Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange
Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [harmonics]

Queries that relate to overtones or harmonics as used in a musical context.

138 questions
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Why Is Just Intonation Impractical?

I've read about the debate of "just intonation" vs 12-tone equal temperament. And nowhere it was clearly stated why just intonation is impractical. Here are my assumptions. Please let me know if I am correct. Just intonation frequencies are based on…
Bozho
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WHY do harmonics happen?

The answers to the question 'How do harmonics work?' were most interesting. OK, that's the HOW it happens. But WHY does it happen ? What is the physics here ? Why doesn't a guitar string vibrate at one frequency only?
Punksta
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Does the difference in harmonic series between instruments have a significant effect on the consonance of the sound?

We all know that an instrument's timbre is uniquely determined by its harmonic series. Harmonic series are also very effective in describing whether an interval is consonant or not. For example, the perfect fifth (say C to G) is consonant because…
Ma Joad
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How do harmonics work?

The guitar has harmonic notes at some places. I can play it, but I don't understand the logical reason why/how this is can played. Can you tell me how exactly this works? What other musical instruments have harmonic notes besides the guitar?
Quazi Irfan
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Do different synthesizers have different timbres and/or produce different harmonics for the same given waveform?

All basic synthesizers can produce the basic waveforms: sawtooth, square, triangle, and sometimes sine. Does each synthesizer "injects" its own character to the waveform? Are all sawtooths the same, or can there be differences? For example: Can an…
Lolo
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10 answers

How to do "metal" harmonics (pinch etc)

I've always struggled with this, tried watching Youtube tutorials, but can't get it to work. Should you hold the pick in any particular way? I've always held my picks with three fingers, for stability, but have a feeling that won't work here. Does…
Znarkus
26
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8 answers

Why do harmonics played on guitar sound lower as you move to higher frets while fretted notes sound higher?

By lightly touching a guitar string at specific nodes (most commonly at the 12, 7th and 5th fret) and releasing your finger immediately upon plucking the string - a clear ringing tone is produced. These tones are called harmonics. When fretting…
Rockin Cowboy
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How do harmonic tones get "out of tune" on a brass instrument?

In a video I saw, a guy was reviewing a prototype trombone, and he said that "the high f is out of tune" (the sixth overtone) I don't understand how a fixed length of tubing (1st position) can produce a out of tune overtone. For what I know, I was…
Slapp45
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Is it possible to create the illusion of a sub-harmonic?

The way I understand it, a normal plucked tone consists of a great many overtones in addition to the base tone. A pinched harmonic, however, shifts the base tone higher into the overtone series by establishing a node in the string's range of…
luser droog
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What's the difference between overtones and harmonics?

What are overtones and what are harmonics? How do they relate? I know that the first harmonic is the tone A at 440 HZ and the second harmonic is at 880HZ an octave higher, it is also the first overtone, is this just a normal tone? Is the base…
Phanest
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Can the harmonic series explain the origin of the major scale?

This Wikipedia article is the source for two overtone series charts... The numbers above the harmonic indicate the number of cents' difference from equal temperament (rounded to the nearest cent). Regarding harmonic 11, is it a 'out of tune'…
Michael Curtis
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Why do I hear higher harmonics, when the strings aren't free to vibrate?

For example, I try to press the G1 key down without it producing a sound, and when I abruptly play the C1 beneath it, the G, an octave above, is clearly audible, although the string isn't free to vibrate. Why does that happen? Do strings an octave…
Luke
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Music Theory: Frequencies related to playing a note on guitar

I am studying the physics related to playing guitar. I need to understand the relationship between the fundamental frequency of a guitar string and its harmonics. For e.g., the top string has the fundamental frequency (E2~82.4hz). When one plucks…
theoryPractitioner
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What are the actual notes of each natural harmonic?

So I know that if you play a natural harmonic at the 12th fret, this is just the same note as fretting the 12th is. Also, when I play my electric guitar and listen to lots of metal music in particular, I can hear that some natural harmonics sound…
felixius4
15
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8 answers

Can overtones be heard if the fundamental is below hearing range?

I hope I'm using the term correctly... I think the overtone series is what one hears based on a fundamental. For example, if a C3 is played as the fundamental, the first overtone would be the octave above that, followed by the fifth above that,…
user79440
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