third partial, at the fifth fret, sounds a double octave, or G natural.
The fourth partial (just behind the fourth fret) sounds a B natural, a major third above the double octave.
The fifth partial (slightly ahead of the third fret) sounds a D note, a fifth above the double octave.
You’ll have to feel with your fingers and ears to locate exactly where the harmonics live on your bass. Once you isolate them, get them to sing out by playing closer to the bridge. When you have them dialed in, locate them on the D and A strings as well.
Looking at this another way, we know we get a G major triad on the G string; a D major triad on the D string; and an A major triad on the A string.
Lets look at the actual notes…The G string gives us G, B, and D; the D string gives us D, F#, and A; the A string gives us A, C# and E.
Looking across the strings, you can see that we have a group of notes that can be arranged in a sort of stepwise mode. If we choose the strings and the right partial, we have control to arrange these notes into something useful.
Take a look:
Starting at the fifth fret on the G string (the double octave), an F# note lives at the fourth partial of the D string. At the fifth partial of the A string, we find an E note. At the fifth partial of the D string, we find a D note. Fourth partial of the A string gives us a C#.
Let’s see now…we have sounded G, F#, E, D, C#; something akin to a descending G major scale with a flat 5 (the C#).
If we use the fourth partial of the G string (the B note) and the fifth partial of the D string, and continue as above, we can play B, A, G, F#, E, D, C#, etc.
Notice there’s a pattern to this that we can use ascending or descending.
For those of us that use double/triple stops and chording, imagine playing an open E string, and playing the double octave harmonics on the other three strings. We have E in the root, with double-octave A, D, and G notes (at the fourth). Reducing that down, we get an Em7 sus 4 chord. A chord like that and a little Warwick growl, definitely has a set of teeth.
Granted, these tricks will not be useful to everybody. Solo players might make more use of these concepts than those of us that stick fundamentally to the low notes. I make use of this stuff quite often, and find that a Warwick bass is quite good at rendering these ideas.
I hope some of us find this useful.
Omar
We know where to find the most useful harmonic nodes: 12th fret, 7th fret, 5th, etc. For those of us that don’t already know this, lets talk about how we produce a clear tone.
Harmonics are produced by touching the string at a harmonic node with the fretting hand, and plucking the string. With the fretting hand, the release must be very nearly simultaneous with the attack, otherwise the string will be muted and cannot sing out. Other useful tips are to use more bridge pickup, mid, and treble controls. The final tip is to pluck closer to the bridge. The strings will feel more solid there. After a little practice, you’ll get the hang of it.
Now let’s focus on the harmonic nodes of the third, fourth, and fifth partials. The third partial will be directly above the fifth fret, assuming the intonation is properly set.
The fourth partial is just behind the fourth fret. By behind, I mean slightly closer to the nut.
The Fifth partial is slightly ahead of the third fret (moving toward the fourth fret).
Summing this up, let’s work with the G string alone, assuming a four-string bass.
The third partial, at the fifth fret, sounds a double octave, or G natural.
The fourth partial (just behind the fourth fret) sounds a B natural, a major third above the double octave.
The fifth partial (slightly ahead of the third fret) sounds a D note, a fifth above the double octave.
You’ll have to feel with your fingers and ears to locate exactly where the harmonics live on your bass. Once you isolate them, get them to sing out by playing closer to the bridge. When you have them dialed in, locate them on the D and A strings as well.
Looking at this another way, we know we get a G major triad on the G string; a D major triad on the D string; and an A major triad on the A string.
Lets look at the actual notes…The G string gives us G, B, and D; the D string gives us D, F#, and A; the A string gives us A, C# and E.
Looking across the strings, you can see that we have a group of notes that can be arranged in a sort of stepwise mode. If we choose the strings and the right partial, we have control to arrange these notes into something useful.
Take a look:
Starting at the fifth fret on the G string (the double octave), an F# note lives at the fourth partial of the D string. At the fifth partial of the A string, we find an E note. At the fifth partial of the D string, we find a D note. Fourth partial of the A string gives us a C#.
Let’s see now…we have sounded G, F#, E, D, C#; something akin to a descending G major scale with a flat 5 (the C#).
If we use the fourth partial of the G string (the B note) and the fifth partial of the D string, and continue as above, we can play B, A, G, F#, E, D, C#, etc.
Notice there’s a pattern to this that we can use ascending or descending.
For those of us that use double/triple stops and chording, imagine playing an open E string, and playing the double octave harmonics on the other three strings. We have E in the root, with double-octave A, D, and G notes (at the fourth). Reducing that down, we get an Em7 sus 4 chord. A chord like that and a little Warwick growl, definitely has a set of teeth.
Granted, these tricks will not be useful to everybody. Solo players might make more use of these concepts than those of us that stick fundamentally to the low notes. I make use of this stuff quite often, and find that a Warwick bass is quite good at rendering these ideas.
I hope some of us find this useful.
Omar
