thumb placement/small hands.

new thread:

http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=6344

hey i don't have long fingers either or maybe i just have small hands. i think this is part of why i can't play guitar better than i should be playing. i notice that videos on GT show most instructurs playing while the whole neck is embraced between the thumb and the index finger. because of my small hands, it's hard for me to do this with alot of bar chords and rifs; it's almost impossibile when playing leads. therefore, usually my thumb is pressing on the back of the neck for support while my palm is only somewhat in contact with the neck.

the neck of my strat is 1.75 inches thick. from the base of my palm to the top of my middle finger is 6.75 inches long. my middle finger is 3 inches long; my index is 2.75 inches long.

should i get a narrower necked guitar? or should i just practice enough so i get the hang of playing while embracing the entire neck?

old thread:

where should my thumb be placed while i'm playing guitar? does thumb placement vary? usually my thumb is pressing behind the frets so that my palm doesn't completely touch the back of the frets. this is common for me especially when i do bar chords and riffs.

for example, when i play this song, my thumb placement looks nothing like in the video.

is this bad?

when you play do you make the same sounds as the videos? does it hurt? do you strain too much?

yes it's the same sound. i only strain or struggle rather when i try to play with the neck embraced between my thumb and index. there is no pain.

when i perform the F (bar chord) while embracing the neck, it's easier for me to not bar it at all and just ignore the 6th (heavy) string. while embracing the neck, when i attempt to bar it the sound is somewhat muted because i don't have enough push on the frets. however, i can bar it and play it fine as long as i have the thumb position pressing behind the fret while my palm is someone in contact with the neck.

for example, i can do this:



i think this may have to do with my small hands or maybe i need a narrower necked guitar. this may also explain why neck embracing doesn't work out for me.

embracing the neck is not necessary...u can still bar without embracing the neck... it might seem tough at first but keep practising it..ur index (barring finger) will eventually gain strength...supporting the neck with the thumb is always good imo....as far as having small hands is concerned, i wudn be too worried abt it..again, takes getting used to..altho its a plus to have a thinner neck but its not necessary..i have small neck guitars as well but whenever i play fatter necks i can still readjust and play as normal as i wud on a smaller neck guitar..'fret' not my friend! ull get used to it!

baw haw haw note the little 'fret' joke i made bawhawhawhaw...

finger strength is key..that takes practice... :)

i have small hands too

yeah, you don't need to hook your thumb over the neck, it's a personal preference thing. I only ever do it when I'm playing Hendrix and it works better for low string slides, and I have big shovel hands!!!

Originally Posted by: excexeit's hard for me to do this:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y188/excexe/guitartricks/DSC00707.jpg

You wouldn't want to play like that; that's just bad technique.

The way to finger most notes when you play is to have a kind of pinching action with your finger and thumb. You palm shouldn't touch the back of the neck. You don't want to be supporting the weight of the neck with your left hand, either. Most of the time your thumb should point roughly towards the ceiling. This is the correct technique for playing most chords as well.

There are exceptions, of course. You can really do it any way you choose, but these are the classically-taught, most efficient ways to play. However, if you are bending notes, you'll want your thumb hooked over the neck. Also, there are some chords formed by using the thumb to fret the low note(s). Sometimes it's more comfortable to have the thumb resting over the neck a bit when playing open chords. It's no big deal, you can do it either way.

By the way, I have small hands too. My longest finger is only just over 3 1/4 inches long. And I hate the trend of modern necks to be big. It used to be that if you had small hands then you played Fenders, because the necks were small, and if you had big hands you played a Les Paul or something, but now they're all much the same. Older Strats and nearly any Telecaster have fairly narrow necks and you will find it easier to play on a small neck.

And just to prove everyone does things differently, I always have my thumb in the middle of the neck even when bending strings.... not sure if it's 'correct', but I've been doing it for 20 years without a problem...

Whatever works (and doesn't hurt!)....

Yeah, you gotta just play however feels comfortable to you. If you feel comfortable with the first two methods, then by all means play that way.

I can relate. I have PlaySkool hands. Small with fat fingers. I swear they look like breakfast sausages some days. But seriously, you just have to find your way and which one is the most comfortable. I use both methods, bouncing back and forth to whichever works for that particular chord or technique and I am sure that most people would be horrifed by this admission!

In other words; whatever works. That's what you do. :)

got it.. thanks guys. i thought that maybe i should go buy another guitar with a narrower neck or something. i'll check out a guitar center sometime soon and play a narrower necked guitar to find out it i really do need it.

my fingers are short, but they are also quite thin. yah i have woman hands :o

with havin small ones if ur youngish and u practice strechin ur hands will be able to strech much futher than they orrigonally could

Dont expect to get it all at once practice and u will get there peserverance is key i didnt and wasnt able to do it. we all start of with what ud think would be small hands bt the more u practice stuff like spider exercises and strechting techniques to a regular tempo they begin to open up and chording and playing at speed becomes quite easy. it doest matter if u have small hands or not its the amount of effort you put in.

Normally you would want your fretting hand fingers to be as much as possible perpendicular to the strings when they are not fretting more than one string .... ouch that's sounds complicated......

lets say you barre a chord, your index finger will be fretting more than one string right? Ok, your other fingers needs to be as perpendicular as possible so that they do not mute or touch adjacent strings.

It doesn't really matter where your thumb is as long as the chord sounds clean and that you don't feel any pain while doing it. Place your thumb where it feels right and sounds clean. If you have small hands and try to get your thumb on top you'll end up muting adjacent strings and you'll start hearing buzzing sounds.

I don't believe in a right way to do things as long as it sounds good and feels good it should be right. Watch your favorite guitar players and you'll see that they all play differently.

As you progress in your playing you'll see that some hand positions gives you cleaner sounds. You'll eventually adapt your hand position to what you wanna play.

Always remember that your hand needs to adapt to new ways of doing things so give yourself time for your muscles to adapt. Remember how fast you were getting tired when you first picked up guitar, how much longer can you play now before getting tired.

Music schools are really good for giving you "normal standards" but in the end you have adapt some of those standards to yourself. They don't fit everybody. When I was a kid, the music teacher in my town refused to teach me guitar because he said my hands were too small. I wouldn't be able to play the repertoire they were teaching. That stopped me from playing for many years, then I said you know what? I'll build my own repertoire. From that day on I made my own music. Music I could play and felt confortable in. I wish I could see that teacher again .... :cool:

So yes, look at what the "standards" are, they have been around for a reason. They are proven to work for many people but if it doesn't feel right, adapt them to your body.