How to Easily Position Your Fret Hand on a Guitar

[Rivamus]

I'm trying to learn how to play my guitar but whenever I fret I hear absolutely no difference vs. when I don't fret.

[guitarcomplete]

@Rivamus You may not be the problem. If the neck is really bent, strings can sit on frets. If that happens, no mater what you play, notes behind the point where the string is fretting out will sound the same. To check your setup: Run your finger up each string. If one or all strings sound the same, then suddenly change pitch at some point while you move your finger up a string, you're fretting out & you need your guitar set up correctly. To learn more, see videos about adjusting your neck.

[DemonShadow9]

i have my fingers against the strings but when i play one theres no vibration, too much pressure on the strings?

[guitarcomplete]

Could be. You can press so hard that you don't press on the correct part of the string. It also could be the angle your finger is pressing from, or both. Try this: take one finger, press one note, onto one fret, on one string very slowly. Pick the note as you press. When it rings without buzzing, that's the amount of pressure you'll want to use when playing single notes & chords. It won't take much pressure.

[DemonShadow9]

@guitarcomplete ok? lol my cousin let me have his guitar and the only experience i have with guitars is guitar hero and band hero so this is chinese to me. i dont even know if its tuned and idk how to tune by ear either

[guitarcomplete]

@DemonShadow9, I have a nice surprise for you. If you haven't already, subscribe to my channel & email me here on YouTube. I'll fill you & you'll like it.

[ishu161]

@DemonShadow9 it can be because you are pressing on the freats with the flat part of your fingers.....press it from the tip of your fingers.....press firmly,but not too strongly.....try pressing at an angle against the thread but not on the thread..

[zabimaru1000]

how do you play power chords with the correct position? i always seem to bend my fingers to the side when playing it.

[guitarcomplete]

At the 1 minute, 33 second mark is probably the answer to your problem. Your problem is probably that you're holding your wrist slanted. I talk about that & show you what a slanted wrist looks like. Keep trying, your hand positioning will get better. Your fingers won't slant any more. You'll get it.

[zabimaru1000]

whenever i play in the correct position. my wrist becomes very sore. also, i cant really control my pinky while playing.

[guitarcomplete]

If your hand looks "Too Proper" it is. Suggestions:1. Stick your hand in front of your face and pretend you're turning a bolt. The points where your hand is hyper extended at the beginning & end of the "pretend bolt turn" , are where you could feel pain if you just hold your hand still. That could be where you are getting the pain from. If so, hold your hand more in the center of the "turn" & the pain will go away.

[guitarcomplete]

2. Your are holding your hand cramped like you're trying to touch your wrist with your fingers on the hand attached to you wrist causing too much angle & causing pain. Relax the angle a bit & the pain will go away.

[metalistas1993]

Guys. I have a little problem. My thumb hurts when i play X5 chords. Suchs as like - G5,F#5,F5 in quarter notes. Im holding the thumb in about the center of the guitar neck. Maybe im putting too much pressure?

[guitarcomplete]

Too much pressure: possible, your hand position may be out when you're playing low on the neck. if you just started playing you may just be developing more hand strength like a weightlifter does when they do more repetitions as they get stronger. Muscles in your palm can experience fatigue. I suggest watching the video as many times as you need & narrow down what your difficulty is by process of elimination. Find problems I talk about one by one and see what is causing your pain.

[DimebagZappa]

Read GuitarComplete's comment. So true, i've been playing for almost three years and hit a wall. Bad fret hand positioning was preventing me from playing better and faster. Play like this from the start, it will help.

[crashed86]

if im playing the A string for example i find myself touching the D string a little bit almost sorta muting it by accident... and i been playing the acoustic as well as classical guitar on my own for a while now... is my fret hand position wrong? and if i play the electric guitar, im bound to make unwanted noises rite? is there a solution to this?

[TSpector24]

I play acoustic. Anyways, right now I am practising to bring my thumb up when I play the big strings, and bring thumb down when I play the smaller strings like E, B, G. Everyday I am getting better at it, so am i doing this right. I heard acoustic has a bigger neck, and in a few months I might switch to electric. Will I run into any problems? Thanks for your suggestion, its really helping me

[TSpector24]

Another Question: I started guitar a month ago and I have grown use to placing the thumb over the top of the neck. When I place it lower, I mess up my excersises.

A friend told me to slide the thumb up and down when its needed (1st string thumb goes higher, vice-versa for 6th string.). My question is do i Need practise or is it cause my brain doesnt automatically slide my thumb.

Guitar is so hard....yet I wanna play so bad!

Thanks

[guitarcomplete]

Your friend has a good point. The style of music you're playing is really what dictates what your hand technique has to be. For example: a classical guitarist almost always keeps the thumb in the center of the back of the neck for wide hand stretches. Rock & Blues players tend to let the thumb 'slide' more and that's OK because often they don't need to play with wide hand stretches. The question is, what style do you want to play? I will say that good technique can't hurt your playing :)

[TSpector24]

Well playing chords (attempting) I like thumb in the middle. when I am just regular fretting (holding 1 fret with 1 finger), I like it up.

I am interested in rock, metal, punk, hard rock stuff. The only reason I am playing acoustic is to build up strength (that is what people tell me). Does these types of music follow in the Rock & Blues section?

I also want to thank you for answering my questions.

P.S. Many people say you can place thumb wherever you feel comfortable. Is that true?

[guitarcomplete]

1. You're into rock styles. In many cases your thumb can slide around. However as your playing develops you'll be creating a bad habit that will make it harder to play more advanced things in the future. If you learn to play with your thumb behind the neck now you won't have to unlearn that habit in the future. Bad habits are harder than learning to play with proper technique. Ultimately, the choice is yours. 2. It's true, you can let your thumb 'float' but it will make things harder later on.

[TSpector24]

When I put my first finger on the 5th fret of the 6th strng and my 4th finger on the 8th fret of the 4th string, the 4th finger slants and slides. Is it normal for beginners?

They arent straight as yours. 1st finger is fine, but the last 2 fingers when stretched go diagonal.

[guitarcomplete]

Yes it's very normal to have problems placing your fingers without a 'slant' when you first start playing. My best advice to you is to watch the video again as many times as you need to, just keep trying and really listen to every little thing I discribe. The infornation is there and I know you'll get it if you just stick with it. It will be like a little light with flick on and you'll just be able to do it.

[jimiexpert]

watch awesome tibetan guitarist (from switzerland?!), he will blow you away! just look for "purtag" (his name)

[zoulation]

and i noticed the reason i do that was because im still not good with stretching my fingers independently ( still need practice)..THANKS A LOT though...please keep posting more lessons you are really helping me..im gonna subscrice to your profile !! :D...and btw i forgot to mention that i just started to play guitar 4 months ago !

[zoulation]

Thanks a lot with the video !! I have been lost and really wanted to know the right positioning of the fret hand?? the way i did it was the way where your fingers arent really parallel to the frets (the knuckles seem like they are declined a bit, and that didn't give me any clearance)

[TheHoffmania]

I've been playing guitar for six years and even I found a great deal of info here. It's the really small stuff that ends up killing your speed!

Thanks for the video.

[guitarcomplete]

Thanks! You know, the little things really do kill us. That's exactly why I had the videos filmed with the cameras shooting down at my hands. That way, they look like you're looking at your hands. It makes it much easier to see the little things that are so easy to miss. The better you can position your hands (fret or pick hand) makes everything from fretting simple chords to gaining speed come a lot more smoothly. Thanks again.

[guitarcomplete]

Your thumb (well, to be technically correct) should go behind the neck, in the dead center if the neck at the thickest point of it. Honestly though, it depends on what you want to play. If you want to play some styles of blues or rock, your thumb can be off center of the neck. If you play music like classical for example, then make sure you have perfect technique! You'll need it for that style.

[guitarcomplete]

If I understand you correctly, then your hand IS in an awkward position and yes it will make your life playing guitar harder in the future. I'd recommend that you really try to break any bad habit that will inhibit your potential to play as quickly as you can. Often, it's actually harder to 'unlearn' bad habits than it is to learn good habits. Check out the video again and see if you can look at the fret hand closely. Then try to duplicate the whay it looks. Honest, you can do it.

[ArrrPirate666]

Thanks for the vid. Q: So when I'm playing a power cord sitting or standing up, my pinky tends to automaticly now go overtop of my ring finger right at the end of it's fingernail. Sounds stupid, and it is, but is that going to affect my playing ability in the long run? Thanks.

[BigCarpFoxRiver]

nice video. please do another one to show fret hand position when standing up.

[guitarcomplete]

Thank you for the comment and that's a good idea! Believe it or not, the positioning of both the fret and pick hand are the same sitting or standing. But, I'll do a video sometime in the future where I'll actually stand so people can see it. Again, good idea and I wish I would have thought of that in the studio.

[BigCarpFoxRiver]

Thanks alot. I really enjoyed this video.

[guitarcomplete]

Cool! Thanks.