Pinched harmonics are a way of creating an awesome squealing sound from your guitar. Unlike natural harmonics which can only be played at certain points on the guitar neck, pinched harmonics can be played wherever you decide.

There are two ways of playing pinched harmonics. It is important to learn both methods as you will need to use each one at different times, depending on several factors, such as what note is being played, how it fits in with the song and what guitar it is being played on.

In the video, the first method is what I like to call 'palm harmonics'. This technique is not strictly pinched harmonics which we'll come on to in a bit, but the effect is the same. This is a technique I invented with mysel, so you won't find this anywhere else!

The way you produce a palm harmonic is to lightly place the palm of your right hand on the strings at a certain point above the pickups, at the same time as you pick a note fretted on the lower part of the guitar neck. It is as if you are lightly palm muting the strings, but away from the bridge. The position of your right hand is crutial. Watch the first half of the video.

Here I am showing you how to find a harmonic. I am fretting the 3rd fret on the G string. As I move the position of my right palm away from the bridge you can hear where the harmonic is. For this particular note your right palm needs to be lighly touching the strings just before the neck pickup. This is slighlty different for every guitar and you will need to work out for yourself the correct position on your guitar.

The annoying thing about pinched or palm harmonics is that the position is different for every note. The way to overcome this is to imagine a mini-fretboard over the pickups. For every note there is a fret on this mini-fretboard where the palm of your right hand must be in order to create a harmonic. The only way to learn these is with a lot of practise! After time you will just 'know' exactly where your hand needs to go.

If you play around with these you will also notice that like natural harmonics, you can produce more than one harmonic for each note, by moving your right hand further away from the bridge.

In the second half of the video I show you how to find pinched harmonics. This time you need to hold the pick so that only the very tip of it is showing. Then you strike the string with the pick and your thumb simultaneously. It is your thumb that creates the harmonic here instead of the palm of your hand.

The position is exactly the same, i.e. the position where you pinch with you thumb is the same as where you would lightly rest the palm of your hand for a palm harmonic.

Again this take loads of practise to be able to get it right everytime. To start with, concentrate on learning where to play the harmonic on your mini-fretboard for notes between 2 and 4 on the real fretboard. The best strings to do this on are the D, G and B strings, although you can do them on any.

Another good place to practise them is around the 5th to the 7th frets on the A and D strings.

So when is best to use each type? Well... I have found that on certain guitars it is easier to use one type than the other. So if I have the option of using either method, I will choose the easier one. More often than not, the type of song you are playing will dictate which method you use. For example, if the harmonic comes in the middle of a load of palm muted stuff, it is easier to use pinched harmonics as the right hand doesn't have to move so far to get to it. If the harmonic comes during some fast picking, you might wan't to use palm harmonics because the right hand is nearer to where it needs to be.