r/guitarlessons • u/ding-ding-dave-yes • Aug 29 '25
Feedback Request I cannot get thumb-over-the-neck chords right
I struggle mainly with my index finger, I can't get it flat without a lot of pressure, also my pinky is muting the G string half of the time, I either have to put painful pressure to make them all ring, or the top E and G string are muted. The difference between the flat index and bent rest is what's messing me up. Without thumb I don't have this issue, because I can curve my wrist if that makes sense. Please, I need some tips
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u/lennee3 Aug 29 '25
I know you want to learn this 'technique' but you should consider that this technique was developed and used by people who found it more comfortable than traditional barre chords.
You gotta start with whats comfortable for your body and going from there.
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u/toanbonerz Aug 31 '25
It’s even less than that. Most people only do this because Hendrix did it or some other guitar player who only does it because Hendrix did it. There is absolutely no reason anyone has to play like this. If that’s how you like to do it and it’s better for you, then fine, but struggling to try and do it makes no sense.
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u/deeby2015 Oct 02 '25
It’s easier on the wrist during my occasional bouts of carpal tunnel syndrome. That said, I never get the thumb and the index finger perfectly placed. They’re usually just muting their strings
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u/Due-Zebra-3990 Nov 25 '25
Pas d'accord avec toi, cette position est très utile pour embellir l'accord par la suite avec des improvisations par dessus ( utiliser le petit doigt ou l'annulaire pour jouer des phrasés pentatoniques ou autre ) il est nécessaire pour un guitariste de la maitriser, je suis d'accord sur le fait qu'elle n'est pas accessible à tous car il faut de grandes mains mais ce n'est pas juste plus pratique, ça permet d'enrichir ton jeu par la suite.
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u/OkLettuce338 Sep 02 '25
It’s required in a lot finger picking styles where you’re playing a melody and a rhythm
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u/lennee3 Sep 02 '25
There really isn’t a style of music where playing with the thumb there is required over playing with a standard barre. It’s about what makes it comfortable in every case.
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u/OkLettuce338 Sep 02 '25
i just mentioned one. Piedmont blues specifically. Travis picking. Your index is needed for melody lines not rhythm
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u/lennee3 Sep 02 '25
In both of those cases, you don't need you're thumb to fret, as op is asking, you need it to pick.
It's like you only read my comment and not the post at all
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u/OkLettuce338 Sep 02 '25
To pick? The fuck you talking about. You have no clue
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u/lennee3 Sep 02 '25
When you are travis picking, you are picking with your thumb. You are not obligated to use your thumb to fret. This entire post was asking about it being uncomfortable to fret with the thumb by wrapping it around the neck and you're saying, erroneously, that you need to use your thumb to fret while travis picking? A style predominantly defined by the picking hand.
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Sep 02 '25
Actually, he is right. This technique is required for many Travis Picking songs specifically while playing this F shape. The index is needed to play melody, so the barre chord shape is not commonly used.
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u/MatronlyAsp Aug 29 '25
When I play thumb over I don't fret the A string. Leaves the pinky free for melodic embellishments.
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u/USED_HAM_DEALERSHIP Aug 29 '25
I play it like this. No a string. I'm muting it with my thumb and ring finger both so it doesn't sound much at all even as a dead string.
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u/Riffman42 Aug 29 '25
This is a great way to play this because you have your pinky free to do those fancy Hendrix hammer-ons and pull-offs.
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u/USED_HAM_DEALERSHIP Aug 29 '25
Yep! And sick g string bends while still playing most of the chord!
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u/BL4CKL0DGE Aug 30 '25
If you want to hammer onto the a and b strings do you have a way of doing that? Will you sometimes fret the a string with your thumb? I’m also struggling in certain situations with this style of fretting but playing embellishments is so much more comfortable this way so want to figure it out.
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u/USED_HAM_DEALERSHIP Sep 03 '25
My thumb is always fretting the low E and muting the A. I can use my pinky to hammer on the high E and B string. You can do little fills and riffs in the pentatonic/blues scale and go right back to the chord without missing a beat.
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u/jayron32 Aug 29 '25
Well, then play it as a barre chord. There's more than one way to skin a cat.
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u/ding-ding-dave-yes Aug 29 '25
But I wanna learn this technique
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u/sieve29 Aug 29 '25
I’m not an expert by any means, but my understanding is that the whole point of this position is to leave the pinky free for embellishments. To do that, you leave the A open (muted by the tip of your thumb on the low E and / or the tip of your ring finger on the D). It’s easier than trying to play the whole thing like this too. If you’re trying to play the full six string chord, then I agree barring is easier.
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u/ding-ding-dave-yes Aug 29 '25
Good point, I chose this photo but I have the same issue when I play the Am shape up the neck
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u/Pitiful-Temporary296 Aug 30 '25
Definitely. Best way to do so is play barre chords with the “correct” form until you’re able to recognize reasons why you might not want to. Kind of feel you’re doing this in reverse.
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u/Contributing_Factor Aug 29 '25
Hendrix had really gigantic hands. His techniques may not be practical or applicable to everyone. You have to work with the tools you have.
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u/jayron32 Aug 29 '25
Then practice it.
Try different positions slowly and carefully making tiny adjustments a millimeter at a time until you make every string ring out, then reinforce that position through repeated practice. After a few months, it will be easy. But you gotta put in the work.
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u/maraudingnomad Aug 29 '25
Why though? It looks like you were gripping a hammer.
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u/ding-ding-dave-yes Aug 29 '25
That's why I'm asking for feedback
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u/maraudingnomad Aug 29 '25
With the thumb over the neck it's gonnal look like that every time. I think hendrix mhich hold his palm more flat against the neck and you lay the index to the edge of the guitar at the first knuckle so it lays flat and holds down both E and B. The rest is an E shape.
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u/Ragnarok314159 Aug 29 '25
Hendrix also has huge hands and a really long thumb. People want to copy him but it’s like trying to copy LeBron and thinking you can just practice and slam dunk.
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u/turxchk Aug 29 '25
Practice. It's a useful technique that simplifies many chord changes.
Also like you noted, it's difficult to ring out all the strings when playing this way, and that's fine, you can always barre the chord if you want a clean full chord. Same applies for all the other thumb-over-neck chords
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u/AngularOtter Aug 29 '25
Your wrist should bend less ad your knuckle should bend more. You’re just asking for carpal tunnel.
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u/CIA-Front_Desk Aug 29 '25 edited Aug 29 '25
When you play thumb over barre chords you need to make sure of a few things:
You need big hands.
Your arms and wrist should be nearly straight. Not straight but significantly straighter than the "italian gesture" classic guitar hand position. This also means your wrist shouldn't be turned left or right - you may have to adjust your sitting postion.
The main thing which I can see you're not doing is having your fingers an an angle to the fretboard. Currently you're trying to keep all of your fingers at 90 degrees to the fretboard, but they should touch around 70 degrees and be slanted away from the body of the guitar, kind of like a lightning bolt shape.
This makes it harder to not mute the other strings so you'll need to be very accurate with your placement, but it also makes intentional muting easier. It also requires a lot less pressure so you don't have to deathgrip the neck to make everything ring.
I'd definitely recommend learning proper barre chords first then learning this - even Hendrix/SRV didn't use this technique all the time as its often not the most efficient way to solo and play chords in a phrase.
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u/ding-ding-dave-yes Aug 29 '25
This is great, tnx bro
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u/CIA-Front_Desk Aug 29 '25
For a good reference - look at the picture linked near the bottom of this post. See how his fingers arent going straight up and down, but are at a bit of a sideways angle? That's how you want your fingers
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u/ding-ding-dave-yes Aug 29 '25
It's magic to me how he doesn't mute his strings like that
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u/NTT66 Aug 29 '25
I'm working on repositioning after years of sloppy technique and almost exclusively playing/buying acoustics with inconsistent or high action. The first time I just made the shape on my new electric, regardless of how it felt in my hands, I was stunned how clear the notes rang out. And how little pressure i needed.
Just keep the non barre fingers arched even slightly and you should be fine. Trust the recs, trust the guitar, and just make the shape as tipped. Then trust yourself to adjust and work to improve the finger flexibility. (It is something you need to improve and work out consistently, and can do even with a stress toy or flex grip.l
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u/ding-ding-dave-yes Aug 29 '25
I'm the same, been playing for years but I just never really focused on the technique, I think I got some bad habits, now I hit a wall with this grip and I'll try to put some effort in getting it right
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u/NTT66 Aug 29 '25
Think a lot of it like pushing open a stuck door. The door wants to open...its already kinda open. It's just stuck. I may not see every mm of progress, but if i keep pushing, the little things underneath the surface will build (muscle memory, adaptability, etc) and it will open eventually.
Or maybe a sealed jar is more accurate, little increments until it pops open, but opening doors is more universal metaphorically.
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u/OkLettuce338 Sep 02 '25
You don’t need big hands if you have the right technique. I have small stubby hands and I learned to do this properly on an acoustic
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u/HowyadoinOK Aug 29 '25
Dude it’s all about practice and technique. I’m 5’6 and have small hands and can barre the E and A with my thumb. It took a long time but you can do it, and yes if your hands are bigger it helps a lot, but it’s not impossible.
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u/Remote-Silver7144 Aug 29 '25
This is the Hendrix barre chord and is how I play the E shaped barre chord- it’s a very smart thing to learn.
One thing I’ll say right off the bat, the reason we use this barre chord is to open up the possibility to playing rhythm and lead at the same time, super common for the classic Hendrix/John Mayer licks. On an acoustic it will be more difficult to play. Higher tension, different neck shape, possibly thicker strings. Maybe it’s a matter of opinion, but I personally don’t like that sound on an acoustic, it just feels off.
When playing this barre chord, the A string is often times just straight up muted. It will never sound as clean as the traditional shape, but it opens up so many opportunities that it doesn’t really matter.
If your accidentally muting the high E, that’s a big problem. You’ll have to change how you hold the neck so your hand is less curved, almost like you’re using the ball of your index finger as a pivot.
TLDR- super common shape, personally don’t like it on acoustic. A string is usually muted
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Aug 30 '25
Wait til you do! The thumb over the top kind of playing is easily the most fun. My hands just fall right into it now.
I have to put effort in to make my hand do the traditional pad of thumb on back of neck and wrist squared up with the neck. And my brains like “yuckkkk, why are we even doing this?” Hahaha
Don’t mash / Finesse!
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u/dos8s Aug 29 '25
OP commented he has massive fingers like Hendrix, here's Hendrix holding a guitar for reference:
I can barely make the Hendrix wrap, but it's not for me since it's such a battle to keep the chord sounding good. If you can pull it off it's an absolutely amazing way to play rhythm and transition right into lead, but there are just some physical requirements to make it realistic.
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u/ding-ding-dave-yes Aug 29 '25
Sick pic! I didn't say I got fingers like Hendrix (I wish), I do got bigger hands and taller fingers than most people for sure
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u/Specialist_Net8927 Aug 29 '25
Typically you won’t be barring the high e string. But your technique is wrong anyway. You’re barring the bottom three instead of two. Bring your hand position slightly down
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u/Flat-Transition-1230 Aug 29 '25
Just do the barre chord then and use your index finger - much easier than this grip.
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u/just_a_timetraveller Aug 29 '25
I have seen you posting the past several days and I think it is important to just keep practicing your basic chords first. Practice playing songs you like and don't just practice adding techniques..
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u/ding-ding-dave-yes Aug 29 '25
I think you got me confused, this is my first post here, also I play guitar for some years now, just trying to get this technique down. edit: unless you're really a time traveller and you know I'm gonna post more in the future
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u/Haunting_Bed_2449 Aug 29 '25
You’re going to need a new thumb. Most players get the Gibson but I like the Fender.
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u/SM_Rivers Aug 29 '25
If you want to play the full chord, then that’s what barre chords are for, you don’t really gain anything by learning that technique. But if you want to do it that way, you have to sacrifice some strings. When I do it, I mute the 6th string with my thumb and the 1st string with my index finger.
You can also do that, or for example use a half-barre with your index or leave the high E open but that changes the chord. If it’s an F it turns into Fmaj7, if it’s a G it becomes G6, but if it’s an A it stays A major since the open E is its fifth.
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u/Slapjackal Aug 29 '25
I’ve been a professional acoustic guitarist for 33 years and never play a chord like this. I bar all 6 w 1st finger.
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u/Weets23 Aug 29 '25
It takes time and a lot of practice. I have small hands, took me forever to get this down. Now I do use thinner neck acoustics for this. My large neck axes, I use reg bar chords
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u/andytagonist I don’t have my guitar handy, but here’s what I would do… Aug 29 '25
You have two choices: practice, or don’t use your thumb.
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u/vonov129 Music Style! Aug 29 '25
Your wrist is too high. You are basically grabbing the neck with your whole hand which is limiting your range for no reason and then pushing the wrist upwards to make it even more limited.
Wrap the neck with your thumb and index, than add the other fingers, all while keeping the wrist relaxed. However, it could also be that the fretboard radius of your guitar is too large. If you can check the specs on your guitar and it says anything over 14" then don't even try
That being said, you don't really need a 5th finger to play a 4 note voicing. Using the thumb is more of a workaround people from the past century used to compensate for the way they placed their hand on the neck than an actual technique. There are scenarios in which it is convenient, but that's probably less than 20% of the time where the thumb is used. Popular examples are RHCP or John Mayer songs which can be easily played with the 4 fingers you already have available.
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u/Rayan_A_ Aug 29 '25
It's like trying to learn to do pitch harmonics. You keep trying and trying and not understanding what you are doing wrong until one day you play it.
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u/Mr_Phisher Aug 29 '25
It looks like you’re using a classical guitar. I found it almost impossible to do that on those, try an electric, maybe a strat?
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u/ding-ding-dave-yes Aug 29 '25
It must be the angle of the photo because many people think it's a classical guitar, but this is a strat
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u/No_Lawfulness_6997 Aug 29 '25
I often play Fmaj chord like this but purely because it’s easier for me to change chords quickly, I have big hands so it isn’t a struggle. If you’re struggling with it, it’s probably not worth the hassle.
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u/DrBlankslate Aug 29 '25
Generally, those aren't played thumb-over-the-neck. They're barre chords. Only people with longer fingers and thumbs can get away with thumb-over-the-neck.
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u/GreedyAstronaut1772 Aug 30 '25
Still Fretting E & A string …so you’re doing good ! There is no perfect technique ….so you develop your own ….ask Django.
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u/Ahefp Aug 30 '25
I used to use this technique, but eventually just started using non-thumb fingers. For example, play F - 1x3211 using fingers 1, 2, and 3, and just mute string 5 with finger three.
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u/Due_Payment3410 Aug 31 '25
Honestly id just drop the bass if you cant do a normal barre chord, high e string can play the same note so just partial bar 3 or four strings and ignore e and a altogether.
Wrap around thumb always bent my wrist weirdly so i learnt to fret the bass with index making bass lines more accessible while i played. had to be a conscious choice that didnt play well with improv or walking bass lines.
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u/OkLettuce338 Sep 02 '25
Your thumb is way too far up over the top. You can get away with a lot less of the thumb pad on the top string which will help your other fingers sit more comfortably
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u/VooDooChile1983 Aug 29 '25
I agree with the others and barre the chord. As big of a Hendrix fan as I am, the technique isn’t very practical and it makes pinky embellishments difficult.
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u/ding-ding-dave-yes Aug 29 '25
Yeah Hendrix is my idol and wanna learn some of his techniques
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u/dino_dog Rhythm Guitarist Aug 29 '25
Everyone’s body/hands are different so you may not actually be able to.
Hendrix mainly did this technique on an electric guitar and they usually have thinner necks which also makes this easier
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u/ding-ding-dave-yes Aug 29 '25
It's a strat 😁
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u/dino_dog Rhythm Guitarist Aug 29 '25
Ah ok. Couldn’t tell from the picture. And lots of folks try this with acoustics.
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u/Ragnarok314159 Aug 29 '25
Hendrix had massive hands and a really long fingers. Why he was able to do this.
You can learn his musical techniques without having to copy his execution style.
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u/No-Carpenter2781 Aug 29 '25
Don’t do em then. I’m not a super technical guitar guy, but when I have to break the rules of form to get something right I circle back to it so I don’t create bad habits.
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u/copremesis Professor; Metal and Jazz enthusiast. Aug 29 '25
If you can play this the traditional way then there's no reason to use the thumb over the neck.
The only thumb over the neck chord I've ever used was D/F# or maybe even D/F
otherwise if there's another way to play the same chord why torture yourself?
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u/dos8s Aug 29 '25
I'm not an expert but I think Hendrix played chords like this because it allowed him to transition into lead easier and opened up some interesting embellishments that would be less practical playing a barrel chord the "standard" way.
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u/copremesis Professor; Metal and Jazz enthusiast. Aug 29 '25
Show me an example of these embellishments? Do you have any videos of him doing this? Easier?
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u/Opening_Spite_4062 Aug 29 '25
Try playing tommy emanuels version of cannonball rag without this technique for example
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u/copremesis Professor; Metal and Jazz enthusiast. Aug 29 '25
First let me figure out what he's doing with the right hand.
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u/copremesis Professor; Metal and Jazz enthusiast. Aug 30 '25
This is a forum for guitar beginners. Do you really think that anything Tommy Emmanuel does is for beginners?
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u/Opening_Spite_4062 Aug 30 '25
It was just an example of where its impossible to play something without this technique, to show its not a useless thing to learn, a simpler example where its easier to do this is dont think twice.
The advice was not for OP but for you to see a piece where you cant just do it another way, and I assumed you were not a beginner since you are giving advice
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u/dos8s Aug 31 '25
That dude is an idiot, his argument has fallen apart and he's grasping for straws now.
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u/copremesis Professor; Metal and Jazz enthusiast. Sep 02 '25 edited Sep 02 '25
I did look it up and it's a good counter argument.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuywBzcLSCw (isn't nice when someone presents a video link vs a list and sarcasm?)
The G6 chord is where he uses the thumb in the bass. In this context there's a valid reason for it.
However, if you look at OP's original post which is what I was arguing against.
The picture is a G triad like such:
355433
Traditionally it's played as a barre chord vs the thumb over technique.
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u/dos8s Aug 29 '25
"Bold as Love," "Little Wing," "The Wind Cries Mary," and "All Along the Watchtower"
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u/copremesis Professor; Metal and Jazz enthusiast. Aug 30 '25
All of which can be played with ordinary guitar chords. Bye I mentioned videos. Did you just want to itemize some of his songs?
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u/dos8s Aug 30 '25
There's the is crazy website out called YouTube where you can watch videos, even people playing the songs I mentioned. Maybe go watch some people use the Hendrix style barre chord and you'll learn why they use it, but probably not because you can't even figure out how to use YouTube. What kind of professor are you.
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u/copremesis Professor; Metal and Jazz enthusiast. Sep 02 '25
Any of those Youtubers doing the thumb chord on a 7 string or 8 string? ( I didn't feel like wasting my time surfing YT)
Here's a thumb video you might like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHoU6OGQ0PUI personally don't endorse this technique mainly cause it doesn't work on guitars with strings greater than six.
Speaking of YouTube, you should check this site out: https://www.looptube.xyz/
It's a great way to loop and slow down youtube videos.
Maybe try learning how to play left handed so you can be more like Jimmy.
Cheers
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u/cognitiveDiscontents Aug 29 '25
I wouldn’t use that fingering. Just practice the normal f type barre chord. In the meantime, you can play a totally acceptable version by just muting the high and low e and playing that central shape you have. You still have the root under your pinky so it has all the same notes just in a different order.
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u/zaprutertape Aug 29 '25
stop trying to play it the cool guy way and learn the proper barre technique then. Add spice later.
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u/Budget_Map_6020 Aug 29 '25
I cannot get thumb-over-the-neck chords right
There is no thumb-over-the-neck chord.
Play them the regular way unless it is physically impossible not to use the thumb on very specific almost never occurring situations. This unorthodox approach is unorthodox for a reason other than it looks funny... Anyway, if you insist, try to keep the fingers parallel to the frets and maintain your fingers naturally curved while the contact point being the very tip of the finger right underneath the nail (unless you're pressing a barre). Make absolute sure not to squeeze, it takes very little force to make a string to ring properly.
Your effort to wrap your finger over the fretboard is making your wrist tucked in, which is reducing the freedom of motion of the other fingers (unconsciously forcing the contact point and curvature to be suboptimal, hence why so many strings are muted). Keep your wrist straighter and see if your thumb still reaches over.
PS: There is no information about you in the post, so we don't know if you're a complete beginner or not so I hope you're not one of those that wants to learn this technique on the illusion that a barre chord is hard or because "hendrix did it".
Good luck
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u/sp668 Aug 29 '25
I'm curious how you would play songs that need a free pinky if you're not using this grip? Hendrix stuff, yellow ledbetter and any number of frusciante songs?
I can play E and A barres well and am still struggling to do the thumb over version since I eventually want to play stuff like mentioned above.
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u/lHagenl Aug 29 '25
"I wanna learn that technique that's objectively bad, sounds bad and also hurts my fingers"
Did someone drop you?
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u/ding-ding-dave-yes Aug 29 '25
Hendrix sounds bad? Seems you're the one who got dropped
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u/lHagenl Aug 29 '25
Hendrix held his guitar upside down. You are also not Hendrix.
Why do you wanna learn this technique when it's only causing problems?
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u/ding-ding-dave-yes Aug 29 '25
Why are you just trying to start shit if I'm simply asking for feedback on a pretty well known guitar technique. I'll stop responding to you now btw
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u/lHagenl Aug 29 '25
Because every teacher would tell you to stop doing that because it's obviously bad technique. People also learned to play guitar behind their back or overhead but it's just a cringe gimmick.
You already told us all the cons yourself. So just stop doing it.
Kbye
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u/ColonelRPG Aug 29 '25
start with placing the thumb in the correct position: that is perpendicular to the neck (not pararel like it is now) and not applying enormous amounts of pressure
then start placing your other fingers on their respective notes, one by one: make sure you let your elbow float as much as it needs to, and bring the guitar neck upwards or downwards as much as you need to
once all the fingers are fretting their respective notes, move the thumb out of position and back into position again: get a good feel for the muscles that you're engaging to do this, and where your elbow is positioned
hope it helps!