HI
I was watching a Bret garsed video this morning and he was talking about how to play slide guitar. In his explanation a key element jumped out which wasn't really just in context to slide and is something ive been trying to get into my playing for a couple of months. No intro guitar handbooks or teachers ever explain this but its the left hand thumb position.
Out of learning to play open chords most of us learn to play wrong for speed or best control of our left hand. We learn to rest our thumbs over the top of the fretboard. Dont get me wrong, this is a killer technique to have as its great for playing top and bottom strings ( hendrix and john mayer use this allot ) as well as bluesy vibrato ( BB KING ). But as with all techniques one must learn to do it all ways.
Now to the correct thumb positioning for total control. One must learn to hold the neck with your thumb resting at about the middle of the neck and your other 4 fingers being able to fret strings. With your hand at the back of the neck and not over the top it becomes easier in controlling the little bastard of guitar also known as your pinky. The other advantages includes better and cleaner legato, better sweep picking, clearer playing etc. Also remember, your thumb does not stick to the middle of the neck, it needs to learn to move up and down freely as you move from high to low strings etc. You can still do awesome vibrato using this technique, vai does lots of vibrato like this and bending is also possible as long as you dont use to heavy gauge strings.
As i said, im not an expert on this, but its something my previous guitar teachers moaned about and im trying change in my playing. It might not be easy for you to get this happening if you dont do it already, but just practice it, it comes natural very quickly.
I was watching a Bret garsed video this morning and he was talking about how to play slide guitar. In his explanation a key element jumped out which wasn't really just in context to slide and is something ive been trying to get into my playing for a couple of months. No intro guitar handbooks or teachers ever explain this but its the left hand thumb position.
Out of learning to play open chords most of us learn to play wrong for speed or best control of our left hand. We learn to rest our thumbs over the top of the fretboard. Dont get me wrong, this is a killer technique to have as its great for playing top and bottom strings ( hendrix and john mayer use this allot ) as well as bluesy vibrato ( BB KING ). But as with all techniques one must learn to do it all ways.
Now to the correct thumb positioning for total control. One must learn to hold the neck with your thumb resting at about the middle of the neck and your other 4 fingers being able to fret strings. With your hand at the back of the neck and not over the top it becomes easier in controlling the little bastard of guitar also known as your pinky. The other advantages includes better and cleaner legato, better sweep picking, clearer playing etc. Also remember, your thumb does not stick to the middle of the neck, it needs to learn to move up and down freely as you move from high to low strings etc. You can still do awesome vibrato using this technique, vai does lots of vibrato like this and bending is also possible as long as you dont use to heavy gauge strings.
As i said, im not an expert on this, but its something my previous guitar teachers moaned about and im trying change in my playing. It might not be easy for you to get this happening if you dont do it already, but just practice it, it comes natural very quickly.
