Hi Neil,
I am in my 50s and seem to have a decreased range of movement of my distal thumb joint so difficult to fret with thumb. Is there something I can wear on my thumb to help??
The site is great.
Thanks, Paul
Left thumb fretting 6th string
Hey Paul, big welcome to the program! We're glad to have you with us! You will really fit in with all us 50-somethings.
Could I ask you to slide over to the Please Introduce Yourself thread and tell us a little about you? Where you live, what are your musical interests and maybe what you hope to get out of this program? We're a very close knit community and we really enjoy getting to know each other.
As far as your question goes, fretting the F or F# on the sixth string is challenging for many people. Neil teaches (preaches?) good hand position which mean keeping your fretting hand low and cupped. And keep your thumb firmly planted to the back of the neck and not on top of it. We need to avoid the dreaded "baseball bat grip" at all costs.
The one exception to this rule is when the thumb has to fret notes on the low E. Then you may need to really rotate your grip and probably raise your left elbow (if you play right handed). It's really hard for many of us to play these notes from a standard hand position.
As far as I know I've never seen anything artificial for fretting these notes. It just takes practice and finding the right hand position.
Good luck and again welcome to this fantastic program!
Cheers! :cheer:
Could I ask you to slide over to the Please Introduce Yourself thread and tell us a little about you? Where you live, what are your musical interests and maybe what you hope to get out of this program? We're a very close knit community and we really enjoy getting to know each other.
As far as your question goes, fretting the F or F# on the sixth string is challenging for many people. Neil teaches (preaches?) good hand position which mean keeping your fretting hand low and cupped. And keep your thumb firmly planted to the back of the neck and not on top of it. We need to avoid the dreaded "baseball bat grip" at all costs.
The one exception to this rule is when the thumb has to fret notes on the low E. Then you may need to really rotate your grip and probably raise your left elbow (if you play right handed). It's really hard for many of us to play these notes from a standard hand position.
As far as I know I've never seen anything artificial for fretting these notes. It just takes practice and finding the right hand position.
Good luck and again welcome to this fantastic program!
Cheers! :cheer: