Bends and Pinch Harmonics

The funnest part about playing guitar is striving toward the next goal. There is always something yet to be mastered, and the everlasting journey is itself the most rewarding part of the experience. Once a person has a grasp on the fundamentals, then it is on to the next level. Time to put on your monocles and top hats, because we are about to get fancy.

A neat trick that can add variety to songs or melodies is the incorporation of bends. This is an artificial manipulation of regular notes that can produce varying sounds depending on the intensity of the bending action. As seen to the left, the string is bent upward from its original resting place. When bending upward, the note becomes higher. The farther you bend, the higher it goes. So an original note can be played once, followed by the same note once again but incorporating a bend. Most bends end up either one note or two notes higher from the original fret, depending on how far the bend goes. A personal favorite is what I call the "full circle." I play a note, followed by a full bend and a second strike on the string when the bend reaches its peak. Then, I let the note ring as I slowly return to the original note, striking it one last time back at its original position.

The other fancy technique is the use of pinch harmonics. This is a bit difficult to explain without a slo-mo video showing exactly what is happening. Essentially, a note is held like any regular note, but the strumming method is unique. After strumming a string, the flesh of the thumb makes immediate brief contact with the vibrating note. If the guitar is fed through a distorted amplifier, we get a pinch harmonic. This is also known as a "squeelie." Whenever you hear of a guitarist that can make a guitar cry or weep, figuratively of course, they are usually referring to this technique. For reference, I suggest listening to Pantera's "Cemetery Gates." The guitarist, Dimebag Darrell, relies heavily on this technique to achieve an eerie and powerful theme. The pinch harmonics are

These techniques are not replacements for basic guitar handling. They are mostly used as supplements in order to enhance melodies, chord progressions, or maintaining diversity while soloing. Keep it fancy folks!