Instrument Tricks
Playing harmonics (flageolet) of stringed instruments

What is "harmonics"?
　There is a wonderful way to play stringed instruments such as the violin, viola, cello, contrabass, etc., and it's called "harmonics".To play these stringed instruments normally (as seen in figure 1), a left hand finger, at one point anywhere along the string, holds the string down completely while the right hand is holding the bow to play. On the other hand, (refer to figure 2), if the left hand finger were to lightly touch the string in the same position as in figure 1 (not pressing all the way down), we would then produce an "oscillation melody", or a harmonic sound.　This is called harmonic playing. Compared the sound of normal playing (produced by holding the string firmly down against the finger board), sound produced harmonically becomes softer and more clear.
　　　

For example…
　In violins there are four strings: G (G3), D (D3), A (A4), and E (E5) strings. Respectively, when playing open strings (when no strings are held or touched by the fingers), the notes in the brackets ( ) with the corresponding string are sounded.

　So, from here we will explain this using the G string as an example.
First off, if you play an open G, the G3 note "SOL" is sounded.

wav(312kb)

mpg(184kb)

　 Next, we will try two different ways to play the G string at the 1/4 position (the bow is struck on the right side of where the finger is positioned).
　In normal playing (firmly depressing the string against the finger board), the string length itself will be 3/4ths the size of the original length, and the eigenfrequency will change. Therefore naturally, the sound level will also change. In this case, C4 (The next "DO" above the G3 note) will play.
　 In harmonics playing (lightly touching the string), the string length itself doesn't change, and the eigenfrequency also doesn't change. When playing an opening string, the length of this oscillating string (from the left end to the right end) is also the same. But, by using your finger, the G3 base sound's oscillation gets blocked. This node you just made with your finger will create a frequency four times as fast. Therefore the G5 note will sound (two octaves higher than the base sound "SOL").

　

Normal Playing	Finger Position	Harmonics Playing
(Next "DO" above G3) wav(277kb) mpg(176kb)	1/4	("SOL" 2 octaves above G3) wav(301kb) mpg(176kb)
(Next "RE" above G3) 　　　 wav(272kb) mpg(168kb)	1/3	("RE" 1 octave above than G3 playing normally in the 1/2 position) wav(251kb) mpg(176kb)
("SOL" 1 octave above G3) wav(338kb) mpg(192kb)	1/2	("SOL" 1 octave above G3) wav(313kb) mpg(248kb)

　As you get up to the 1/8th position, the space between the wave peaks get smaller. Lightly touching the node for harmonic playing becomes more technically difficult. Therefore, going from smaller instruments to larger: from the violin, to the viola, followed by the cello, than finally the contrabass, the larger the instrument and the longer the string, the easier it becomes to play harmonics.

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