Harmonics on the page · From Zero to Mozart

A harmonic is a note you get by touching the string lightly instead of pressing it down. The string then vibrates in halves, or thirds, or quarters, and you hear a pure, high, whistling, flute-like tone. The page marks them in two ways.

Producing harmonics cleanly is Stage 6 — this lesson is just about recognising them.

Natural harmonics

Played on an open string, touching a node — the halfway point (an octave up), the third point (a twelfth up), and so on.

On the page	Means
a small circle (○) above the note	play this as a natural harmonic
the notehead drawn as an open diamond	same — the diamond shows the touch point
a 0 plus a finger number above a high note	0 = it's a natural harmonic; the number = which finger touches

60 bpm

The circle over the D: don't press it, just rest a fingertip on the string at its midpoint and bow. Out comes a clear bell tone an octave above the open D — much purer than the stopped note.

72 bpm

An ordinary line that lands on a harmonic — the circled D. The stopped notes are solid and present; the last note floats, weightless and pure. This 'evaporating' ending is the commonest use of a harmonic in easy repertoire.

Artificial harmonics

Made on a stopped string, so you can get a harmonic on any note. Written as two noteheads on one stem:

a normal oval — where the 1st finger presses firmly;
a diamond a fourth above it — where the 4th finger touches lightly.

The note that actually sounds is two octaves above the pressed (oval) note. A small note in parentheses sometimes spells out that resulting pitch.

Try it

Try

Rest your 4th finger very lightly on the D string, up where the string passes over the end of the fingerboard — no weight at all, just contact. Bow fairly fast, fairly near the bridge. You should get a clear high ring an octave above open D. If you get a dull thud, you're pressing; if you get nothing, bow faster and closer to the bridge.

The usual mistake

Pressing the string — you get the ordinary stopped note, not the harmonic. The touch has to be feather-light. Bowing too slowly or too far from the bridge, so the harmonic won't speak. And reading the diamond as the pitch you'll hear — it's only the touch point; the sound is two octaves higher.