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#292560 - 05/02/12 02:27 PM
introducing myself
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spiderwebs
Be Nice (I'm New!)
Registered: 03/02/12
Posts: 7
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I'm halfway through my first full day as a guitar player, thanks to a couple of suggestions on the acoustic board I shelled out some cash and bought a guitar yesterday.
Being a fairly decent piano player I'm starting the self taught / internet route. I signed up to JamPlay and have looked at a few videos and am just concentrating on fretting a few basic chords correctly.
I'm having a couple of technical difficulties with the JamPlay videos and they don't seem entirely consistent about where to put the LH thumb.. it seems opinions vary, I'm trying the classical approach myself.
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#292562 - 05/02/12 04:24 PM
Re: introducing myself
[Re: spiderwebs]
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Ape09090
Old Timer
Registered: 01/12/11
Posts: 1197
Loc: South Wales
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Just let it go wherever it feels most comfortable is my suggestion
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#292566 - 05/02/12 04:50 PM
Re: introducing myself
[Re: Ape09090]
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Megi
Old Timer
Registered: 08/07/11
Posts: 1281
Loc: Lincolnshire
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Thumb placement is really a "horses for courses" thing - classical guitar playing with the wider neck, and the need for regular large ish stretches by the left hand fingers absolutely benefits from placing the thumb centrally on the back of the neck. But there are other styles where something different works better - blues playing for example, with all the string bends and sideways vibrato is helped by the leverage having the thumb resting on the top of the neck gives. Sometimes it's useful, or even the only way, to play some chords with 6th and even 5th string notes actually fretted with the thumb - I can think of a few jazz chords for example. Try watching Barney Kessel on Youtube - he uses his thumb to fret notes a lot. So does Eric Johnson in a rock guitar vein.
So probably when you have got more into guitar playing, you will find yourself varying where the thumb goes, even within the same piece - depending on requirements. My personal view would be that in the early stages, it is good to go for the classical style thumb placement (it seems to be a harder technique for some people to do, so good to tackle it early), and then I'm sure you'll pick up the other techniques as time goes by.
_________________________
Graham, jazz guitar nut!
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#292568 - 05/02/12 05:05 PM
Re: introducing myself
[Re: Megi]
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Megi
Old Timer
Registered: 08/07/11
Posts: 1281
Loc: Lincolnshire
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Watch the BK thumb in action here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX0xUb1Ml6U
_________________________
Graham, jazz guitar nut!
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#292576 - 05/02/12 08:34 PM
Re: introducing myself
[Re: Megi]
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Ape09090
Old Timer
Registered: 01/12/11
Posts: 1197
Loc: South Wales
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I'm trying to learn piano
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSxDjW9bLCQ&list=PL7A4078E20F53B654&index=6&feature=plpp_video
been looking at that and I have the first minute or so including the 2 hands working simultaneously on different parts or almost lol
how would you recommend an old guitarist to go about improving his piano capabilities,don't be shy I'm open to any wierd and wonderful suggestions
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#292584 - 06/02/12 08:32 AM
Re: introducing myself
[Re: Ape09090]
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spiderwebs
Be Nice (I'm New!)
Registered: 03/02/12
Posts: 7
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Thanks for the thumb suggestions. I find classical position makes it slightly easier to play chords without dead strings - but it still takes a lot of fiddling about. I am sure it will come.. how the hell are you supposed to fit three fingers together to play A major anyway???
Ape: on that piano piece, master the left hand. It's a bugger to play those left hand chords quietly without splitting up the notes. I'd try deliberately splitting the chords so you play one note slightly before the others and then correcting it and feeling the difference. I'd also play it dead slow but jump from the bottom note to the chord (without playing it but with all the fingers in the right place). If you can't do that accurately you can start by jumping up to one note of the chord and then place the others... vary which note you jump to.. then try jumping to two notes, then 3.
I hope that helps
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#292585 - 06/02/12 09:17 AM
Re: introducing myself
[Re: spiderwebs]
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pablo2011
Be Nice (I'm New!)
Registered: 01/03/11
Posts: 9
Loc: york
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for the three fingers on open A chord try putting the 1st finger on the Gstring then 2nd and 3rd fingers on the D and B strings fret 3 so make a triangle rather than a diagonal line - you may then find it easier when you move first finger down to make E chord or leave it there to make D chord All down to whats comfortable really ... It gets easier every day
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#292597 - 06/02/12 01:26 PM
Re: introducing myself
[Re: Megi]
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Ape09090
Old Timer
Registered: 01/12/11
Posts: 1197
Loc: South Wales
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Cheers spidey,that's exactly what's happening with the fingering for the piano piece. The fingers do tend to go anywhere and everywhere and in all different timings etc. It can sound good enough if not perfect compared to recordings I've heard of the piece but that's how I've always played the guitar as well.......why would you want to sound exactly the same as someone else when your fingers give you a chance to sound a bit different all by themselves eh
you can try playing the A chord at the nut just using your first finger and barring the D,G and B strings at the second fret,you may lose hearing the top E ringing but that doesn't have to be a big deal and eventually you'll be able to make that top E ring using that technique as well...may be a few years before your index gets bendy enough for that though.
Keeping that A shape and moving to a barre chord,i.e. using the index finger to barre all the strings at,say,the third fret and then using your third finger to make the A shape at the fifth fret will give you a C chord in an inversion of some form or another. Slide that up 2 more frets for a D chord etc
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