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Post by peter77 on Mar 18, 2018 21:57:31 GMT
Hi all newbie here apologies if already asked , I'm a beginner at the guitar and have been taking lessons and i still have gaps between chord changes. Now one thing that makes me give up for a few hours is my left hand position I feel that my hand is not arched enough and there's no gap between the neck of guitar and my hand as if it's placed in it , also I have tried placing my thumb at the back of the neck but then my fingers and wrist hurt and my thumb always ends up siting on the top of the guitar neck. I have tried finger and wrist exercises but still feels uncomfortable when placing thumb on the back of the guitar, any suggestion folks Cheers all
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Post by stringdriventhing on Mar 18, 2018 22:24:51 GMT
I don't think there's any right or wrong really. Classical guitarists will always have their thumb on the back of the neck, but plenty of people play with their thumb over the top of the neck, indeed some blues styles pretty much require the use of the thumb for fretting notes on the low E string. I play with my thumb over the top a lot of the time unless I'm doing barre chords and a couple of open chord shapes.
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Post by vikingblues on Mar 18, 2018 23:05:37 GMT
A few thoughts on left hand position and comfort, but I'm no expert and it's more than likely the suggestions are either no use or things you know already! 1. I find the left hand falls into a better position and is more comfortable if the neck is sloping up towards the headstock at a decent angle. It makes it a more natural position for the thumb to be on the back of the neck rather than near the top of the neck by the 6th string. 2. I also find that if the body of the guitar is rather towards the right of my body, as when seated with the waist of the guitar on the right thigh, the left arm is not having to stretch left so much and again it reduces the strain on the hand when trying to place it in the best position. 3. It might be worth going down a gauge with the strings to reduce string tension and therefore reduce the muscle power needed in the hand and fingers to hold down notes. 4. It might be worth checking out whether the playing action of the guitar is good enough for you and if the strings are low enough to the fretboard. What is considered OK for string height partly depends on how heavily you play the guitar - if you thrash the strings the height needs to be more to avoid string buzzing, if you play gently you can get away with a lower string height. I play quite gently and I aim on an acoustic guitar for 1.6mm to 1.9mm height of string from the top of the 12th fret on the bass 6th string, and 1.5mm to 1.8mm on the treble 1st string. Reduce those figures by about 0.4mm for what I aim for on an electric. Note that the height I have the bottom string on an acoustic is rather less than the StewMac recommendation 2.3mm bass and 1.8mm treble. StewMac suggested Action settings5. If the chord changes are, as would be often the case for someone new to guitar, up near the nut on the first few frets, it is worth checking out whether the slots in the nut are cut low enough. If the slots are too high it makes the strings much harder to hold down and strains the guitar more. It can also cause intonation problems and makes getting chords sounding properly in tune more difficult than it should be. There's a lot of on-line resources and videos that go into nut slot heights, and string heights, and how to adjust them. Mark
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Post by martinrowe on Mar 19, 2018 9:14:18 GMT
I was at a Clive Carroll workshop recently and when answering this question he said this: 'With your fretting hand imagine you are picking up a pencil with the tips of your fingers and thumb. You'll find that the thumb 'naturally?' places itself opposite the second finger - everyone is different. This is the position for the thumb behind the neck.'
Just an addition to the above.
Martin
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Post by jonnymosco on Mar 19, 2018 10:45:58 GMT
I stumbled across this video which may be helpful.
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Post by walkingdecay on Mar 19, 2018 14:57:13 GMT
I took the attitude that if it worked and didn't strain anything in my hands then it was OK. I used my thumb to fret the sixth and fith strings sometimes - depended on what I was playing.
That said, I think it's a good idea keep practicing the thumb on the back of the neck thing, maybe just by working through a few barre chords a day, as musculature and flexibilty improve over time. I'll add that a lot of people seem to hold on to chords for dear life at first, applying far more pressure than is really necesary to keep the strings down. That's not only likely to bring on the pain more quickly but cause dischords through unwanted string mutes and bends.
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stringdriventhing
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Post by stringdriventhing on Mar 19, 2018 15:50:36 GMT
I'll add that a lot of people seem to hold on to chords for dear life at first, applying far more pressure than is really necesary to keep the strings down. Guilty as charged M'lud
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