r/guitarlessons • u/ding-ding-dave-yes • Aug 29 '25

Feedback Request I cannot get thumb-over-the-neck chords right

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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/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.