# How to extend the range of your guitar one full octave- Eric Johnson style



## GJaunz (Oct 25, 2010)

Hey everybody,

I learned a technique for getting an extra octave out of your guitar (without effects) from watching Eric Johnson play, so I figured I'd post a lesson about it. It's a really neat trick, check it out:


Also, just to let you all know, I'm just about finished with another 8 string 'Motown Goes Metal' cover. This time I'm going after the Surpremes . I'll be releasing both recordings on iTunes in a week or so in case you're interested. If you missed the first 'Motown Goes Metal', here it is:


Thanks for checking out my stuff!

G


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Oct 25, 2010)

Cool beans. The other thing you can do is fret a note with your index finger, then use your pinky finger to touch the string a perfect fourth up (five frets), and the resulting harmonic will be two octaves above the fretted note. Here's a tab of this idea, using the normal tablature notation to indicate the fretted note, and parenthesis above to indicate the fret where your pinky is touching the harmonic node. So, let's say we wanted a really high A:

```
-(10)
e-5-
```
This would be fret 29, if it were a fretted note. Obviously, it's more difficult the lower it is on the fretboard, but you can always move the same note across the fretboard.

Alternatively, the two ideas can be combined: fret the fundament, then use your right hand to touch the harmonic node five frets above.


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## GJaunz (Oct 25, 2010)

That's a good point, and a nice addition to the lesson, thanks for responding! \m/


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## Xiphos68 (Oct 25, 2010)

Cool lesson dude. I'll have to try that sometime.


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## timbaline (Oct 26, 2010)

Nice, that's how most classical players do it.
Bumblefoot and PG have their ways to do it too.


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## GJaunz (Oct 26, 2010)

Thanks Xiphos68! @timbaline: That's awesome you brought up Ron Thal and the thimble, he's actually my absolute favorite guitarist/musician! I've been a huge fan of his since right about the time he put out '911.' Didn't know this was the classical way to get these harmonics, very cool. Thanks for the comments!


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## atimoc (Oct 26, 2010)

Cool lesson, harmonics like these can spice up a melody very nicely. I like to do them so that I slide the pick between my thumb and middle finger and kind of nudge the string with it while resting my index finger on top of the string. It sounds more awkward than it really is, and you can get a very crisp attack that way. For faster licks the method you showed is much more feasible though.


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## JohnDillingerJr (Oct 26, 2010)

I went to a Tommy Emmanuel concert a few years back and he was using the same technique, except he was doing really fast arpeggios. He was plucking with his pinky, ring, and middle finger, while hitting the positions with all of his other fingers. At least thats what I think he was doing. It was amazing.


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## GJaunz (Oct 26, 2010)

@atimoc: Thanks, glad you dig . Your other method of getting these harmonics sounds like the way I used to do them. I found that once I spent some time working on this method, I much preferred it to the other.

@JohnDillingerJR: Sounds awesome, I've heard Tommy Emmanuel is an awesome guitarist, but I'm not familiar with his stuff. I'm going to look him up on youtube right now.


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## AcademiaNervosa (Oct 26, 2010)

Lenny Breau did that quite a lot.


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## MusicMetalHead (Oct 26, 2010)

SchecterWhore said:


> Cool beans. The other thing you can do is fret a note with your index finger, then use your pinky finger to touch the string a perfect fourth up (five frets), and the resulting harmonic will be two octaves above the fretted note. Here's a tab of this idea, using the normal tablature notation to indicate the fretted note, and parenthesis above to indicate the fret where your pinky is touching the harmonic node. So, let's say we wanted a really high A:
> 
> ```
> -(10)
> ...



no no no no no. all wrong. Totally wrong. Could not be wronger.


Its spelled koolbeans.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Oct 27, 2010)

MusicMetalHead said:


> no no no no no. all wrong. Totally wrong. Could not be wronger.
> 
> 
> Its spelled koolbeans.



No thanks. I have the faculty to spell using the precedents laid down by literally dozens of English speakers before me, and I'm not about to prove that they have suffered in vain. Them dawgs likes to eet.


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## Waelstrum (Oct 27, 2010)

SchecterWhore said:


> No thanks. I have the faculty to spell using the precedents laid down by literally dozens of English speakers before me, and I'm not about to prove that they have suffered in vain. Them dawgs likes to eet.



Your premise is flawed. The English language is a poorly combined hybrid of the languages of various nations that invaded Britain cobbled together by illiterate peasants.

On topic, that Bumblefoot video is cool.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Oct 27, 2010)

Waelstrum said:


> Your premise is flawed. The English language is a poorly combined hybrid of the languages of various nations that invaded Britain cobbled together by illiterate peasants.
> 
> On topic, that Bumblefoot video is cool.


No, it's God's language. Why do you think the Bible is in English?

And, on the topic of Bumblefoot, do you think those notes that he taps beyond the fretboard are intentionally out of tune? I mean, they're not consistent with what he plays on the fretboard, but he's consistent in their repetition.


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## Waelstrum (Oct 28, 2010)

That high up on what is basically an unlined fretboard, you're going to be a bit out of tune when you play that fast. The idea is pretty cool, though. I't like slide guitar.
I'd like to see some eight finger tapping with thimbles.

EDIT: Maybe just like a slide guitar, he should get some lines drawn on the body, in fact that would help with all these techniques.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Oct 28, 2010)

Waelstrum said:


> That high up on what is basically an unlined fretboard, you're going to be a bit out of tune when you play that fast. The idea is pretty cool, though. I't like slide guitar.
> I'd like to see some eight finger tapping with thimbles.
> 
> EDIT: Maybe just like a slide guitar, he should get some lines drawn on the body, in fact that would help with all these techniques.



He does the same when he shows it slowly, too.


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## GJaunz (Oct 29, 2010)

That Lenny Breau piece is awesome! It's true, drawing lines on the body would help with all these techniques, but my guitar is just too pretty for that . I think Bumblefoot definitely hits 'out of tune' notes from time to time for effect. I can tell you first hand, his ear is ridiculously good. I once saw him play the chords that a choir was singing on the guitar, on the fly, phrasing them exactly as they were being sung, without making a mistake, on the first try!


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## josh pelican (Oct 29, 2010)

Hey, Gianmarc here. That's a very interesting technique. I will have to try it out. I really dig that fucking guitar, too. What the fuck is it?! It's by a company that starts with a B, but I cannot remember what it is. 

That thimble is quite the concept, too.

EDIT: By the swearing, you can tell I'm Canadian.


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## Out of this Swirled (Oct 29, 2010)

Cool thread and little lesson, cheers you can also use any coin get the same effect or a metal plectrum, obviously not for the harmonics though, cheers again


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## theclap (Oct 29, 2010)

josh pelican said:


> Hey, Gianmarc here. That's a very interesting technique. I will have to try it out. I really dig that fucking guitar, too. What the fuck is it?! It's by a company that starts with a B, but I cannot remember what it is.
> 
> That thimble is quite the concept, too.
> 
> EDIT: By the swearing, you can tell I'm Canadian.


 
ibanez paul gilbert signature. A more recent one it looks like 2000 AD+?


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## theclap (Oct 29, 2010)

AcademiaNervosa said:


> Lenny Breau did that quite a lot.


 
that was a sick stella version and very germane to the website look at that fucker 7 strings!


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## AcademiaNervosa (Oct 29, 2010)

theclap said:


> that was a sick stella version and very germane to the website look at that fucker 7 strings!


Yeah, it's high A, too.

Here's a mini lesson from the same performance:



For the Chet Atkins technique that he's referring to (starts around 1:30):


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## GJaunz (Oct 30, 2010)

@Josh Pelican: lol, yeah the 'hey, Gianmarc here' has started to turn into a bit of a tag line, didn't even realize I was saying that all the time until people starting goofing on me for it . Hey man, sorry I missed your question earlier. The guitar is a custom Warmoth Strat. It's 24 3/4" scale, chambered mahogany body, mahogany neck w/ scalloped ebony fretboard, Khaler trem, Bill Lawrence 500XL bridge pu, cruiser neck pu. The writing on the headstock says 'Babah', which is the name my wife and I call each other. The guitar was a wedding present from my wife, she's pretty awesome


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## Explorer (Oct 30, 2010)

Lenny Breau first heard that harmonic technique on the 1961 album "Christmas with Chet Atkins." I don't believe there is a recorded example before that.

The last time I saw Chet Atkins play live was in 1989, and he did a few solos composed entirely of such chiming.


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## VariedStyles (Oct 30, 2010)

It's funny, I just had a brainwave and did this exact same thing today (and I had never really heard of any artist doing this before, nor had I seen this thread till then).

It's not a very big deal, TBH (or maybe everything is just super obvious after it's been discovered/done)...it's how classical guitarists do artificial harmonics all the time. I'm surprised I didn't realize this earlier.


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## SirMyghin (Oct 30, 2010)

This is a really good lesson, thanks for the ideas. Like the thimble one best. Gilbert seems to be using tapped harmonics, I have dinkerred with that in the past too. 

As far as swearing and being from Canada, I suppose I can't let the rural Canadians make us all look like yard apes. Behold my couth demeanor.


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## GJaunz (Oct 31, 2010)

@Out of this Swirled: Thanks a lot! I've experimented with metal picks in that fashion in the past. They are great for doing Bumblefoot-type tapping above the highest fret licks (the ones he'd use his thimble for), but I didn't like the tone it gave normal picked licks. It was too much pick noise for me, seemed to overshadow the notes too much anytime I would do fast alternate picking runs. Speaking of picks, I've been on a quest for the perfect pick for years, and I think the black Jazz III XLs are the holy grail of shrederific guitar picks.


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## josh pelican (Nov 5, 2010)

GJaunz said:


> @Josh Pelican: lol, yeah the 'hey, Gianmarc here' has started to turn into a bit of a tag line, didn't even realize I was saying that all the time until people starting goofing on me for it . Hey man, sorry I missed your question earlier. The guitar is a custom Warmoth Strat. It's 24 3/4" scale, chambered mahogany body, mahogany neck w/ scalloped ebony fretboard, Khaler trem, Bill Lawrence 500XL bridge pu, cruiser neck pu. The writing on the headstock says 'Babah', which is the name my wife and I call each other. The guitar was a wedding present from my wife, she's pretty awesome


 
I knew it wasn't an Ibanez like someone mentioned. It's a pretty nice guitar. I want a Warmoth or two myself. I've heard some really good things.

The "Babah" is really cute. My girlfriend and I have something similar, but it's more of a "bubu".


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## GJaunz (Nov 5, 2010)

@SirMyGhin: lol, your comment cracked me up, and I'm glad you dug the lesson! i've dabbled with the tapped harmonics as well, had more success with this kind. At some point, I want to try experimenting with the ones Dave Martone does where he hammers notes with his fretting hand while resting his picking hand over the strings gently. Van Halen and Zakk Wylde do them as well, but I think Martone has the most control with them, of anyone that I've seen anyway.

@josh pelican: yeah, i'm a big fan of my Warmoth. when my wife told me that she wanted to get me a really nice guitar, I went to Guitar Center a bunch of times over the course of a year and half and tried out tons of guitars trying to find the perfect one. I decided I liked Kahler trems, 24/75" scale necks, scalloped fretboards, chambered mahogany bodies, the bridge pickup on the dimebag guitars, and a bunch of other features that you couldn't get on the same guitar. I figured custom was the only way to go, definitely worked out, that guitar is effortless to play. Let me know if you ever get a "Bubu" guitar .


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## AliceAxe (Nov 8, 2010)

A thimble? thats silly. I always just used wide rings on my right hand, been doing that for years.


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## ittoa666 (Nov 8, 2010)

JohnDillingerJr said:


> I went to a Tommy Emmanuel concert a few years back and he was using the same technique, except he was doing really fast arpeggios. He was plucking with his pinky, ring, and middle finger, while hitting the positions with all of his other fingers. At least thats what I think he was doing. It was amazing.


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## GJaunz (Nov 8, 2010)

@ittoa666: That's an awesome lesson, thanks for posting that!


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## ittoa666 (Nov 8, 2010)

GJaunz said:


> @ittoa666: That's an awesome lesson, thanks for posting that!


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## AcademiaNervosa (Nov 15, 2010)

I recently ran into this Riff of the Week:


Nothing I didn't know, but a great explanation of the techniques nonetheless.


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## Koshchei (Nov 15, 2010)

The principle is that you're hitting the exact middle of the fretted scale length every time, giving you the equivalent of the 12th fret harmonic (notice how it's also at the exact middle of the open scale length).

Not sure that Eric Johnston pioneered it though, as I learned it by copying Steve Morse a few years before Ah Via Musicom came out.


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## GJaunz (Nov 16, 2010)

@academianervosa: Cool, that's a nice lesson that Dave Weiner did. He only missed one type of harmonic, one of my favorites, the Mattias Eklundh style harmonics (very similar to the ones Dimebag used to do)! I actually did a lesson on those a while ago, I'll paste a link below.

@Koshchei: Yeah, that's right on about the middle of the fretted note. I thought about saying it that way in the lesson, but I feel it's a lot easier to visualize where the fret of the harmonic note would be than finding the middle of the length of string between the fret you're on and the bridge, so I only said it the one way to keep things simple. I believe you're also right about the technique not originating with Eric Johnson, someone mentioned on the other page that it's actually the way classical players play harmonics, so apparently it's quite old afterall! Eric Johnson is just the first person I saw do it.

Here's my lesson on the Mattias/Dime harmonics for anyone who's interested:


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