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Table Of Contents

Harmonics

Harmonics are pitches produced by touching resonating strings at specic positions along their

length, allowing the corresponding harmonic partial to sound. Harmonics often have a high pitch

with a glassy, purer sound than stopped pitches. There are two different types of harmonics:

natural and

articial.

Harmonic partials are numbered according to their order in the harmonic series, which also

correlates to the node on the string which produces them. For example, the second partial in the

harmonic series is produced by the node halfway along a string, that is, the node that divides the

string into two equal parts. The third partial is produced by the node that divides the string into

thirds, and so on.

Natural harmonics

Natural harmonics are produced by touching an open string at one of its nodes and

then bowing or plucking the string. The sounding pitch of the resulting harmonic

varies according to the node and its corresponding partial in the harmonic series. For

example, touching the node halfway along a string produces the second partial, which

sounds an octave above the open string pitch.

Articial harmonics

Articial harmonics are produced by stopping a string fully (as if playing a normal note)

and then touching the string at one of the nodes of its stopped length. The sounding

pitch of the resulting harmonic varies according to the node and its corresponding

partial in the harmonic series. For example, touching the node that is the equivalent of

a fourth higher than the stopped pitch produces the fourth partial, which sounds two

octaves above the stopped pitch.

To produce articial harmonics, players must both fully stop the string and touch the

string at the correct node. This can be more

dicult to produce than natural

harmonics.

A passage for violin alternating between

articial

and natural harmonics on the A string

The sounding pitches of the same passage

Dorico SE supports multiple conventions for the notation of harmonics on stringed and fretted

instruments, including for both natural and articial harmonics. For articial harmonics shown

using two noteheads, one normal and one diamond, Dorico SE automatically calculates the

correct pitch for the touched pitch diamond notehead for the second to sixth harmonic partials.

These pitches are

reected in playback, using dedicated sounds for harmonics if the

corresponding playback device includes them.