how do you use your thumb other than slapping

[Brian Stefan]

how do you use your thumb when you play. it always seems to make me faster to just pluk with my thumb rather than all my fingers, but i have not been playing long and that might just be from playing the regular guitar. should i go with that style or brake a dirty habit quick.

[ole Jason]

I use it for sweep arpeggios, classical guitar style picking, and tapping.

It may be fast using your thumb like a pick but how does it sound? If it works for you keep doing it, it could be a cool trick to have up your sleeve. It's always a good idea to learn the basics too though

[Wrong Robot]

Sweep picking, and classical guitar styled picking, as well as many chords I'll pluck the low note with my thumb and the higher voices with my fingers.

also some grooves just sound better when plucked with your thumb and not fingers.

that's about it. some tapping riffs I do incorporate my thumb.

also sometime I use it for false harmonics(other times I use my index finger)

[Bryan R. Tyler]

I use it for chords very often; also to play rhythms while my index and ring pick out melodies. I use it in place of my fingers when trying to get a thumpy tone, and when I play the occasional artificail harmonic, although I'm not very good with those yet.

[AaronS]

Maybe it is due to 40 years of fingerpicking guitar, dobro and steel guitar, but I use my thumb, index and middle pretty much independently. I do tend to alternate thumb and index or thumb and middle for quick 16ths sort of like a bluegrass flatpicker cross picking. Two or three strings plucked in unison makes for wonderful chords also. Some of the time I mute with my palm and sometimes with the tip of my thumb resting on the lower strings.

[Figjam]

I use it for chords when i play Mudvayne stuff. (ie: Death Blooms)

[Nino Valenti]

It's one of 2 fingers that I use to hold my pick.

[kwelch28]

I use it when I palm mute the bridge.

[Stephen Soto]

Originally posted by Wrong Robot
Sweep picking, and classical guitar styled picking, as well as many chords I'll pluck the low note with my thumb and the higher voices with my fingers.

also some grooves just sound better when plucked with your thumb and not fingers.

that's about it. some tapping riffs I do incorporate my thumb.

also sometime I use it for false harmonics(other times I use my index finger)

Yeah, false harmonics are easy with your thumb. I do fals harmonics, slap, and try to incorporate it with tapping as best as I can. I say you can use it with chords, but I do mine with my whole hand/fingernails.

[Treena Foster]

Originally posted by Nino-Brown
It's one of 2 fingers that I use to hold my pick.

[sunburstbasser]

Banjo rolls and a few harmonics.

[RumbleBot]

Mostly palm muting, taping, and popping (mostly on the low strings, though).

[Josh_15]

I use my thumb for slapping, thumping, strumming (got quite good at that lately ) and that's about it me thinks. How do u do sweeps with your thumb? My friend does it on guitar but it has always puzzled me. I need some more techniques.