Slap Harmonics

by foogered (Jun 30, 2008)

Slap harmonics are similar to putting a capo on the neck of your guitar, shifting the guitar's natural harmonics. Basically, you fret or bar the strings and slap the strings where the new natural harmonics are, or anywhere really. Here's a lick I wrote a long time ago, it's pretty basic, but it will give you a good feel for what I'm talking about and allow you to practice basic slap harmonics.

Notes in brackets are those that you slap or tap with your right hand, while those outside are those that you fret with your left.

The angle that you slap the neck at isn't too important, but experiment with slapping at different angles to the fretboard to see what works best for you. I usually hit at about 45 - 60 degrees, because doing a clean 90 is just uncomfortable to me, and the frets widen as you go further down the neck, so you can afford to get a bit sloppier.


E|----------------------------|
b|----------------------------|
g|--5[17]--4[17]-4[12]-2[15]--|
d|--6[17]--5[17]-5[12]-3[15]--|
a|--6[17]--5[17]-5[12]-3[15]--|
e|----------------------------|


For me, this technique seems to work best on an acoustic guitar, or an electric guitar with Piezoelectric Pick Ups (This lick blows people away on Parker Fly guitars). Enjoy!