proper thumb position

[Gerbilkit]

By the way your experience with making your first chords sounds like mine and everyone I have known when they first started. Don't worry it gets better and it doesn't take that long to start making those first simple chords sound nice and clean.

[daylate]

It got a lot better with tonight's practice. I am able to cleanly and consistently fret A, D, E, C, and G chords now and much faster than before. The advice from forum members has really helped and I needed a good practice session like that.

[PhillipT]

I'm switching my thumb position up right now. I had developed 'baseball bat' method, unconsciously, and no one really corrected me. Then a guy who has been playing a while pointed it out. At first, I was resentful ("Screw you, dude, I didn't ask you to comment on my technique!"), but then I did some experimenting with different thumb positions later. Darnit! The dude was right!

A lot cleaner attack with proper thumb position - fingers move more straight down on the strings - and I have small hands, so the muting of the B string on the G chord is solved with this - James Taylor and a bunch of other acoustic players just don't play the B, so I just stopped as well for many songs. They're right, it sounds better, and baseball bat method works fine for it. But when I want the B, or that cheerful little note on the B string as well... "proper" thumb position also resolves the tendency of the index finger to lean on the open C as well... so, it just looks to me to be able to make my open chord attacks more consistent.

I naturally put the thumb behind the neck for barr chords, of course, but the traditional thumb position also makes transitions to barr chords quicker and cleaner. So, all of this means I have to endure sucking a little more for some time while I re-train my thumb position. Darnit! Oh well, that's how progressing always works with me, I learn a trick, and then have to learn to re-play again... two steps forward, one step back!

[SFCRetired]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi daylate...

I just wanted to say Hello and Welcome to the Forum! Glad you joined...

The angle of the neck and elevation will be as important as the thumb position. In fact, they will help determine the thumb position.

When I catch student dropping the guitar in their lap and keeping/holding the neck lower than chest high, I'll take the time to show them that they are cranking their wrist on the fretting hand and trying to arch the fingers.

Unless you are over 6 foot tall, you really need to elevate the neck to be able to keep the fretting hand free to arch the fingers. The best place for the thumb is to lightly ride against the back of the neck, so it's available to wrap around and catch the 6th string, or drop in as a support for barre chords.

It's a process of accumulation of knowledge, and technique.

Hope this helps...

Good advice

[PhillipT]

Yeah, I agree. I notice that this problem kind of corrects itself when I hold the neck higher. But Chest High is a nice gauge. Thanks for bringing that one up in response to my observation.

[macmanmatty]

Originally Posted by j3ffr0

Keep the thumb vertical or perpendicular to the neck. Other than that anywhere is good, and it can (and should) vary depending on what you are playing. For example, my thumb is always high and hanging over the top of the neck on cowboy chords. For most bar chords it's in the middle of the back of the neck. When I need even more reach it drops down to the bottom of the neck.

I hold my thumb parallel to the neck and down the center of it for all open chords except D and a G chord involving index middle and ring fingers for a G chord with middle ring and pinky I hold my thumb parallel to the neck as well. No pain or muted strings here.

[PhillipT]

Holding the guitar body between the legs, over the left leg (instead of just over right leg) and neck at around chest height, as suggested just fixes the issue. I don't even think about thumb position and it's mostly right that way, and stretches are easy - fewer dead strings that aren't supposed to be dead without trying to 'fix' that problem. Just a lot of problems fixed without effort, which to me clarifies the 'why' regarding any technique question.

But I really had to work with that to get the neck in the right place - about chest high. I think that's a key a lot of teachers don't address. My classical guitar teacher taught me the 'between the legs' position with an elevated left leg, but that put my 1st position chords at about my ear level. VERY weird - I don't care if that's 'correct' it's not. The chest high advise challenged me to work to find that position that puts the neck right there in front of me while also getting the hand right on the neck.

I get why the more common approach over the right leg is common, though. It just puts those open chords right there in front of you, making it a tempting habit to develop.

I see a lot of guys who play great doing the thumb over the neck thing, though, some probably unconsciously, others to mute the fat E string.