Repost: Harp harmonics

And yet another new post, last one for today…
As I have mentioned many times before, I am a big fan of the amazing Steve Morse, and have been for many years. Years ago, I worked hard on learning some of his licks, riffs, leads, songs, and some of his trademarks. Usually, that was quite a humbling experience, as not only his technique is amazing… he also is a great songwriter and a very inventive and creative person (not to mention that he´s an insanely nice human being, and a very funny guy. I always enjoy talking to him or hanging out with him tremendously, and consider myself blessed when I get a chance to do that).

Anyway, one of the things he likes to do it use “harp harmonics” (kinda like Lenny Breau-style). For an explanation on how it works , check out my article on harmonics at ibreathe.
Basically, you fret a note with the left hand, and then, with the right hand index finger, you touch the string you are fretting the note on exactly 12 frets above (or 5 or 7, like with natural harmonics) and pluck it with the pick or the thumb. So you fret a note, pick the string, while generating a harmonic with your index finger, very similar to natural harmonics.
I hope this explanation will help you understand the technique if you don´t know it yet, and if not, maybe the article I linked to above will be helpful. It sounds complicated, but the concept will get easier once you try, and once you are used to the right hand-part, it won´t be hard to do anymore either. Check out some live videos of Steve, as he uses the technique quite often, and seeing it might make the idea even clearer.
Anyway, one of the most beautiful melodies I heard him play with that is the first solo in Deep Purple´s “Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming”. It took me a while till I figured out that it was harp harmonics he´s using there. Using them adds to the beauty of the melody.<br>
So, from memory, here´s about what he´s playing there. I am not sure how close I got, because I don´t have the album around (“Purpendicular”), but I think it went something like this:

Note that even though it says “T” below the notes, it´s not played with tapped harmonics. Powertab doesn´t have a harp harmonic-symbol, so I used the t.h.-symbol instead. The technique is similar, but tapped harmonics, especially with distortion, sounds more percussive and aggressive than harp harmonics (compare, i.e. Eddie´s live solo “316″ from Van Halen´s “Live: Right Here, Right Now”, where he plays a long passage using tapped harmonics, to some of the harp harmonic-stuff Steve does, like for example in this song)

This might take a while to learn, as you have to synchronize both hands… the left hand plays those notes, while the right hand “mirrors” the left hand and turns the notes into harp harmonics. But it´s worth the effort, as it´s a very nice sound, and good technique to work on. Check out the article I linked to above for more examples.