Uncommon Guitar Tab Notation

Question

Don’t assume I know much about music, I’m just an amateur.

I’ve come across the notation below (AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long). I know how it sounds. I do not know how it’s called and how to play it.

Answer 1

The notation is a bit complicated right there. The transcription might be overly detailed for this note, but we can piece it together.

The 3 means to fret with your left hand at the third fret on the G string, as usual.

The PH above the tab indicates this note is a pinch harmonic, which means the harmonic formed by lightly touching the string and playing the string both with the right hand. When using a pick to play pinch harmonics, sometimes the pick is transferred to between the thumb and middle finger and the index finger is used to touch the string for the harmonic. The other option is more likely in this case, in my opinion. That other option is to pick as normal but stuck out the thumb knuckle a little bit to brush the string to create the harmonic.

The <6.2> is a bit extra but what it is trying to communicate is that the thumb knuckle should be touching the string about 3.2 "frets" away from the bridge. There are no frets at the bridge, so if you really wanted to calculate exactly where to touch, you would find the distance between the 3rd fret and 1/5 of the way between the 6th and 7th frets and then try to find that same distance from the bridge. Personally, I would not at all worry about getting the exact right distance for this, but if you want to perfectly re-create the original recording, this is what you would go for.

Finally, the arrow with 1/4 at the end of it means bend the note up a quarter tone. That is about half of a bend up one fret.

When I play these bent pinch harmonics, what I do is I play regularly with the pick and my knuckle stuck out and immediately bend the string so that the string brushes my thumb knuckle, instead of trying to brush the string with my knuckle. So it's the bend that causes the knuckle contact. That means you just barely hear the regular note for a millisecond before the harmonic happens. But that's just my personal style.

I think getting the vibe of the solo and a sound and feel similar to the AC/DC sound is more important than exactly re-creating the note as it is notated. A bend of some amount with a pinch harmonic is going to be close enough for 98% of audience members.