Left hand wrist position?

[sevenup]

I know this has been rehashed to death, but I would still appreciate your thought on this. Please bear with me.

 

For the past few days I've been trying to hold the neck the correct way; with the 'thumb on the back of the neck'. This, however, forces my left wrist to curl significantly which is considered unhealthy, and may lead to problem. So inorder to (1) keep the thumb behind the neck (2) keep your fret hand wrist straight, I have to tilt the guitar neck up 45 degrees, close to the classical position.

 

So is the 'folk position'(guitar neck parallel to the ground) and 'neck gripping' wrong? Well, this got me thinking. If you use the folk position, and grip the neck(gently wrap the neck with the palm of your hand maybe with a little space in between), you have 2 advantages: (1) you keep your left hand wrist straight (2) gripping pushes most of your finger forward, means your finger have better reach straight down towards the frets.

 

So is the 'thumb behind the neck' really the correct position? or is it just because the classical position tilts the guitar 45 degrees up thus making it easier to thumb the neck instead of gripping it? (since its already so high).

 

I would appreciate your thought on this. And if possible, please explain the benefit of the 'thumb behind the neck' rule.

[Picker]

Personally, I never paid much attention to the rules.... I'd have to check, but I think I spend most of my time w/ the thumb behind the neck position, but I will shift as needed.

Early on, I wasn't taking lessons more than what a few friends tought me, so it was pretty much trial and error.... how to get the best sound w/o buzzing, fingers hitting other strings or not pressing down hard enough etc.

I dunno... maybe my hybrid style isn't the "proper" way to do it, but it seems to work. Acutually, I don't think my style is much different from that of anyone else. Just w/ some barre chords etc I have to adjust in order to get bettter sound.

So, I guess the moral of the story is this.... "whatever works for ya dude"

just keep on pickin' learnin' and grinnin'

[EvilTwin]

There is only a "right" way to hold the guitar neck if you're being a classically-trained concert guitar player.

Heck, I remember seeing photos of Les Paul with his guitar strapped on fairly low, a stark contrast to the jazzers who wear their guitars as a necktie. VERY different wrist position.

"Thumbs behind" isn't ALWAYS going to be comfortable to you. Most players who aren't complete classical or jazz snobs play "thumbs over" for most any single-string soloing.

Another advantage of playing with your guitar lower and the neck at a more even-keeled level is that you can use your thumb to fret notes. This used to even be common for some jazzers. Do it in front of a classical snob and they may faint, though.

You really have to find what is comfortable and what works for you. As long as you aren't hurting yourself you're doing it right, imo.

[sevenup]

hmm...I'm still torned between what grip I should learn, since I don't want to have to start over when I start my lessons because of the grip.

Question to those whos currently or use to use baseball grip and now is taking lessons: Did your teacher make you switch to the classical grip and/or classical position? Also, is anyone taking lessons from a teacher who's fine with using the baseball grip? (I guess teachers who are less classical trained, and more toward folk or jazz music).

[woody b]

I'm sure that everyones bones and joints are different but I experience less fatigue with a "classical position". I would say play in the position you are most comfortable in but an instructor might disagree. I took classical lessons for a while when I was a kid so maybe thats why I still play in that position. Two good guitarist who hold their instruments in very different positions are Steve Vai and Billy Gibbons and I wouldn't tell either one of them they don't hold their guitars right. Maybe if you know who your instructor will be you could ask him.

[TheBayesMaster]

I've only been playing for about 2 years or so and have only recently been looking at the way I use my left hand to grip the neck.
For a while I tended to not bother with the way in which I held my left hand, but after a while I noticed that it took slightly more effort (and time) to change from open chords to the barre chords.
Now I've properly adopted the classical position of thumb behind the neck in everything I play (metal/rock solos, classical pieces anyhing really!) and only after a month or two everything seems to be a lot easier to get to and generally easier to play.

I'd say get with the classical bunch and get the thumb behind the neck cos after a while it feels just as comfortable as having your thumb around the neck and everythings a whole lot easier to play!