position of picking hand

i just recently learned not to play with the thumb over the neck, or better said now my fingers of the left hand are now in the right position for fast licks, i think. so this wasn´t a hard thing to do, but now another thing considers me:
What position should my right hand have during playing fast, because i just realized that yngwie, vai, angelo, all have two or three fingers fixed under the high e string. But my fingers don´t touch anything at all. they´re just hanging beside my thumb and index, with which i hold my pick. So i want to ask you. Should i just leave this position of the right hand and keep on playing like that or does it bother in some degree and i should learn the other way??

I was wondering the same. I does it the same way as you, and I feel comftable with it, but if the other way IS BETTER, then I would reconsider the way I pick...

My pinky and ring are planted against the body of the guitar beside the high E and my middle mimicks my index finger when picking up/down style, forget what that's called.

Let me tell you something I have found out. No position is "right". it's whatever works for you. for someone else ur thing msy just not work, but for you nothing is better. My thumb it way around the neck and I can't play any way else. Alot of people have their thumb different ways. So just do what works best for you.

hey man, just to let you know I used to play with my thumb way around the neck too (like wrapped around the neck so that you could play the root of a bar chord with it, like hendrix). i thought there was no proper way of playing everything too. now i know it's not true with respect to form as i developed pretty serious tendonitis and carpel tunnel everywhere in my arms (on the day it started i had jammed in 3 different jam sessions each of at least 3 hours though so i was asking for it but huge hours with your hand totally tense like that everyday built it up) and I was out for over half a year and then had to start virtually all over again. really sucked. there is a proper way when it comes to stressing muscles and joints. some things aren't as serious as other though.

...there is a proper way when it comes to stressing muscles and joints...

That's so true! Not all players have the same "margin of stress/difficlty", and not ALL players care about how much of the neck they want to reach (or how far of a "fret-spread" is important to seriously advancing their technique).


If THIS is so:

...My thumb it way around the neck and I can't play any way else..."

-then you'll have virtuall NO reach on the lower strings, especially in the upper register. Unless, of course, your fingers are FIVE INCHES LONG, or you're a sasquatch... or somethin'...

Unusual circumstances...

...(like wrapped around the neck so that you could play the root of a bar chord with it, like hendrix)...

"daveadf" may know this; some of you may not; but some points about the late GREAT master Jimi Hendrix:
-He had __H__U__G__E__ hands!!!
-He had __L__O__N__G__ fingers!!!
-His particular unique style didn't carry the executable requirements of the common "neo-classical" style or (if you'll pardon the term) "shredder" of today.

It's sometimes hard to judge and/or examine when reading these 'posts' when you don't know the context a player is posting a question about, no??

I'm quite successful at creating great developmental steps for my students, but I RARELY EVER give advise to their SPECIFIC hand positioning (picking, tapping, or fretting) until I can SEE them playing. The general rules are something we ALL try to explore. Sharing various techniques w/each other does HELP; but attempting to bend your neck around a pole to kiss yourself on the nose will usually result in injury...

...unless your neck is as long as Jimi Hendrix's fingers.

I certainly admire how passionate all you cats seem to be about practicing though. It's very refreshing and inspirational to see so many guitarist actually CARING about the level of excellence & quality they strive for.
GOOD LUCK TO EVERY ONE OF YOU!


~JSV

thanks guys, you calmed me down, because learning the other way to play would have taken much efforts and nerves.

To thumb position: My teacher said, "you can´t really say that one technique is wrong, but i would recommend thumb over the neck while bending etc. and when playing fast licks, the other way, because then you don´t have to move your fingers so much and in a result you can get faster, like al di meola, sometimes it seemed to be as his finger wouldn´t move at all, but the opposite is true.."

I place pinky and ring finger on the guitar below the high e string to give me a anchor. It helps me remember where the strings are without looking.

Originally posted by JSV
[quote]...

I certainly admire how passionate all you cats seem to be about practicing though. It's very refreshing and inspirational to see so many guitarist actually CARING about the level of excellence & quality they strive for.
GOOD LUCK TO EVERY ONE OF YOU!


~JSV

Hehe you called us cats you damned beat nick(no offense I love Jack Kerouac and all of them).