Now that's using your Thumb!!

I use my thumb on certain chords, for example playing the 2nd fret of the bottom E to give an F# bass note on a D chord, or playing barre chords up to about the 5th fret...

My reason is pretty simple...I have large, long hands, and by doing it this way I find it's less strain on my wrist, as I don't have to arch it so much...

Vic

When I started out an acquaintance who was an excellent player and guitar teacher (not mine) suggested that it'd be best to limit the use of the thumb. I'd seen him play a number of times and he rarely used his. So, I heeded his advice. Then when reading some guitar book it suggested there were benefits to using the thumb so I gave it a try. I tried playing this way for awhile despite the fact that it slowed down some of my chord changes and made for some very sloppy chords. I tossed that up to learning curve. Finally, I've decided that it's not for me. My fingers are not long which is probably the main factor. Unless it makes sense in a situation, I won't be using it much.

I use my thumb on a full F chord and E-shape barre chords to the 5th fret. I started doing this because my first guitar was a really old, worn acoustic and getting the second string to sound on a full barred F chord just wasnt' happening. Also, changing from open chords to a full F became a lot easier (eg C to F). Finally, it allows me to have a low A note (5th string open) in the F chord (103211), as this sometimes fits better in my bass lines as a fingerpicker. Plus it frees up one more finger for other strings/frets.

You have to have some real bananna hands (Hendrix) to get much use out of it. I've tried it but it really bogged stuff down so I don't bother.

One song in particular springs to mind that I don't think I'd be able to play without using my thumb....Neil Young's "The Needle And The Damage Done"....that descending bass-line would be next to impossible for me...

Vic

I basically never used my thumb until about 5 months ago: I got a Red Hot Chili Peppers songbook, determined to learn some of their songs the way they're actually played, as they are very often mis-tabbed on the net.

I made the revelation that John Frusciante (sp?) must have the most thumb dexterity of any human being alive. He picks unusual voicings constantly, and many of them are just plain impossible without the thumb. It's frequently a matter of: "well, I just don't have enough fingers without it!"

Hence, his style of playing, the way he wants chords to sound, often cannot be created without use of the thumb. If yours doesn't require that, then don't bother with it. If you want to frequently generate sounds that do require it, then practice it. Simple.

The clumsiness with it will go away in time, if it's something you use regularly, so just decide: is it a skill you need or not?

8)

I don't "use" my thumb yet because I'm still practicing to get it "over board"
I think it would help me alot for muting and bass lines.

Same here really... only been playing a few months and just use my thumb to mute certain strings on a small number of chords - picked the technique up from my first ever online lesson given by an Australian singer/songwriter called Matt Scullion.

Funny thing is, i'd only had my Guitar for a week and was just beginning to learn basic chords - it was that lesson though, where I learnt to play 'Stand by Me', that really got me going you know, when things first start to click and your Guitar starts to make some sounds that are familiar.

For me the thumb muting technique helped greatly in the beginning of my love affair with my acoustic!!!