Using The Left Hand: Navigating The Fretboard Vertically
Think to your beginning guitar lessons. I’m sure that you remember being told that your left hand thumb needed to be behind the neck of the guitar. This works great as a foundation, however just like many other things with technique, as you become more advanced versatility comes into play. There are three different ways that the left hand can navigate vertically on the fretboard.
- Keeping the thumb and left hand stationary, curling and extending the left hand fingers.
- Allowing the thumb and left hand to move vertically (up and down), while keeping the same amount of curvature in the fingers.
- Pushing and pulling the left wrist, thus causing excess bend in the wrist.
Personally, I use a combination of methods 1 and 2. I find that this is the most comfortable for my left hand (as it doesn’t involve positioning the wrist awkwardly). As I navigate up and down the strings, my whole hand will move up and down and as well. When I get toward either the top or bottom of the neck, I’ll curl my fingers a bit more (traveling to the treble strings) or extend my fingers (traveling to the basses) so that my hand isn’t at an extreme part of the neck (either at the bottom edge or having the inside of my palm touching the bottom of the guitar). I do occasionally use the 3rd method, but typically it is saved for awkwardly positioned chord voicings or playing past the 12th fret on the guitar.
[...] Cutroneo wrote a very brief, insightful post on the ways the left hand thumb can help navigate the fretboard. I use a lot of the second method: allowing the thumb to move [...]
[...] Cutroneo wrote a very brief, insightful post on the ways the left hand thumb can help navigate the fretboard. I use a lot of the second method: allowing the thumb to move [...]
[...] Cutroneo wrote a very brief, insightful post on the ways the left hand thumb can help navigate the fretboard. I use a lot of the second method: allowing the thumb to move [...]
Hi,
just came across your comment on using the left hand thumb on the fretboard. Do you have/know of any info on who is using this technique?, videos? I’m working on using all 5 fingers on the fretboard (cello style) and trying to find out who has done this before.
thanks,
Matt
I think you miss read the article. It doesn’t speak about using the left hand Thumb on the fretboard, but rather how the thumb works in navigating the fretboard vertically, behind the neck of the instrument.
[...] to the rule, so much so, that the rule itself becomes obsolete. As I explained in the previous Using The Left Hand article, the thumb moves vertically on the neck as the left hand crosses the different strings. [...]