I really wish I would've watched this 2 years ago when I started playing guitar so I wouldn't have bad habits that I now have to fix. My advice to anyone reading is just this: Learn how to play right and form good habits so you dont have to come back down the road and do what I'm doing.

This is the most thorough and useful explanation of thumb placement I've ever seen. It is exactly what a novice needs to know. Thanks.

I can't belive this video helped me out so much. I've been playing since 2001, and the past years haven't at all. Now that I'm back I watched this, looked to restrength my basics, started playing around with my thumb position, and one simple change has ended the usual strains I get from certain scales. Thanks!!!

1:12 is the low position my last guitar teacher told me I should always have it. I didn't realize that it didn't really need to be that way, depending on hand size or fret board type. He always told me, thumb should align the index finger behind the fret rod of the fret position being used, yet most on youtube are saying thumb should be between the index and middle finger. It all just feels confusing and controversial now.

A great tutorial. Short, sweet, and to the point. A lot of instructors waste so much time talking about tangential information. This gentleman is right on point. Thumb placement has been a major problem for me as a beginner. I love the way he demonstrates using the pad of your thumb and how to avoid positions that will slow down your Mastery and ultimately damage your thumb. Great job.

The thumb position helps, but everyone who is starting out I want to add that keep the frist of your fretting hand straight (only acception are certain barre chords). Hang the guitar in an angle so that the neck points more upwards to keep your wrist straight and for easy access to the higher frets. If it's very hard and painful to play chords in the first few frets, check the distance between the first fret and the open strings with a business card. If it there is enough space to fall through, work on the nutslots or have someone do it for you. With a good string action, playing is bliss. All worth it and you can do a lot yourself, just find the videos online. Play, play, play!^^

Can't tell you how much this helped, thank you.

this is awesome bro...., even this is useful who are texting whole day, typing whole day,playing any musical instruments with hand...., this is a video which should not overlooked by anyone and also its worth liking and comenting...,thanks

Cool. I have average or slightly below average hands (a little over 7 inches from the bottom of my palm to the tip of my middle finger. I found that I am having difficulties when it came to chords that require stretching out to 4 frets (especially since I primarily play a nylon string guitar which has a wider fretboard than steel string and electric guitars). Lowering my thumb position for those chords really helped out quite a bit!

This isn't true. When you learn to use your fret hand you should always remember that your thumb is an anchor and it helps to hold everything together for chords or scales. Your thumb will change position naturally and erganomicly as you do different chords and scales. The thumb has no set position. But he is right about one thing, don't just grip it.

I see so many great players grab the neck like a bat, just like he says not too. SRV is a good example of a guy who grabs the neck with the thumb over and it always baffled me how he could reach so many different positions with his fingers without muting every string besides the ones he is fretting.

Short Version: As a base position to work around hold the guitar neck like a Big Mac putting your thumb joint in the middle of the neck while lining that up with your middle finger. Pretend you are eating a Big Mac right now and tap your middle finger to your thumb joint. That's it. You got it. It should be said that the baseball grip can come in handy when you are fretting with your thumb but this is pretty rare. Getting too far away from the proper grip can hurt you. Proper form is worth it.

What he is saying is good , I guess . But I just wanted to tell the people that are probably reading this comment that you can also grip differently . As A beginner its important to learn what he shows but when you are more experienced you should try different grips. If you do this grip all the time , at least for me, it gets very tiering after a longer song. So the closer your hand is to the guitar , the more you can rest your hand. Sometimes there are these situations where you can put your left hand closer to the guitar , and you should at least try if it feels better for you. If it doesnt , dont do it .You should give it some time tho, because it will not work on the first day. It helped me a lot for longer sessions. You can also search on youtube : Jimi Hendrix bar chord Just to give you an example that also one of the best guitarists in the world uses different grips. ( hendix bar chord is not for beginners tho xD )

These videos are fantastic! Thank you.

hands up all who love playing

Screw this...there is nothing wrong with using your thumb for fretting. Why not because somebody said so??? Look how many legends use this technique and yes it is a technique.

1:30 correction, sometimes you need to use your finger on E fret

this is killing my wrist somehow

Wow, he shows the proper postion to start with. It does not take him 15 minutes to get to the point.

I was worried that I'm doing it wrong, but I'm actually doing it exactly like you! Thanks

Thanks man! I haven't been holding the neck, however I was making the thumb mistake...

I don't understand why it's so bad to wrap your thumb around the neck. Jimi Hendrix did it, Stevie Ray Vaughan did it? They were both guitar masters. So I think finding what is most comfortable for you is probably the best.

Damn I remember this but forget this suddenly and now I came on your video and made me back to my old tune 😂 am fool

thanks a lot.. i have been playing grabbing the neck with my hand.. i am gonna change now

I play electric guitar mostly but I'm often told my thumb is too low which makes for poor grip. When I raise it even a little though, my fingers lock a shown above..

Thumb over the E is specifically done to allow for 4 more fingers to play the higher strings. 5 connection points vs 4. Typically you go there play a particular lick and then transition back to a normal position. I would say both are useful in their own way. As a beginner though? I would consider using your thumb to be advanced, so it would be something to toy with later on :) I don't know that I would say it's "Wrong" at all though.

Awesome video improved instantly🙏🏽

He says position the thumb in the middle of the neck and wants it to be vertical, but it you notice, the wider he goes for frets the mover horizontal his thumb is. You can physically only go so wide with how he is suggesting. You have to adjust. Best thing to remember is to stay lose and don't get a death grip on the neck. Especially if you are going for speed. Play with it some and find what works for your size and shape hand.

Quick Tip for Those Struggling : Pick a pen with your fretting hand and check where your thumb naturally falls, that's the correct thumb position behind the neck.

Do you any suggestion on placement of thumb that bends backward almost 90 degree? aka Hitchhiker's thumb. Should I let it do that or should I try to keep it straight? I'm playing for 1 year.

God bless you my bother

Thank you dear for this beautiful technique. I’m beginner no 1.

Why is the pressure building up on my wrists now??. Its weird, any tips??

Thanks...you're couching really helps me

how long does it fucking take to teach me where to put my thumb

Is normal that my thumb rolls a little to the sides or am i doing it wrong?

Thanks!

I keep it like you showed - hurts as hell after few minutes. It's because of the constant pressure on the thumb - I have to press the neck to keep pushing the strings...

I was already naturally placing my thumb in the positions which Peter advised, but all beginners should see this video, it's essential!

Thank you 💖.

THANK YOU PETER

thank you fantastic from beginner

i got the positioning of the fingers but my problem is that i use too much force on my thumb bc tapping alone on the fretboard doesnt produce clear sound so i have to exert force it hurts after a long time

Im confused by this I see many guitarists playing the f chord with their thumb ? And having the thumb can help mute strings too on chords ? does it not depend on what kind of song you are trying to play ?

ooo so thats how u stretch it out more! thanks

Great lesson...Thank you very much

Thank you

When I put my thumb on the side it creates slight wrist tension. I when I move my thumb higher than half way, it helps.

This helped me so much. Thank you!

I think thumb positions should vary and 1 rule (thumb low on neck) may not be for everyone.For classical yes but for jazz, blues etc. maybe not I play with thumb up, thumb down depending and use it to fret several chords. Too many virtusos (not me) play with their thumbs all over the place on the neck.

Thank you so freakin much

my hand, fingers, wrist just does not allow me to hold a guitar "properly" but I play power chords most the time and I put my thumb over to mute the low E, so who cares. it's not hurting me and it's more comfortable for me.

Thanks for this

I just thought of checking out videos that might help with my hitchhiker's thumb, my thumb is double-jointed. I have been playing guitar now for over 20 years and I am classicly trained. I used to be in a band when I was about 18 and when I played for over 40 minutes my left hand (I am right-handed) would swell up enormously and I was then unable to play until the inflammation went down. Now I am 37 and if I play for more than just 5 minutes my left hand swells up so much I have to stop playing. Any advice?

Thank you so much for this innovative and helpful video! This thumb placement trick has helped me SO much with the pentatonic scales. Before I watched this vid, I was like "how the heck do you make a clear sounding pentatonic scale?!" But thanks to your help, I found out I was not placing my thumb correctly, so after I followed your advice, Ta da!, I can finally and successfully play the pentatonic scales. If it weren't for you, learning the guitar would honestly be much more tedious.

I am absolute beginner (bought a Strat 3 days ago) and I've spent 1 weekend, going through a dozen of videos, trying to find the correct guitar neck position, and the correct left hand position. And I couldn't find any, really. I got the point that the thumb should be at the middle of back neck .... but I doubt it is the correct way, as it is shown at 04:00 . The left hand will sour after 1 minute. Nobody in this world can sustain this position for more than 5 minutes. So, it must be a different position.

Do what is comfortable and put in the hours. This stuff works if you want to strum a few chords while singing but this is not what you want if you are serious.

I have been playing guitar for 10+ years on and off and always looped my thumb around, today for the first time I thought hmm is that actually the right way and low and behold it aint

I’m told I have “hitchhiker’s thumbs. They curve back at the top, if I stretch them straight up, and tight.

I'm learning to play a Strandberg Boden Classic with a ERO Neck and angel Frets. Do have any lessons or know anyone who can teach how to play this type of guitar correctly? Reply ASP

What if I just leave my thumb near the ivory lining like a hook?

I dont think thumb placement matters too much its all based on the guitarists hand size i think its best to shift the thumb position accordingly depending on what your playing its best to keep it 3/4 up the neck but i have large hands so at certain chords and positions its hard for my thumb to not over the neck. Ive guitarists get away with it lol steve vai and jb brubaker from august burns red do it lol

3:11 Ooooh I can really stretch! Hehehe.

I have a I guess child’s guitar, so not a full sized one and these positions are impossible on the small neck of my guitar, any idea of what I should do? No tutorial I’ve found has been suitable for a small guitar

When I hold it like this my pinky can’t reach the low E. What do I do?

Thank U sir

How about the thumb position while practicing the spider excercise.... Plsss help...

Thanks for the video. Tommy Emmanuel, Chet Atkins and Meryl Travis bend their thumb over some times though. Any thoughts?

when you play like this it reduces the stress on your hands which means less pain and injury in the long run. Don't take this video as the most practical way of positioning your hand but as the most proper way..like lifting with your legs instead of your back and arms, less comfortable, but you will thank yourself for it later

wow this is awesome!!!!!!

Is there a way to develop a callus on my thumb so it will move smoothly up and down the neck? My thumb is sticky or drags with slightest of pressure.

I kinda grab the neck like the first wrong position he showed. I've been practising Tornado of Souls solo for like 5 hours daily for the last 6 days and I'm having a very annoying pain in my left hand index finger. Guess I will have to change my grip.

I know I'm coming to this video years late but if anyone has some advice I could use it. I have hitchikers thumb, meaning it bends backwards. When I rest my thumb in this position the pressure causes it to bend, and that pulls my wrist forward and causes a sore wrist. does anyone else have this issue or just me?

How do you position thumb on upper frets 18-24? It is tough and no place on guitar to place it?

Hendrix is Laughing in His Grave

I think pads of my fingers are too puffy and touching strings. Is this a thing?

Thanks

I developed the wrong habits because of John Mayer, Hendrix and srv lol. But I agree with you more as not everyone has long fingers

What I want to know how the tgumb should moveas you are playingacross the fretboard

thanks a lot

This really helped ed

No thumb over the top: Hendrix and frusciante..... Hold my beer

I've had lots of problems with my fingers and my thumb. My teacher says I cannot play guitar. Because my thumb will not touch the E string when I am playing in A minor chord. D chord or any other cord that I need to mute the E string. Can I play these cords without mutant E string thank you John

how does this translate into bends?

Well now I know, thanks for that I had no idea! :)

I thought that the bent thumb pressing the neck wasnt a good thing. Dunno confused

it gets stuck constantly?

Should chords be played by the same hand position? Cuz whenever i try to play D chord with this position, my fingers slip everytime and I'm unable to press strings tightly

But what if we have sausage fingers? Literally cannot get my index on the E without bending my thumb AND then it is still hard to move around.

Very Helpful :)

You said that the number mistake is putting your thumb over the neck, what did Jimi Hendrix do? If you have big hands (Like me and many others) you can do that as long as there's enough space to play. Completely wrong.

is my thump supposed to be holding the whole weight of the neck?

great video :)

Great bid

What about when playing open chords?, as it stands I'm 17 and have been playing for around 6 years, the guitar I have got is a Yamaha apx500ii (it is a full sized guitar but compared to others is quite small), when playing open chords my thumb naturally goes to the top of the neck to the point where most of the pressure is put below the knuckle of the thumb, is this a bad thing?, and at the same time I am having trouble with barre chords, not in the sense of creating the shape of the barre chord but in the sense that I get really bad thumb cramps (esspecially with barre chords 3rd fret and below), is this because I have become so used to takeing the pressure of open chords with the lower part of my thumb that trying to put the full pressure of a barre chord on the top of my thumb is just too much?, is my guitar too small for me and my hands? If someone could help me out by giving me some answers I would greatly appreciate it, I feel that this is really holding me back as a musician.

thank you :)

Ma guitar too small and its really hard to do fingerstyle tabs 😥

crying. this is so infuriating bc ion kno wtf i’m doing wrong, when I copied his thumb placement, nd tried to do the D chord, it ws js rlly hard to form it pls, cuz my fingers aren’t long nd big like his so i’m confused asl.

No ways bro, my hands will fall off if I play like you

3:17 why would ever need to stretch you hand like that though? could probably play whatever that is some where else