Guitar Flageolets: how are they played?
First a little disclaimer: this article is intended only for people who play a guitar. Also there will be no instructions about how to synthesise them using sample synthesisers, see the end if you just want to get them. You might say: why do you write such stuff in a scene mag? Well, I write it for the musical section of Hugi. And as long as the music scene is a part of The Scene, I have the right to light up some general music questions. Do you, as a musician, have no need for flageolets? Well, simply read the article, maybe you don't even know what this term means. They can greatly influence a piece of life in your composition, it's especially the right thing for music in the Rock and Metal genres. If you are already familiar with them, read on anyway because I'll explain a rare used technique called "artificial flageolets"! Want to get the C of the third octave on a regular guitar? Then simply continue reading!
So, let's start!
1. Err, and what does "flageolets" mean???
They are just sounds which are played with a special technique on guitar. How? What is the physical concept of them, how do they sound? Let's see:
a. How they sound.
Their sound can be determined as high and tiny. That is really all. Maybe you have listened to some live music, where the guitar player, after finishing some musical phrase, plays quite a high sound that differs from regular guitar sounds. This is a flageolet.
In some books you can read that flageolets are quite similar to some wind-instruments. Hm, I'd not say so. Maybe a part of them may be similar to some kind of flute, however, not much. I stop talking about their sound, it's better to play them oneself than to listen my stupid explanations. Read the following sub-chapter to know the rest.
b. Physical conceptions and how they are played.
Look at your first, the thinnest string. Then pluck it. You should now hear E-4. Then move your eyes to the XII fret. Place your little finger on the left hand right above the metal plate of this fret, NOT BETWEEN THE PLATES!!! Also your finger shouldn't press down the string, only touch it. Then pluck the string and quickly remove your little finger from it. Now you should hear a high sound. If you pluck the string on another fret, your string will be divided into a higher amount of parts, and will sound higher. Note, that a flageolet sounds good only if you remove your finger from the fret! You should do it quickly. That is all about the physical concepts, now let's deal with how they are played.
It is recommended to place only the little finger of your left hand on the string due to its rather small size. And this is the most convenient way when playing at high frets. Now about the right hand. Flageolets are mostly played by all fingers except the thumb. Note that if you play them by the thumb, you should pluck the string near to the plank (don't know how it's called in English, near the beginning of the string).
Now I give you a great tool:
2. Table of natural flageolets.
Let's make an agreement that we will call the C note on the first fret of the second string C-4. In musical notation it is called the C of the first octave (actually, all notes for guitar are transposed an octave higher, so many people will say that I'm a fool and this is the C of the second octave but... simply stand right in front of piano and compare these two notes on piano and guitar). Also when I write the number of the fret on which the flageolet should by played, keep in mind that you should place your finger not on this fret, but at the space between the given and the next fret, right above the metal plate. The note field gives you an actual note you play with this flageolet. Inscriptions like "1 st" mean that in that row flageolets on the first string are represented, "2 st" - on the second. I think you know that the first string is the thinnest one? Also, when I write the B note, I mean Si, not Si flat like in some music books.
| Fret | III | IV | V | VII | IX | XII |
| 1 st | B-6 | G#6 | E-6 | B-5 | G#6 | E-5 |
| 2 st | F#6 | D#6 | B-5 | F#5 | D#6 | B-4 |
| 3 st | D-6 | B-5 | G-5 | D-5 | B-5 | G-4 |
| 4 st | A-5 | F#5 | D-5 | A-4 | F#5 | D-4 |
| 5 st | E-5 | C#5 | A-4 | E-4 | C#5 | A-3 |
| 6 st | B-4 | G#4 | E-4 | B-3 | G#4 | E-3 |
I suppose I've not made a mistake when filling in this big table... Why do IX and IV frets sound the same? Look, both of them divide the string into 5 parts, so they have to sound the same. This is so for other frets after XII as well. For example, the sounds of frets XIX and VII are the same too.
What?! Should I know this table by heart?! No, the things are simpler. Here's another table which will help you memorize these notes:
| Fret | Memorizing rule |
| III | Recall the note on the VII fret on this string. Then add 2 to the octave number. |
| IV | Recall the note which will be played with the regular technique on this string and this fret. Add two to the octave number. |
| V | Recall the base note of this string, when it is open. Then add 2 to the octave number. |
| VII | The rule is the same as for IV. |
| XII | Recall the base note of the string, then add 1 to the octave number. |
This is very simple if you have been practising it for about four years. :)
Now we are going to deal with the most complicated topics:
3. Artificial flageolets.
Recall, when you play a natural flageolet on the XII fret, you get a note which is an octave higher than the base note of the string. This happens due to the fact that the string is divided into two equal parts by this fret. And now think, if we pluck the string on the first fret, where will the middle of the string be? Right, on the XIII fret. So, if you can think logically, it should be obvious that if you touch the string on the XIII fret, when it is pressed down on the first fret, and pluck the string, you will get a sound which is an octave higher than the note you pluck. In this case it will be F-5. We have come to the idea of the artificial flageolets.
However, there's one big problem: You have only two hands, so who will touch the XIII fret, if you place your left hand on the first fret, and your right hand should pluck the string?
Clever people found the solution, it is simple: you should do the touching with the forefinger of your right hand. And pluck the string with the annulary-finger. How this is done? Straighten your forefinger and touch the needed fret with him. Then do the pluck with your annulary. You should practise this, because at the first time you won't be able to play this correctly, your forefinger will "fly off" from the string before the annulary plucks it. So, you should do time synchronizing. However, the Windows timer won't help you in this task. :)
This technique can lead you to many interesting inventions. Note, that you can touch the string not only at frets, this is also possible after the XIX fret! However, you should "feel" where this particular "fret" is in this case 'cos there aren't any. All of you know is that the highest note one can produce using a guitar without flageolets is B-5. But with artificial flageolets you can get C-6, D-6 and others! To play C-6, for example, place your left hand on the VIII fret of the first string. Then touch by the forefinger of the right hand the string at the place after XIX fret, you have to find the right place for yourself, and pluck it with your annulary.
More, with this technique you can go even further, and do the thing called "difficult flageolets". Hey, they are really difficult! You play flageolets with the accompaniment of the thumb of the right hand, it plucks the bass strings at the same time when the forefinger and the annulary do their job - plucking flageolets! This is really not for beginners!
4. In Closing
So, I have told you all the things I wanted to talk about. I hope that you will advance you guitar-playing knowledge with this article. If you simply want to get flageolets into your module and can't find appropriate samples, mail to me, I have sf2 (about 1MB in archive).
Any questions or suggestions?
Mail: iliks@chat.ru