thumb problems

Noise,

As a beginner, it's easy to develop the habit of "grabbing" the neck of a guitar, instead of lightly holding and placing your fingers on the frets!  Jerome said it well, that it's a good practice to place your thumb "behind" the neck.  This practice will give your fingers and hand a better range of motion when you move to barre, or more difficult chords. 

Most new players tend to support the guitar with the left hand.  Thus, forcing you to "grab" instead of "lightly hold."  If you often sit down when you play, try using a strap (even while sitting.)  The strap will help you by supporting most of the guitar's weight (which is most at the neck) and stabilizing the instument on your lap. 

Personally, I like to stand when I play.  So, using a strap is a must!  Give it a try and let us know your feedback.

Thanks,

Kahuna

I was a "grabber" before I was a "light holder" and I still catch myself grabbing.

It's a hard habit to break.

<table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>noise wrote on Thu, 12 October 2006 17&#58;01</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
your right. its a nasty habit i didnt even realise i had until now. thanks for tips though. chords are sounding a lot clearer now and even started attempting barre chords which i was too scared to even look at before. they dont sound great yet and are making a mess out of my chubby fingers but i feel like im progressing once more. still long way to go yet. tell me its worth it!!!!
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It's totally worth it, or so I'm told.   <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_biggrin.gif" border=0 alt="Very Happy">  I'm not "there" either.  I think it's a lot like golf, in that you're never really "there,"  so you should at least enjoy the trip.

Having said that, *absolutely* learn to barre.  Just form a barre across the neck, and play each string until it resonates clearly.  Don't even try to play a chord just yet.   Do that a lot (every day), until you can do it and not feel like you're strangling the neck.  Then add some fingers.   Your hands will cramp a little (or a lot!), but as you practice, they will get stronger, and it will become second nature.

Barre chords open up the fretboard for you.  It's one of those techniques that will kick you up to the next plateau in your development.   At least it did for me.

Hello Baba30 - to start a new thread within the Forum, do this:

Go to Forum Home (click tab for Forum at Chordie's home page).

Look at the list of broad topic headings withing the Forum - pick the relevant topic.

Within each topic there are several sub-topics . . . check to see if there is already an open thread that might be your subject of interest.  If not, then towards the top of the forum screen is a button that says "New Topic" (or something like that).

Label your new topic with a brief name or description.  Write your message in the message window & post.

Not hard - just look all over each screen in the process - scroll up and down to see everything that is there.

Getting back to the original topic, I guess I'm going to upset a few folk by saying - why can't you do both? Obviously not at the same time.

I guess I've been a "grabber" for too long but it does me no harm. When barring my thumb is slap bang in the middle of the neck but for most open chords I'm afraid I'm a "grabber".

Grabber and proud!

im a grabber. i was taught to "grab the neck like an ax".  when playing barres i put my thumb on the back of the neck.

Not forgetting of course that it is sometime necessary to 'grag' for e.g. when holding the top string with your thumb ...

Kahuna, good advice re using a strap even when sitting down, helped a lot! Thanks.