Hanging thumb over the neck on some chords

Hi,

In Guitar Fundamentals 1, I notice that Lisa hangs her thumb (left hand) over the neck on lots of chords, muting the 6th string. I have this habit for the D chord and it seems like a good thing, but I'm not in the habit of doing this for other chords where one only wants to play the first four or five strings. Rather, my thumb is more behind the neck and I am pretty decent at just not striking any unwanted strings.

My question is, should I work to develop this habit of hanging over the thumb - which will definitely take some re-training - or not worry about it?

Hi pconover,

Form my experience, it's not a big deal if you hang your thumb over the fretboard when playing some chords. As long as you use your thumb correctly when you need to, you should be fine. For example, when I play an A major or a D major open chord, I tend to rest my thumb near or around the the sixth string. This is alright because it doesn't change the sound of the open chords I'm playing.

But!

If I'm playing a G major barre chord on the third fret, or say, a B minor chord, I'm definitely going to place my thumb behind the fretboard, on the neck to help stabilize my hand. I think with practice, you'll simply gain some muscle memory and your thumb will be in the correct position without even thinking. Granted, this does take a bit of time, practice and patience.

To answer your question: it's nothing to worry about.

Best,

Billy

Thanks! So, maybe I should ask the question a little differently: Would you say it is DESIRABLE to hang the thumb over in order to mute the sixth string when it is not part of the chord? Other than with the open D chord, this is NOT my habit but I could work to make it so.