First, harmonics must be fretted at the exact spot on the string in order for them to ring loud and true. That means that, instead of fretting the string where you normally would just behind the fret, you fret the string directly over the fret, but without pressing the string all the way down to the fretboard. A light touch produces the best harmonics.
The second thing that you might have noticed is that harmonics are much easier to play and sound a lot better if they are played on new strings. You have to remember that harmonics are caused by the natural vibrations of the plucked string. When a string gets old and crusty, all the oil and grease tends to dampen its vibrations. A new string produces a loud, crisp harmonic, while an old string produces a dead, almost muted-sounding harmonic.
Once you’ve figured out the trick of the natural harmonic, you should be able to pick up on the artificial harmonic. An artificial harmonic is the same thing as a natural harmonic, except that your left hand acts as the nut of the guitar. This technique is a little more acrobatic than the natural harmonic. First you have to regularly play a note, let’s say a fifth fret D on the A string. Play the note using the pick in your right hand, then tuck the pick away in your palm and use one of your fingertips to lightly tap on the ringing A string directly above the guitar’s seventeenth fret. This is exactly an octave above the note that you are fretting with your left hand, so what you have in essence is the same as a natural harmonic at the twelfth fret. The harmonic will be an octave above the root.
In this way you can play different harmonics off of any note on the fretboard. When you start to get the hang of that, try this little trick:
Have you ever heard a guitar solo where the guitar sounds like it’s squealing like a pig? I know you have. The way that’s done is with harmonics. One way of doing it is to play a harmonic, natural or artificial, and wail away on the whammy bar. Another way it can be done without a whammy bar is really tricky, but really fun once you get the hang of it. Just press the finger that you are fretting the harmonic with all the way down to the keyboard once the harmonic has already begun ringing. The key to this is to play the harmonic as cleanly as possible, then quickly slam the string down on the fret and apply vibrato. Your guitar will squeal like a little pig, and your neighbors will call the cops on you.
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