Pinch Harmonic - Use in Rock and Metal

Use in Rock and Metal

The technique is possible on any fretted stringed instrument, but is most widely employed by electric guitarists, especially in heavy metal and rock music where heavy distortion ensures that the otherwise subtle harmonic is greatly amplified. An early example can be heard in Roy Buchanan's 1962 recording of "Potato Peeler". Robbie Robertson, who was taught the technique by Buchanan, has used this style of playing on many of his classic guitar solos with The Band, as did Leslie West of Mountain. Artists such as Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai made the technique popular, utilizing the tremolo arm and high gain amps together with the pinch harmonic to produce horse-like wails from the instrument.

Pinch harmonics are used extensively in death metal. Used by many guitarists like Dallas Toller-Wade (Nile; in Permitting the Noble Dead to Descend to the Underworld solo), Joe Duplantier from Gojira and many more. The technique's use in death metal is notable in that pinch harmonic notes are included in riffs, rather than being reserved for solos. Combined with the rather low tunings most of these guitarists use, and the fact that they are usually played by both rhythm guitarists (if there are two), the pinch harmonic notes leap out, creating more complex and twisted melodic contours than otherwise possible. The technique is also used commonly in other sub-genres of heavy metal, particularly by guitarists such as Adam Dutkiewicz, Tommy Victor, Steve Morse, Glenn Tipton, Zakk Wylde, Angus Young, Randy Rhoads, Mark Morton and Dimebag Darrell. One guitarist of the rock genre who is widely known for his use of pinch harmonics is Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, who uses them frequently in guitar solos, an excellent example being the second solo on the well known ZZ Top track "La Grange". Another exponent of this technique was the Irish Blues/Rock guitarist Rory Gallagher, as heard in the soloing on the track "Walk On Hot Coals" from the album "Irish Tour '74".