Originally Posted by: SusanMW

First, I found a whole section of beginner lessons by Christopher that I didn't know about and I'm not even sure how I got there! But the lessons are great! I am definitely backtracking and getting the basics down.

I have been working on the chord group A, D, E. I notice the shape of the A is causing me to have a death grip on the neck and I can't seem to keep my thumb in a comfortable position. I try it with the thumb just on the back/side like Christopher has his but I end up muting the high E string. I usually have my thumb just behind the neck but it just doesn't seem to work well with this A chord.

Any tips for the A chord and how to relax? As with everything, it's probably just a matter of more practice on finding that sweet spot for he correct pressure. Thanks in advance.

In a way; death grips are somewhat psychological. In my years of playing and the new players I've come across, the commonality is that most all seem to feel that in order to fret anything, such as a chord, it requires a bunch of pressure to hold the chord clean.

It really doesn't.

Your thumb isn't a means to grip the neck. The purpose of your thumb is to be a fulcrum. A point from which your hand pivots. I rememer being a store many years ago and a kid was gripping the neck like he was dangling from a pipe a hundred feet in the air.

You may not be doing this but it is the first thing you should consider; are you just gripping the back of the neck in a way that you might be gripping a baseball bat? I've suggested to others in the past to slowly lower there finger down to any given string until it first flats out and still slowly apply pressure until the note rings out clearly. What you'll notice is how little pressure it takes for the note to ring true.

Keeping that in mind, when you fret that A, are you using your thumb in 'pivot' mode or in 'grip and squeeze' mode. Your thumb is a mobile pivot as you navigate around the neck and a tight grip is the opposite of what you need.

Granted, I am making an assumption but as brass tacks, that psychological thing our brain tells us about how to grip something doesn't apply here.

So, some thoughts from stuff I've observed over the years.