A method and apparatus for generating harmonics using polynomial non-linear functions. Polynomial functions are used to produce harmonics of an input signal up to a predetermined order, and that match a preferred set of characteristics. The preferred characteristics include approximating a sine function to generate odd harmonics, and using a function with zero slope at −1, 0, and +1 to generate even harmonics. The polynomial coefficients may be chosen such that most of the coefficients for the odd polynomial function are scaled by the same constant as the coefficients for the even polynomial function, so that the calculation is shared between the two polynomials. In one embodiment, a digital signal processor having a pipelined ALU and a MAC is used to calculate the desired polynomial non-linear functions.