Question about thumb position

Does your way work? If so, continue. If not, don't. On my classical I have my thumb pretty straight at the back, on my western I have it wrapped over pretty much constantly. It depends on what you play, with what guitar you play and how your hands are formed.

yes, my way works, I play an electric. But, I do have small hands, so that's why I was wondering, but trying to shift back hurts the inside of my hand after awhile, so I will just stay where I'm at.

when making full barre chords the thumb should be on the back of the neck pointing towards the headstock. you have great pressure from there and good vcontrol on the frets.
sometimes it points slightly up, but definately at the headstock.
thumb over the top works for open and unbarred barre chords.

good habits.

In terms of efficiency, the best position for the thumb is perpendicular to the neck and one fret higher than the Position in which you are playing. This is especially useful when barring because it allows you to use torque instead of squeezing the bar down (which will quickly tire your hand). Here is a link describing barring in this manner: http://www.tampaguitarlessons.com/betterbarchords.htm

The thumb-over technique is not only inefficient, but may lead to repetitive motion injury over the long term. The reason for this is that your wrist must hyper-extend to allow the thumb to reach over the top of the neck. This strains the tendons which are passing through the carpal tunnel. Over time, this can lead to tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrom.

I am not saying you shouldn't use the thumb-over technique. We all participate in daily activities which involve risk and, in the scheme of things, thumb-over technique is relatively low on the list of things to worry about.

I should also mention that I am a classically trained guitarist and teacher. We measure our world in terms of efficiency (because we are lazy and don't like to work hard).

Hope that helps or at least brings a little perspective.

Good Luck!

hmmm. perpendicular. meaning across the neck not lying the long ways.

it may work for classical.

I find the best position for full barre chords to be:

make a fist with palm up.
stick your thumb out like you are hitchhiking.
now open your fist and put the guitar neck in.
your fingers are perpendicular to the fretboard
and the thumb is parallel, pointing towards the headstock.

this works really well.

Thumb position varies depending on your physiology, your guitar, the position of your guitar, and the position you're playing in on the neck.

What guitarteacher posted is true for classical players at about the 8th position and below. It's especially critical for classical guitars, because the neck is about 1/2" wider than on steel-string acoustics or electrics. That's a big difference - almost 30% - so the range of hand sizes for which it's the 'best' position includes darn near everybody.

That position also works best for the average acoustic guitarist playing with the neck up (which will improve your reach) playing at the 8th-10th position and below, depending on the guitar, and for most electric guitarists with a decent neck angle up to about the 15th position.

But like almost all 'rules' of music, you have to make some exceptions. Higher positions, on any instrument, require the thumb to point towards the peg head - if it doesn't, you can't go high enough on the neck. For extremely high positions on acoustic or classical guitars, the thumb sits under the neck - otherwise the heel gets in your way.

Certain techniques, like large bends, are aided by having the thumb reaching higher up, curving over the top of the neck. For some fingerpicking techniques, the thumb must reach over to fret 6th string (or even 5th string!) notes. Other techniques, like certain vibrato styles, can be aided by thumb support when you're using it on bass strings... but on the 1st string, a technique like B.B. King's 'hummingbird' vibrato actually works best when the thumb doesn't touch the neck at all!

Then there's the variation between guitarists. Hendrix had huge hands - he was my height, but gauging from photographs his fingers were a good couple inches longer than mine. If he'd kept his thumb in 'classical' position, it would have forced his fingers into a rather cramped arch, and probably would have limited his accuracy. If I tried to play like Hendrix with my average sized hands, it would severely limit my reach, and the angle of my fingers would be so shallow I'd have trouble playing some passages and chords cleanly.

The second most important thing to realize about thumb position is that it's going to vary from one player to the next - so you need to understand what the 'proper' thumb position is trying to teach. The MOST important thing to realize about thumb position is that it's just part of a physical chain - from shoulder to fretboard - and there are a lot of factors that affect it.

To give just one example, most beginners find thumb over much easier than 'proper' position. Why? It's because most beginners are angling the face of the guitar so they can see where their fingers go! So there's a 'root cause' to be solved in building technique... and if you solve that, the 'right' way will often make a lot more sense (for the majority of guitarists), be more comfortable, and less fatiguing.

when I first started out I did how guitarteacher said, straight up one fret higher. But now, its more parallel like dogbite mentioned, I find it more comfortable, its actually more of an in-between position. Let me mention that I don't wrap my thumb when making full barre chords, but when I make partial ones with some muted strings (ie-hendrix) then I will wrap the thumb.

I'll just stick with what's comfortable.

when I first started out I did how guitarteacher said, straight up one fret higher. But now, its more parallel like dogbite mentioned, I find it more comfortable, its actually more of an in-between position. Let me mention that I don't wrap my thumb when making full barre chords, but when I make partial ones with some muted strings (ie-hendrix) then I will wrap the thumb.

I'll just stick with what's comfortable.

right on :D

when I first started out I did how guitarteacher said, straight up one fret higher. But now, its more parallel like dogbite mentioned, I find it more comfortable, its actually more of an in-between position. Let me mention that I don't wrap my thumb when making full barre chords, but when I make partial ones with some muted strings (ie-hendrix) then I will wrap the thumb.

I'll just stick with what's comfortable.

right on :D

exactly, i think its the best way to go