# Natural and Artificial Harmonics



## Aitcpiano (Oct 6, 2021)

Been reading up on harmonics and finding it a little confusing to understand. Would this be playable on Violins 1 and violins 2 a3 divisi? and if notated like this would the notes notated be the harmonics you would hear?


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## Aitcpiano (Oct 6, 2021)

Also, would this notated harmonic in Cello be the pitch you would hear the harmonic at and would this be played as a natural or artificial harmonic?


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## Living Fossil (Oct 6, 2021)

Usually you would use the litte circle for natural flageolets. 
Notated in this way they stand for the sound you're actually hearing.

However, with the given examples, artificial flageolets would be the usual way to perform those constellations.
In this case, the most usual way to execute them is to finger the pitch two octaves lower and touch the string at the 4th. And you would also notate it like this.
Nevertheless, sometimes you will encounter scores where artificial flageolets are just notated at the sounding pitch with the little circle, since it's obvious for musicians how to perform the desired sound.

For natural flageolets keep in mind that with them players can't fine tune the pitch, so they are often too low in context. Also, more complicated natural flageolets (like the 7th partial) aren't always totally reliable.


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## Bollen (Oct 7, 2021)

Aitcpiano said:


> Been reading up on harmonics and finding it a little confusing to understand. Would this be playable on Violins 1 and violins 2 a3 divisi? and if notated like this would the notes notated be the harmonics you would hear?


There are two schools of thought on this:

1.- Notate all harmonics with a circle on top and the sounding pitch, let the player figure it out
2.- Use circles for natural harmonics (at their sounding pitch) and two 8ves below the pitch you want (with a diamond shaped notehead a 4th above) for fingered harmonics.

I have used both systems in over 20 western countries and they're both fine. However, method 2 looks more professional and shows you know what you're doing, it's also a bit more standard.

In either case you'll need a chart (unless you know how to play these instruments) to see what is possible. You can easily find them on the internet and every orchestration book would have them.


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