This just came up in another thread and I don't know what it means.
Would someone please be kind enough to tell me.
Thank you
Dora

Do you know what harmonics are, Dora?

In brief and very roughly speaking, harmonics are the additional higher notes that sound (more quietly) when you play any note. The pattern of harmonics is more or less what gives an instrument it's distinctive tone. On a woodwind instrument, you play the higher registers by sounding the first or second of these harmonics without the fundamental note (usually with the aid of a 'vent' key or hole that enables the harmonic to sound more strongly).

I guess what the other thread was referring to was the exercise of playing up the harmonic series, usually without using this vent key, by altering embouchure, oral cavity and breath pressure. So fingering C on a flute, you would get the C above, then the G above that, then the next C, then ... and so on. On a clarinet the sequence would be a little different.

I've realised that it must have sounded like I was asking what harmonics were. I was actually asking whether Dora knew, because that would affect how I explained the exercise Alica Ocean had been refering to in the original thread. Apologies for any confusion.

Dora - Beth with almost certainly have done exercises using harmonics because these are generally introduced around grade 4/5 at the latest. She may have done a Trevor Wye 'bugle call' exercise, which is often the first one introduced - in which case you may simply not have recognised the exercise due to the different name.

No, quite clear - just thought I'd try an explanation!

There are other harmonic exercises which are fun

- try playing scale of G major with only one hand. Start on the G above the bottom one and then play the first four notes and then use the same fingering as those again notes again but form the notes for the rest of the scale using the embouchure only.

- do a scale of Ab using only the RH little finger. Start by blowing low Ab and then get the Ab above to fix what it sounds like. Then find that note as a harmonic of low Db. From there finger Eb, C, Db, Eb, Db, C, Db while making it sound like a scale of Ab.

Thanks everyone.
Yes Beth has been doing that. I just didn't know what she was doing. The explanation of what harmonics actually are is very interesting.
Recently her teacher had her playing the "upper register with the wrong fingering" which I guess is explained by the explanations given here.
She does use the Trevor Wye book.
While Beth is a bright child she has very limited language skills which means asking Beth doesn't always get me a useful explanation.
Thanks
Dora

I'm really confused

Our music teacher talked about harmonics on string instruments, and I didn't understand it. I still don't really understand it now....

So is a harmonic how the flute works? Getting different pitches? I don't understand...

No.

Have you learnt about just scales and equal/even tempered scales?

No

Dad tried to explain it to me, he said that notes have other notes in the note, and that the other notes included might be high or low to give it its timbre, depending on which instrument i.e. strings, wind, brass, due to the wavelengths. Is that right?

Then I tried the G scale thing just now, with only the fingerings for the first four notes. And I can do the Ab thing apart from the last note Is it like when you don't finger the "proper" notes, but you still get a note which sounds roughly like a "proper" note?

Like I heard once that C is the highest official note on the flute, but there are higher ones, I think they called them harmonics, because they sound like higher notes but don't get a clear sound? I don't know, I'm just guessing. And then there are some jazz pieces for flute, which have really random fingering, which create notes which aren't normal, does that relate at all?

Am I supposed to know about harmonics by now?... oh dear, I knew I had huge gaps in my knowledge

Your Dad is talking about harmonics, but it is a very different context and a different way of using them - which I think has (understandably) confused you.

Do you have the Trevor Wye practice books, Robyn? One of these has a really good explanation...

On a string instrument harmonics work slightly differently in terms of production. When you bow any note the string vibrates, and lets say it's the D string, the loudest note you year is a D, but it also very faintly plays the D above, an A and some other notes. You don't hear all these as separate things, you just hear the D and experience it as a sound that is very distinctively and definitely a violin rather than, say, an oboe. If you lightly touch the string in particular places you can "block out" the sound of the D of the open string (the "fundamental") and just get the D the octave above, but it doesn't sound a lot like a normal violin sound, thin, reedy, whistly. You can create harmonics wherever you like by putting a first finger on the string in the normal way and resting the 4th lightly on the string very slightly above the normal 4th finger position. Composers often put harmonics in if they want a piece to sound creepy, mysterious or extremely quiet, as harmonics don't have a lot of strength to them.

There's all sorts of diagrams available about the length of the string and vibrations, but I think unless you are interested in wave lengths and vibrations this is more than you need to understand. Knowing the two harmonics that sound an octave above the open string and a 5th above are very useful as you can compare tuning using 2 comparable A sounds (one from the A string and one from the D) that are very pure sounds. Easier to hear yourself when an orchestra is tuning up.

No, my teacher hasn't really done any practice books or exercises with me apart from very recently with a marcel moyse one (but only one or two things), I've been reading things on here about teachers who use an "exam diet" and getting kind of worried, because that seems to be what I'm doing with her sorry, bit off topic.

The Ab scale I think has got me onto the right track with the idea, because you can get different notes with the same fingering by adjusting embouchure and air flow, right? So the Db can sound like Ab when blown in a certain way, and it can sound like other notes too. Is that why people suggest doing harmonic exercises, to learn to control the airflow and mouth shape, to change notes easily with big gaps/ or to get the best tone out of a tricky note? Or am I getting this all completely wrong?

Yes, and good control will help produce a nicer sound and let you play the highest notes quietly. Also harmonics make great short cuts for difficult trills and tricky fast bits.

Ahh, I see. Oh, and thanks for explaining harmonics with strings to me. The school music teacher tried to explain it, but I thought she meant like normal playing, putting your finger down hard on the string, to shorten it properly, but you said you put it down lightly, along with the normal finger. It's all becoming clear!




So when you trill from C to D, or C# to D on the flute, and use the first trill key, is that a harmonic, because it plays the same note but sounds a bit weird, or is that something else altogether? And trilling from, I think it's E to F# using the E button (the middle one down the bottom) instead of the normal F# using D button. Hmm.

no. trill fingerings are something else. Some trill fingerings draw on harmonics, but most don't.

Go down to the library and have a look at the Trevor Wye practice book on Intonation and Vibrato, or else borrow a copy off someone. This has the best explanation of just and equal tempered scales and harmonics (which are related to the just scale) I have ever seen. I think it's in the intonation and vibrato book anyway - if it isn't then it's the tone one. I'm at work at the moment and don't have access to my copy of the book to check. My brain is too busy with work at the moment to give you a decent explanation myself. Sorry.

Ok, thank you so much! Are the other things about the harmonics are right though, apart from the trill keys? I will be off to the library tomorrow to have a look, and will ask my teacher about it too