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The palm of your hand/thumb on the back of the neck

Discussion in 'Technique [BG]' started by tiredman9, Nov 26, 2005.

  1. Nov 26, 2005 #1
    tiredman9

    tiredman9 Guest

    Aug 15, 2005
    New York
    Okay, so I've been looking at my left hand technique more you know working on it and ive noticed my left hand placement on the back of the neck isnt always the same
    There are three real differences

    1) Ill just put my thum on the back of my neck and stick my wrist out (usually when i play faster, and this one seems the most wrong imo)

    2) My whole palm on the back with the thumb point up towards my head

    3) My wrist mostly (more than my palm) on the back ofthe neck with my thumb pointing towards the headstock


    I play the first one mostly when i play faster and the 3rd one usually when i am playing slower parts near the lower numbered frets/ The 2nd one gets played most often though...

    So what is proper technique, are any of these remotely correct?
     
  2. Nov 27, 2005 #2
    lemur821

    lemur821 Guest

    May 4, 2004
    St. Louis, MO, U.S.
    If I'm reading right, all three of those are pretty bad. There are two good positions.

    1. Thumb over the neck:
    Your thumb rests on the top edge of the neck. This is good for relaxing and bending strings, but awful for making stretches.

    2. Thumb behind the neck:
    Your thumb touches the back of the neck right in the middle. This position will give you great fret-span, but is less relaxed and will make it hard to bend effectively.

    Neither your palm nor wrist (!) should touch the back of the neck. Basically, it's thumb or nothing. The bass just doesn't take much force to fret, so all you need is something to stabilize the neck, and your thumb can do that behind the neck or on top of it.

    Your wrist should never have a big bend in it. Your position 1 would be like my position 2 if you were to raise your neck to get your wrist straight.
     
  3. Nov 27, 2005 #3
    tiredman9

    tiredman9 Guest

    Aug 15, 2005
    New York
    Thanks, that sounds most like the first thing im doing where just my thumb touches the back of the neck and my wrist is bent a little. Thanks