JFR Ear Training 101 Answer page

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Answer Title

Answer to Problem #12

Category

Harmonics /Example 2, mixed harmonics

Jeff's Guitar's tuning

Drop D D, A, D, G, B, E

Guitar Jeff used

Humbucking pickup style (fat strat)

Key of

Effects Jeff was using if any

Reverb, (mild level of compression)

Solution notes

I didn't give a lot of clues for problem 12. It really boiled down to close listening and association from things you've heard before. I did mention to check out Vin Heuton's "Clean Street" lesson for some tips on how to perform or do the technique I did in this problem but that's about it. And as you'll see from the tabs below the technique is similar to Clean Street or even Ed's Mean Street but the pitches are different and I threw in a twist.

I gave a clue at the beginning of the problem as to what tuning I was using for this. I did a big harmonic and then power chord hit. That should have given you a clue right off that this was a Drop D tuning.

Tunings need to be figured out quickly before you waste your time trying to figure out some harmonic thing. The harmonics I did on the low 6th string don't exist unless you're in a drop D tuning. Some of you sent in tabs of me using a standard tuning. Be sure if you do try to figure out things like this in the future that you first listen to some of what's going on around the harmonics to try to find the tuning.

Reminds me of what I was a kid and was trying to figure out Top Jimmy from VH. There were no tab books at that time and I spent days trying to figure out why the harmonics he was doing didn't occur on my fret board anywhere. Fortunately I was alerted to the fact it was a D7 tuning and then the big DUH set in.

Remember there is no Black magic at work here. The harmonics exist and if they don't seem to exist on your fret board then there must be a tuning issue. But the first chord hit again, should have tipped you off that something was different. I should point out that most of you got the drop D thing. But for those that didn't, remember your mistake for future reference.

Video Guitar Lesson

"Actual" TABS for the problem

Part 1: Vin Heuton Tap harmonic thing

It should be noted that this is actually part of the intro to a Vin Heuton track called, "Feelin' Big Guitars" which we have not covered yet on the website however the main riff of the track for demo purposes of a point does appear on the "Play that Thang" CD ROM. It's actually a very cool little riff. And the full intro and full song will eventually appear on either a future Vin Heuton CD or a partial song will be covered as a Future Vin Heuton site lesson. One or the other.

E_______________________________________________
B_______________________________________________
G_______________________________________________
D_______________________________________________
A_______________ 0_0_____________________________
D_12h_> let ring>____0_0_____________________________

The section below is a mix of hammer-ons from open and tap harmonics from the notes we land our hammer-on to. The trick to making things like this sound correct and sound ok is timing. Your timing must be perfect or you will either deaden the note or deaden the harmonic.

** Oddly enough that same timing issue and hearing the note and the harmonic is also the key to figuring out something like this by ear. You figure out both the hammer-on and the harmonic pitches separately, then put them together.

NOTE: The harmonic part of this main hammer-on portion come from the open strings and tapped 19th fret harmonics. The same pitches could be produced by tapping the 7th fret instead of 19. HOWEVER, I tapped 19 because I wanted to be in position for the rest of the tap harmonics. Again, there's that darn 19th fret harmonic again just like in problem 11.

Harmonics are tricky for a lot of people to figure out and understand. But once you do understand the pitches of them you can go off on some crazy tangents. If you have trouble with harmonics, please check out "Beginners 101" CD ROM as well as my smaller lesson on Harmonics on the JFRocks Guitar Lessons page. Beginners 101 CD ROM is not just for Beginner level, it's a fundamental CD that covers everything I think you should understand to build a great foundation as a guitarist.

E_____________________________________________________________
B_____________________________________________________________
G______________________0 h(19)-7~~___________5 h(17)~____________
D____________0 h(19)-7_______________5 h(17)~____________________
A__0 h(19)-7____________________________________________________
D_____________________________________________________________

E_____________________________________________________
B_____________________________________________________
G______________________0 h(19)-7^^1_h(14)>release_7~________
D____________0 h(19)-7__________________________________
A__0 h(19)-7____________________________________________
D_____________________________________________________

E____________________________________________________________________
B____________________________________________________________________
G______________________0 h(19)-7^^1_h(19)>release_7~__7^^1_h(14)>release_7_____
D____________0 h(19)-7_________________________________________________
A__0 h(19)-7___________________________________________________________
D____________________________________________________________________

E__________________________________________________
B__________________________________________________
G_7^^1_h(12)>release_7___7_h(19)^^^^1>>release_7~~__________
D__________________________________________________
A__________________________________________________
D__________________________________________________

Part 2: The natural harmonic ending on the low Drop D string

The section below is made up of Natural harmonics only and is NOT part of the Vin Heuton track into but I did add it to give you something additional to try to figure out. The part below uses some abnormal natural harmonics. Meaning, natural harmonics that don't occur on the common 5th, 7th, 12th fret kind of thing. The Drop D Tuning was needed to perform these.

E__________________________________________________
B__________________________________________________
G__________________________________________________
D__________________________________________________
A__________________________________________________
D__12h__5h_4h_3h_4h_5h__and repeat__________________

Trem picked harmonics

I started on the 12th fret one and then moved and did trem picking while hovering my finger back and forth over the 5th, 4th, and 3rd fret harmonics respectively.

E_____________________________________________________________
B_____________________________________________________________
G_____________________________________________________________
D_____________________________________________________________
A_____________________________________________________________
D_12h////////////____7///____5///_4//_3//_4///___5///_4///_3///_4////_5///// __etc._____

E__________________________________________________
B__________________________________________________
G__________________________________________________
D__________________________________________________
A_____________________________________0_0__________
D_12h___5h_4h_3h_4h_5h__12h_> let ring>___0_0__________