Thank you! My thumb has been probably my biggest guitar playing problem for a very long time. The change in thumb position on the higher frets helped me the most, that instantly solves one problem. Still a bunch of things to solve but instant progress is always appreciated.
My first guitar teacher was teaching me that same way then I started playing with other guitar players and they said I was playing the wrong way well it looks like I need to get back to playing that way great video thanks
Thanks, that answers all the details. I'm almost good. The last thing I worked on was keeping the thumb centered on fret shifts. It had to do with pressing too much and not being able to release the thumb in time. So I practiced position shifts without even touching the neck with the thumb just to getting used to the lightness of finger pressure needed.
All of your Videos are full of Amazing Info. So thank you for putting in all the time and effort to make all of the great Lessons you give us all for Free. And Thank You for sharing your Amazing Knowledge. I hope you're doing well and staying safe. 🎸🎸🎸
Great video! Thank you. Another cool trick is to sand the neck so you thumb can glide easily. In many cases the coating on the neck prevents the player from getting faster. The thumb gets stuck while changing positions
That's a very good idea. I bought some fine-grain sand paper for that purpose, about 7 years ago ... just didn't have the guts to go through with it, until now. Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. It's time. Thank you. Have a blessed day.
@@WorldvsTruth not exactly a great idea. Maybe invest in a nice quality guitar that has a butter neck. Kiesel guitars are slightly lower in cost in comparison to other custom shops, but they still cost $2k-$3k. Their necks play like butter, but there are certainly cheaper alternatives. Find ways to lubricate your guitar without damaging it and making it disgusting.
I agree. I have only one conundrum with string muting during good thumb technique... When I started out with classical guitar, I was draconian about my thumb in the 'proper placement'. However, transitioning to electric guitar you absolutely cannot do that without excessive string ringing noise from the trebles. However, you do truly need to have this 'proper thumb placement' for the principles you mentioned. Nevertheless, I sometimes find myself in situations, however, where I run into that string ringing problem. Let me explain: when my thumb is over the neck and wrapped around, my LH fingers look like a walrus flipper that mutes the treble strings easily. When my thumb reverts back to the nylon string days, there is a risk that my LH fingers begin standing up instead of laying across the upper strings to mute them under distortion. There have even been times where I mute the treble strings with my RH fingers as if I'm planting them for hybrid picking. I wish I could demonstrate practical examples, but it comes and goes.
I have been playing 3 note per string scales for a while, and I started watching this video thinking I wouldn't learn anything. Then I looked at my thumb position, and I had it parallel to my index finger. After moving my thumb parallel to my middle finger I found it is easier to the stretching and my hand doesn't tired so much. However because I have been playing wrong for years, I have now to retrain myself to move my thumb. It is harder when I change position as well. Thanks
Just figured out why I can play well on the lower frets without having to place my thumb behind the middle finger. Hand size! Large hands don't need to have the thumb in that position. Actually it's painful for someone with large hands to do that. I can easily play fast above the 12th fret and have my thumb pointing about an inch above the fretboard. So in general this lesson only really applies to people who have small hands and find stretching difficult.
Thanks for the breakdown. So important but "hidden" this and transparency on string muting (proper muting, right and left hand ) tutorials are ultra rare . Everyone and their dogs talk about breaking through a rut or getting to higher ground above your Plato. This is money, money . With high regard , I tip my hat to you maestro
Love your vids. I've always read or heard not to bend your wrist so much like you show here. Ii understand it but when I try to play this way for too long my wrist hurts.
Hey great video man. I video I would like to see that I see nobody talks about, (or at least a good fix to the problem) is specifically pinky strength when playing scale, arpeggios or sweeps etc. I know you have videos on flying fingers and finger independence and I have watched them. But I'm talking about being able to move you pinky with absolute ease and basically being as strong as the others. I find that it's always my pinky that is just too sluggish and lets me down with that kind of stuff. It would be great to have some expert advice on the best ways to get that pinky moving fluidly and also the best technique to making it touch the string. (Mines usually goes flat if I try to play anything at a faster speed.) Thanks again. Also I actually find it easier to play with my thumb over the neck, but the key note here is only when using my pinky for intricate playing. Could that also be why those guys you mentioned do this, is it specifically when they play anything fast with there pinky? I'm just curious because it's easier to control my pinky when I do that but I am told that it's bad technique. Anyway sorry for my message spiel and thanks again Mike!
Great demonstration. Very helpful.Thank you for the clear explanation(s) and addressing the exceptional technique(s) of some of the well-known professionals. Although I've almost always played this way - because of my foundation with classical guitar - I too get stuck at times, and find my left thumb joint and or wrist in pain. Sometimes, it's simply a matter of adjusting the strap to make left hand (and thumb) placement more comfortable. Other times I've noticed the strain, it's a matter of muscle tension or stress - then I have to relax and breathe normally. 😊Have a blessed day.
I always got stuck to the fretboard and my thumb would really sweat. It made it difficult to move around the neck and I would get stuck all the time. But I found a fix for this, is to sort of twist your thumb slightly outwards. Straight away I could move a lot smoother, and my thumb didn't sweat.
Great informative content as always Mike, I'm a BIG BIG fan and I actually consider myself one of your students even though I'm only able to watch your free TH-cam videos cause I've been attentively watching everyone of them hundreds of times repeatedly for years trying to be as brutally honest as humanly possible with myself about my technique.. And after I figured that everything about my foundation needs to be fixed and finally began to understand how fixing should be done (all thanks to you), now my practice sessions aren't going in vain anymore and I started believing that my practice is actually getting me somewhere for sure at some point.. Just one thing, I'm used to anchor my pinky on the guitar (picking hand) I intellectually now know exactly how proper picking should be done but I wish you can make a video about how to switch from anchoring the fingers to lifting them and using them for muting please? I know I should practice for that isolating my picking hand but I'm still struggling to figure what should I do to force the new correct habit cause whenever I stop anchoring my fingers on the body of the guitar I suddenly have zero control on my picking it becomes a nightmare and my whole arm tenses up.. Again I hope you read that and take it into consideration, I'm already greatful for everything I've learned here so far anyway🙏 keep up the good work.
Im 6'4 and have really long fingers and thumb so no matter what i do my thumb is just about on top of the side of the neck. Its not curling over. Keeping it in the middle of the backside of the fretboard actually hinders my stretching ability.
Thanks for the useful tutorial , What about thumb movement during playing scale down and up fretboard vertically or it should be fix whatever low / high fretting string ?
But I dont play with my guitar position that high to my body. It's not happening. I play as if Im standing up..The guitar hangs at around my belt buckle...like Normal people. i use a HIGH CHAIR when I sit to practice. The neck of the guitar will SHIFT accordingly depending what I play and were I play on the fret baord. My thumb will also shift accordingly...sometimes it'll wrap over the top..if I want it to... The trick is ....My fretboard hand IS NOT HOLDING UP my guitar while Im playing it. The High chair basically makes the guitar HANGs on my strap. I also have flying V..acoustic or electic..While sitting the V goes between my legs. I just RIGHT LEG to tilt the guitar accordingly. It actaully in recommending classical guitar playing position...Im totally RELAX while I play. it is what it is. I have fingers and hand strength from decades of playing. I make chords without using my thumb..becuase Im using my right arm to also to press against the guitar to make the neck tilt forward my fretting hand. It's sublte
I have average size hands but small fingers. I think I play better than average but I think I would be much better with a shorter scale guitar. These 25 1/2 inch scale length axes just make it so I can't be my best even with the thinnest of necks.
I've struggled to do bending vibrato for a while now, so the thumb thing is interesting. Only problem is I play and 8 string, so it's not really possible to get the thumb around the neck. Any advice?
Would you recommend moving the thumb vertically when playing someting like a two octave scale i.e starting with the thumb slightly above the skunk line when playing the low bass strings and sliding vertically down a bit to below the skunk line to play the higher G B and E strings. Thanks.
Lots of people play fast and efficiently with their thumbs resting on the shoulder of the neck. Everyone is different and every style of music requires a different approach. A good old rock vibrato won't sound good if you hold the neck like a classical guitar player. And you can't play neo classical shred holding the neck like Hendrix. The key is to be able to do both when it's appropriate.
That's an electric guitar not a classical guitar, it pisses me off when someone holds electric guitar and steel string acoustic guitar like a classical guitar
Playing guitar for 20 years and just played barre chords for longer than 2 minutes without having to shake my hand out for the very first time.
THANK YOU! This changed my life! It just took a couple days of fixing this mistake to make me feel like playing has never been easier!
Thank you! My thumb has been probably my biggest guitar playing problem for a very long time. The change in thumb position on the higher frets helped me the most, that instantly solves one problem. Still a bunch of things to solve but instant progress is always appreciated.
My first guitar teacher was teaching me that same way then I started playing with other guitar players and they said I was playing the wrong way well it looks like I need to get back to playing that way great video thanks
Thumb behind middle finger was a nice aha moment. So easy to look down at
Thanks, that answers all the details. I'm almost good. The last thing I worked on was keeping the thumb centered on fret shifts. It had to do with pressing too much and not being able to release the thumb in time. So I practiced position shifts without even touching the neck with the thumb just to getting used to the lightness of finger pressure needed.
A video on right hand picking position for faster playing perhaps ?
Thank you so much. It's the most complete and concise explanation about thumb positioning.
This is great instruction. Thanks for your knowledge and time.
All of your Videos are full of Amazing Info. So thank you for putting in all the time and effort to make all of the great Lessons you give us all for Free. And Thank You for sharing your Amazing Knowledge. I hope you're doing well and staying safe. 🎸🎸🎸
Thumbs up video
Great video! Thank you. Another cool trick is to sand the neck so you thumb can glide easily. In many cases the coating on the neck prevents the player from getting faster. The thumb gets stuck while changing positions
That's a very good idea. I bought some fine-grain sand paper for that purpose, about 7 years ago ... just didn't have the guts to go through with it, until now. Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. It's time. Thank you. Have a blessed day.
@@WorldvsTruth not exactly a great idea.
Maybe invest in a nice quality guitar that has a butter neck.
Kiesel guitars are slightly lower in cost in comparison to other custom shops, but they still cost $2k-$3k. Their necks play like butter, but there are certainly cheaper alternatives.
Find ways to lubricate your guitar without damaging it and making it disgusting.
Such useful info. The part about thumb position after the 12th was new to me. Cheers.
I agree. I have only one conundrum with string muting during good thumb technique... When I started out with classical guitar, I was draconian about my thumb in the 'proper placement'. However, transitioning to electric guitar you absolutely cannot do that without excessive string ringing noise from the trebles. However, you do truly need to have this 'proper thumb placement' for the principles you mentioned. Nevertheless, I sometimes find myself in situations, however, where I run into that string ringing problem. Let me explain: when my thumb is over the neck and wrapped around, my LH fingers look like a walrus flipper that mutes the treble strings easily. When my thumb reverts back to the nylon string days, there is a risk that my LH fingers begin standing up instead of laying across the upper strings to mute them under distortion.
There have even been times where I mute the treble strings with my RH fingers as if I'm planting them for hybrid picking. I wish I could demonstrate practical examples, but it comes and goes.
I have been playing 3 note per string scales for a while, and I started watching this video thinking I wouldn't learn anything. Then I looked at my thumb position, and I had it parallel to my index finger. After moving my thumb parallel to my middle finger I found it is easier to the stretching and my hand doesn't tired so much. However because I have been playing wrong for years, I have now to retrain myself to move my thumb. It is harder when I change position as well. Thanks
Great video! People don't talk about thumb position much.
Thank you so much, been playing for many years & learned so much from this video!!
Just figured out why I can play well on the lower frets without having to place my thumb behind the middle finger.
Hand size!
Large hands don't need to have the thumb in that position. Actually it's painful for someone with large hands to do that.
I can easily play fast above the 12th fret and have my thumb pointing about an inch above the fretboard.
So in general this lesson only really applies to people who have small hands and find stretching difficult.
True!
thank you, man!!!!! I just learned something new...
Thanks for the breakdown. So important but "hidden" this and transparency on string muting (proper muting, right and left hand ) tutorials are ultra rare . Everyone and their dogs talk about breaking through a rut or getting to higher ground above your Plato. This is money, money . With high regard , I tip my hat to you maestro
Love your vids. I've always read or heard not to bend your wrist so much like you show here. Ii understand it but when I try to play this way for too long my wrist hurts.
I wish my teacher told me this 10years ago. I never had so much fun just playing barre chords before
Hey great video man. I video I would like to see that I see nobody talks about, (or at least a good fix to the problem) is specifically pinky strength when playing scale, arpeggios or sweeps etc. I know you have videos on flying fingers and finger independence and I have watched them. But I'm talking about being able to move you pinky with absolute ease and basically being as strong as the others. I find that it's always my pinky that is just too sluggish and lets me down with that kind of stuff. It would be great to have some expert advice on the best ways to get that pinky moving fluidly and also the best technique to making it touch the string. (Mines usually goes flat if I try to play anything at a faster speed.) Thanks again.
Also I actually find it easier to play with my thumb over the neck, but the key note here is only when using my pinky for intricate playing. Could that also be why those guys you mentioned do this, is it specifically when they play anything fast with there pinky? I'm just curious because it's easier to control my pinky when I do that but I am told that it's bad technique. Anyway sorry for my message spiel and thanks again Mike!
My thumb is definitely holding me back but it’s my wrist that hurts when I work on the thumb position you profess to be best.
Great demonstration. Very helpful.Thank you for the clear explanation(s) and addressing the exceptional technique(s) of some of the well-known professionals.
Although I've almost always played this way - because of my foundation with classical guitar - I too get stuck at times, and find my left thumb joint and or wrist in pain. Sometimes, it's simply a matter of adjusting the strap to make left hand (and thumb) placement more comfortable. Other times I've noticed the strain, it's a matter of muscle tension or stress - then I have to relax and breathe normally. 😊Have a blessed day.
great lesson thank you so much.
Thanks, nice video!
Another great video! Thanks a lot!
I always got stuck to the fretboard and my thumb would really sweat. It made it difficult to move around the neck and I would get stuck all the time.
But I found a fix for this, is to sort of twist your thumb slightly outwards. Straight away I could move a lot smoother, and my thumb didn't sweat.
Please make a video on problems that you can think of in playing the guitar.
Amazing video!
Thank you!!!!
love the video!
15 sec in. Thumbs up
Great informative content as always Mike, I'm a BIG BIG fan and I actually consider myself one of your students even though I'm only able to watch your free TH-cam videos cause I've been attentively watching everyone of them hundreds of times repeatedly for years trying to be as brutally honest as humanly possible with myself about my technique.. And after I figured that everything about my foundation needs to be fixed and finally began to understand how fixing should be done (all thanks to you), now my practice sessions aren't going in vain anymore and I started believing that my practice is actually getting me somewhere for sure at some point.. Just one thing, I'm used to anchor my pinky on the guitar (picking hand) I intellectually now know exactly how proper picking should be done but I wish you can make a video about how to switch from anchoring the fingers to lifting them and using them for muting please? I know I should practice for that isolating my picking hand but I'm still struggling to figure what should I do to force the new correct habit cause whenever I stop anchoring my fingers on the body of the guitar I suddenly have zero control on my picking it becomes a nightmare and my whole arm tenses up.. Again I hope you read that and take it into consideration, I'm already greatful for everything I've learned here so far anyway🙏 keep up the good work.
Im 6'4 and have really long fingers and thumb so no matter what i do my thumb is just about on top of the side of the neck. Its not curling over. Keeping it in the middle of the backside of the fretboard actually hinders my stretching ability.
Do you have any advice for those of us with hyper-extendable "double-jointed" thumbs?
I have large hands which meand my thumb has to bend to the left. If I try to play with the thumb directly behind the middle finger it's bent.
Thanks for the useful tutorial ,
What about thumb movement during playing scale down and up fretboard vertically or it should be fix whatever low / high fretting string ?
Inside vs outside picking and when to use each. Thanks
practiceguitarnow.com/inside-picking
But I dont play with my guitar position that high to my body. It's not happening.
I play as if Im standing up..The guitar hangs at around my belt buckle...like Normal people. i use a HIGH CHAIR when I sit to practice. The neck of the guitar will SHIFT
accordingly depending what I play and were I play on the fret baord. My thumb will
also shift accordingly...sometimes it'll wrap over the top..if I want it to...
The trick is ....My fretboard hand IS NOT HOLDING UP my guitar while Im playing it.
The High chair basically makes the guitar HANGs on my strap.
I also have flying V..acoustic or electic..While sitting the V goes between my legs.
I just RIGHT LEG to tilt the guitar accordingly. It actaully in recommending
classical guitar playing position...Im totally RELAX while I play.
it is what it is. I have fingers and hand strength from decades of playing.
I make chords without using my thumb..becuase Im using my right arm
to also to press against the guitar to make the neck tilt forward my fretting hand.
It's sublte
I have average size hands but small fingers. I think I play better than average but I think I would be much better with a shorter scale guitar. These 25 1/2 inch scale length axes just make it so I can't be my best even with the thinnest of necks.
My thumb is my enemy when i play barre chords and barre scales.
My thumb is used for power chords like dave mustaine
I am here because I'm struggling with shifting my fretting hand position on the fretboard.
Somehow I find not using the thumb at all is good when playing fast licks ... is this good thing or bad thing ?
I've struggled to do bending vibrato for a while now, so the thumb thing is interesting. Only problem is I play and 8 string, so it's not really possible to get the thumb around the neck. Any advice?
Is that guitar RGT-42
Play the guitar and enjoy it.
Would you recommend moving the thumb vertically when playing someting like a two octave scale i.e starting with the thumb slightly above the skunk line when playing the low bass strings and sliding vertically down a bit to below the skunk line to play the higher G B and E strings. Thanks.
No, keep it planted near the center of the neck generally.
@@HowToPracticeGuitar Ok,thanks for the response.
Lots of people play fast and efficiently with their thumbs resting on the shoulder of the neck. Everyone is different and every style of music requires a different approach. A good old rock vibrato won't sound good if you hold the neck like a classical guitar player. And you can't play neo classical shred holding the neck like Hendrix. The key is to be able to do both when it's appropriate.
You are not correct. Look at where Al Di Meola's thumb is: th-cam.com/video/cop8yymiytY/w-d-xo.html
That's an electric guitar not a classical guitar, it pisses me off when someone holds electric guitar and steel string acoustic guitar like a classical guitar