# Natural harmonics

*Module 1 · Lesson 7: Notes and the fretboard · BazzLow*

> Know where natural harmonics sound on the bass, which notes they produce, and how they relate to the harmonic series.

Before this lesson: [1.6 Octave shapes](https://bazzlow.com/en/notes-and-fretboard/octave-shapes/)

A bass string can give you notes without pressing a fret at all. These notes are natural harmonics, and they reveal what is inside every note you play.

## The harmonic series

A vibrating string does not move in just one way. It vibrates as a whole and, at the same time, in halves, thirds, quarters and so on. The vibration of the whole string is the **fundamental**; the extra vibrations are **overtones**. Together they form the **harmonic series**, and they give the bass its tone.

## Playing a natural harmonic

To play a **natural harmonic**, touch the string lightly, without pressing it down to the fret, directly over a point that divides the string into equal parts. That point is a **node**. Then pluck. Your finger silences the fundamental, and one harmonic remains.

Touch the string right over the fret wire, not between frets. Frets are counted from the nut, as usual.

> **Diagram:** Natural harmonics on a 4-string bass, drawn as diamonds: octaves at frets 12 and 5, fifths at frets 7 and about 3.2, the major third at frets 4 and 9.

## Where they are and what they give

*The first harmonics of an open string. Frets in parentheses are shared nodes, where a lower harmonic also sounds and usually dominates.*

| Harmonic | Divides the string into | Where (fret) | Above the open string | On E |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2nd | halves | 12 | 1 octave | E2 |
| 3rd | thirds | 7, 19 | 1 octave + perfect 5th | B2 |
| 4th | quarters | 5, (12), 24 | 2 octaves | E3 |
| 5th | fifths | ≈3.9, ≈8.8, ≈15.9 | 2 octaves + major 3rd | G♯3 |
| 6th | sixths | ≈3.2, (7), (12), (19), ≈31 | 2 octaves + perfect 5th | B3 |

The 5th harmonic sits just before frets 4, 9 and 16. The 6th harmonic’s first node is just past fret 3, and its last one, at about 31, is off the fingerboard.

The table works on every string; only the notes change:

- A string: A2, E3, A3, C♯4, E4;
- D string: D3, A3, D4, F♯4, A4;
- G string: G3, D4, G4, B4, D5.

## Pure, not tempered

Harmonics give **pure** intervals, not the equal-tempered ones of your frets (lesson 1.4). The difference is measured in **cents**: a cent is one hundredth of an equal-tempered half step.

- The 3rd and 6th harmonics, the fifths, are about 2 cents sharp of the equal-tempered note.
- The 5th harmonic, the major third, is about 14 cents flat.

This is why tuning with harmonics is only approximate, as lesson 0.2 warned.

## Try it

On the E string, play the harmonics at frets 12, 7 and 5. Then compare the harmonic at fret 12 with the fretted note at fret 12: same pitch, different tone. Finally, find the harmonic at fret 4 and listen for the G♯.

## New terms

- harmonic series
- overtone
- natural harmonic
- node
- fundamental
- cent

Page: https://bazzlow.com/en/notes-and-fretboard/natural-harmonics/