Hugging The Fretboard For Leads?

[ryancrl]

Okay. Noob question.

So i've watched many videos on youtube of shredders like Kirk Hammett and Synyster Gates.

Whenever they shred, solo or do lead stuff, their thumb is always over the fretboard.

It looks as if their hugging the fretboard.

Now this gets me confused.

I thought that hugging the fretboard was a bad technique!

And what does the hugging do?

Do they use their thumb to mute the Low E? Do they use it to play the note? Or do they do it just because its easier to shred that way?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP5q4phG8cw

Check this video to see what i mean regarding the thumb!

Please help me out. Thanks!

 

[Hydrofly]

Their bad examples, if you want to see good technique, you should be watching the likes of John Petrucci, Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, Michael Romeo and Michael Angelo Batio. Synster Gates and Kirk Hammett aren't really shredders anyway.

 

[mus]

Great point bro!

I agree. I like watching vids of Paul Gilbert giving tips and advise on playing faster. He's a cool guy!.

 

[KeDraiv]

sometimes, for a change, i would rather watch videos of classical guitarist doing their stuff, not saying that those electric guitarist mentioned above are not great or what, but classical guitar techniques, especially those for the left hand are very valid when coming to playing electric guitar.

jus my opinion though.

and i did read somewhere before some pple use their thumb to press some fret of the last string to help sound out some complicated chords or smthg lyk tat.

 

[wjl123]

Hey i though hugging the fretboard gives u better grip and such? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES1RypBww_g Heres a vid of PG playing Technical Difficulties.

Noticed that he has his thumb over the fretboard when he plays the higher strings but brings it under the fretboard when he plays the lower strings.

 

[kerplunk182]

I think it's more for comfort cause i don't think he was picking the note when his thumb was there. Ang mohs have bigger hands too you know. Lol.

 

[jskadiang]

it is pretty common for some people to use their thumb to fret notes on the E string, but if it's for a lead on the upper strings then it's probably a comfort thing. also, off topic, batio kinda slapped technique in the face with his quad-guitar thing. >_<

 

[khaos11]

well, the thumb can sometimes be used to dampen or mute the low E string.... to be honest there is no ACTUAL right or wrong... true that certain techniques will actually cuz bad habits. but in my own personal opinion its gd to sometimes adapt a "bad habit" or 2 either to
1... make things easier...
2 comfort sake. i like wat jskadiang mentioned

so no worries... know ur basics first... then once u've mastered it... try messing around with the guitar.... oh come on guys... theres so many other sounds u can create from a guitar.... go watch some of steve vai's interviews...

well... cheers

 

[ryancrl]

Thanks for your opinions guys!

And Paul Gilbert uses his thumb in that youtube video too!

I think its mostly based on comfort.

 

[MaCcA]

i'm not sure if this is "correct" but personally i put my thumb over the fretboard when doing leads if there is going to be a significant number of bends coming up in the lead....if there're no bends i just place my thumb behind the neck

 

[lucadia]

erm.. If you're playing rock guitar.. it would be impractical to keep you thumb behind the neck. yes it would facilitate stretches, but keeping your thumb over the neck helps you do bends with huge and wide vibrato..

I LOVE VIBRATO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV4A_Un9GGk

Cause it makes my playing come ALIVE!!

 

[ShredCow]

Thumb over neck is primarily for doing bends. Think about it.

An additional plus, as some have mentioned, is that you can use the thumb to fret or mute the lower strings.

There is no right or wrong technique as long as you are comfortable, no pain and you achieve the sound/speed/technique/vibe you want.

Sometimes, looking at other's isn't necessarily a good thing. Keeps your mind thinking "hold on! the pros do it THAT way, I must be doing something wrong!" which is very odd thinking since we don't come from the same production factory. Steal ideas when the ideas outshine ours, else, nice suggestion but no thanks, I'll play what makes sense to me.

 

[KeDraiv]

to tell the truth, it's possible to do bends on the classical guitar without hugging the neck.
and to do bends on the classical guitar is much more difficult compared to doing it on electric guitar cause the tension is much higher.

but maybe the thumb can be kept behind the neck because of the difference between electric guitar neck and classical guitar neck lol.

 

[ShredCow]

Its not just the tension - the strings are different and they react different. Nylons are so much less responsive to bending than steel.

Nothing to do with the neck construction really. You can put your thumb over any neck - its just whether it is more comfortable or less comfortable.

Its would be detrimental to say - oh, thumb behind neck is for shredders and fast playing. That's like saying alternative picking is faster than economy picking. Or a strat is better than a les paul. There is nothing wrong with where your thumb lies as long as you can accomplish something. But its a fact that if you want to do lots of bends or wide, controlled vibrato - the thumb helps.

BUT. For legato technique and faster playing - yes, thumb behind neck tends to assist with the speed.

 

[bf0502tr]

i think sometimes i just get my thumb up cos i'm bending or i'm doing chord changes. that thumb helps in the stability but when it comes to speed (which really isnt much), unless i'm right at the last few frets, i have my thumb stuck behind the fretboard.

 

[dudelove]

well i learnt that thumb over fretboard is called the baseball grip or something. i thought it was more comfortable and ppl will tell u to use ur thumb to mute the strings if lets say u're playing a D chord.

thumb at the back of the neck is used when shredding comes into the picture. it allows ur fingers to stretch further.

but i still use the thumb over frets to mute the strings most of the time. especially when i play blues, the fretting hand is used to mute all the strings even if u're just playing one note, and u strum all six strings to get the certain effect of the muted strings sound.

but for shredding dont use that. not good for bends and when stretching is required. it may be comfortable especially when playing standing up but, follow what paul gilbert says.. he's a really good teacher.

 

[ShadowchildCOBHC]

i reallly think you should jsut do abit of trial and error cause everyones playing style is unique and that no 2 people are alike,but as long as your making progress and kkeeping with the flow then its all alright

 

[Jeff_SSG]

As far as i noe, synyster gates muted the string with his thumb so that he can create a natural harmonic and tune the sound of the harmonics by using his tremolo...
Also known as "Dive Bomb"..

well thats what, i think the reason he's doing dat...
especially in "beast and the harlot", aft intro b4 the verse..

but for me, i use my index finger... guess different ppl have different playing style...

 

[blackbird]

I find that hugging the fretboard is easier for me - it helps when I play barre chords because my fingers are too bony to get a good full bar so I have to use my thumb instead. I also use it to mute strings a lot.... it really helps, especially because I'm an ex-violin player and in violin your thumb is always on the side of the neck, so putting it at the back of the neck feels odd..