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Post by walshb 🦒 on Feb 2, 2020 15:02:31 GMT -5
I went to an event with a guitar teacher over the weekend and he was telling me that he teaches his students that the thumb should be planted on the back of the neck. I've heard others say this also. I've tried it and I can play that way, but so far, I don't see the advantage. Then I watch videos of some of the best guitarists and many, if not most of them, have their thumb hanging over the edge of the fretboard like I do.
Why is this considered bad, or incorrect, form? Or is it?
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Post by tahitijack on Feb 2, 2020 16:18:51 GMT -5
From the time I learned to play by a great guitar coach, planted on the "back" of the neck. Helps keep steady pressure on the fingers, lends itself to "classical" playing style (which is far from what I am trying to play). In the end its just more comfortable for my hands as an anchor. Once in a great while the thumb is used to mute the low E string. But I don't use it to fret notes on the low E.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Feb 2, 2020 16:25:32 GMT -5
My answer is "it depends."
The book answer is 'in the middle of the back of the neck'. I think this comes from classical guitar technique, which by extension comes from violin, viola, and stand-up bass. It works fine there because chords on those instruments are usually only two notes. Finger vibrato is also in line with the string.
But watch any number of pro guitar players who are known for being hotshots, and their thumbs are all over the place. Chords (especially thumb-over), and bending/vibrato require the thumb to be wherever it needs to be to make things as easy as possible.
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Post by LM on Feb 2, 2020 21:42:47 GMT -5
It depends for me, but I often have it over the top to mute the low E when its not in the equation to keep it from droning.
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Post by rickyguitar on Feb 2, 2020 22:14:41 GMT -5
Sometimes over. Prolly more often planted in ths back. Took lessons from a couple jazz guys for years and they hounded about it, but...whatever works. I do try and use my pinky a lot, fud the reach, which kind of lends itself to down low.
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Post by walshb 🦒 on Feb 3, 2020 11:22:45 GMT -5
So far, no votes for the hanging thumb. That's only because it won't let me vote! I can even see my thumb in my profile pic.
I've watched a lot of videos since posting this, and in most of them, I can see the thumb. If it was planted on the back of the neck, it wouldn't be visible.
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Post by larryguitar54 on Feb 3, 2020 12:27:29 GMT -5
All over the place. I use it all the time to make chords or mute the low E as needed ala Hendrix.
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twangmeister
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Post by twangmeister on Feb 3, 2020 13:05:45 GMT -5
I am mostly a thumb wrapper since I am self-taught. It is the source of my powerful neck grip.
"Mostly" because when my thumb muscles and tendons ache I switch over to the proper form.
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jdawg
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Post by jdawg on Feb 3, 2020 16:10:09 GMT -5
I can't play a D chord with an F# bass note without using the thumb over the top. It seems to be a voicing that is part of many songs we are playing.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Feb 3, 2020 17:33:01 GMT -5
All over the place. I use it all the time to make chords or mute the low E as needed ala Hendrix. I've seen a few vids of Jimi playing where he sometimes drapes his thumb over the front of the neck. He had *huge* hands. Sometimes when he's thumb-over, it looks like his thumb reaches the high E string. Nutty!
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gdw3
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Post by gdw3 on Feb 3, 2020 20:44:29 GMT -5
If anyone tells you there is only one place you should put your thumb, stop listening to their advice. MAYBE that's true if you're exclusively a classical player, but even then....
There are definitely good and bad techniques for where your thumb is, depending on what you're doing. If you're trying to play some fast and articulate single note lines, then gripping the neck in your palm and wrapping your thumb over the top is probably a bad idea. However, there are plenty of cases where a thumb over the top makes sense, as said above. For me, I almost never fret with my thumb, but I definitely will mute the 6th string with it, depending on the shape of the chord I'm playing.
Usually, my thumb is on the back of the neck at about a 45-degree angle, so I get a decent downward angle at the strings. That's what I would start teaching a beginner. I think it helps one to play more accurately. BUT, a current student of mine has hands that just don't work like mine, and he has to wrap his thumb more on certain things, because his hand won't make shapes like mine does!
In general, if you're playing how you want to play, and you're not injuring yourself, then it ultimately doesn't matter. But the thumb grip does have its limitations.
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Post by jazzguy on Feb 4, 2020 0:12:47 GMT -5
a million years ago when I was studying I was told right behind the neck. that worked fine for playing classical etudes and the like, but playing jazz it just wouldn't work for me and I didn't pursue it. I've always played w/it like gdw3, it gives me the best control of the neck and board. but if I'm working way up high my thumb might naturally fall closer to the middle of the neck.
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Post by hushnel on Feb 7, 2020 16:10:02 GMT -5
Center back of the neck, learned that way, it gives my fretting fingers a more perpendicular aspect to the fretted string, important for me with the narrower nuts. On the bass not so much. The higher up the neck I go the more likely the thumb is centered on the neck.
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Post by Pinetree on Feb 8, 2020 11:47:08 GMT -5
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DrKev
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Post by DrKev on Feb 9, 2020 3:53:39 GMT -5
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Post by ninworks on Feb 9, 2020 4:13:45 GMT -5
Mostly behind the neck but, not always. I have big hands but stumpy thumbs so doing thumb over the fingerboard stuff is out for me. I still use it for support when bending big notes.
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Post by walshb 🦒 on Feb 9, 2020 20:11:59 GMT -5
The link works fine as long as I log in. Great playing! I enjoyed that! And my thumb looks similar to yours when I play. Ok, maybe not quite as big, but.... I'll say it again, I've watched a lot of videos and the vast majority of them show a thumb on the side of the neck.
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Post by Pinetree on Feb 9, 2020 23:13:03 GMT -5
Thanks man 👍
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2020 11:29:27 GMT -5
The thumb in the center of the neck puts the hand in proper posture increasing speed and accuracy.
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Post by walshb 🦒 on Feb 10, 2020 12:30:52 GMT -5
This guy could have been sooo much better, had he learned the right place for his thumb. take a guess
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gdw3
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Post by gdw3 on Feb 13, 2020 17:51:32 GMT -5
This guy could have been sooo much better, had he learned the right place for his thumb. take a guessYeah, he's moving it all over though, depending on what he's playing. He keeps playing like that, he might make it someday!
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Post by Rick Knight on Feb 14, 2020 8:56:50 GMT -5
I think my thumb should be on the back of the neck, but often find that it isn't when I'm not paying attention.
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Post by chronicinsomnia on Feb 14, 2020 14:35:07 GMT -5
i keep mine on the back of the neck the majority of the time. However, if a chord voicing requires me to reach over I very naturally do that. For soloing I would say I nearly never reach over with the thumb.
When I was young I was always trying to cop EVH and his interval stretches so the thumb was firmly planted low to accommodate for my less than spidery reach. Took me years to unseat that thumb. Now it does what it does when it does it but like I said only for chord work.
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gbfun
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Post by gbfun on Feb 29, 2020 20:36:41 GMT -5
Uh oh. I just keep my thumb attached to my hand. It's an independent agent after that !
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Post by gbfun on Feb 29, 2020 21:04:12 GMT -5
Ok. The Van Halen vid was...indescribable ! I imagine a lot of his neighbors, and his parents, are really glad he got better and moved to a mansion somewhere ! If I did that sonic explosion at any time in my life, I might have been murdered in my sleep. Especially while I was still "learning" it. But not to worry, there's no chance of THAT. It was interesting to see his guitar though. Now it looks like a standard STRAT body with his famous single pickup. But the closest I'll ever get to playing like him is to take my shirt off. And THAT aint gonna happen either !
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Post by guildx700 on Feb 29, 2020 22:41:02 GMT -5
Where ever it wants to be, depends mainly on what the fingers of that hand are doing as the time.
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Post by daddy on Mar 4, 2020 11:21:13 GMT -5
I play a Jazz Bass; rests on the skunk strip on back of the neck (that's what it's there for ? ). I do have the bad habit of sliding my thumb rather than planting it.
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Post by LTB on Mar 5, 2020 6:54:06 GMT -5
On guitar ot is mostly wrap around the neck. On some stuff it is planted behind the neck especially with barre chords. On bass it is always planted on back of neck.
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Post by HenryJ on Mar 5, 2020 16:46:41 GMT -5
I am mostly a thumb wrapper since I am self-taught. It is the source of my powerful neck grip. Yeah, me too. I wish I had had lessons. When I am playing F chords or chords in that shape, my thumb is on the back of the neck. I have developed arthritis where my left thumb bone meets my wrist.
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Post by langford on Mar 29, 2020 9:13:43 GMT -5
I took classical guitar lessons for a while when I was a teenager. Proper technique says you keep your thumb in the middle of the neck, behind your middle finger. You also must have one foot on a small riser and the guitar cradled between your thighs, with the neck pointing up at the correct angle. This posture gives you maximum reach on the fretboard and keep all your joints properly aligned.
Obviously, this doesn't work if you are standing up. It's a good guideline, and it makes a difference, but it only works until it doesn't. (It's also worth remembering that classical guitars have wider fingerboards than most other guitars.) So, do what you need to do to get the sounds you want—while protecting yourself from strain-related injuries.
BTW, this reminds me of the debates over music stands on stage at rock shows. Imagine the threads if bands started setting up onstage like Andre Segovia.
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