Technique on Yellow Ledbetter

ACF

Hi, guys,

I've been playing the guitar for about ten years now and there's one thing I can't get right. On songs like Yellow Ledbetter and Little Wing, Mike McCready (and others) uses his thumb to fret the 6th string. For some reason, I just can't manage to get my hand positioned properly, aspecially when it also involves a barre with the index finger over the 1st and 2nd string. I've been thinking that maybe my fingers are too long or so to play this way in a confortable manner - whereas others do this with such ease! Does anyone else experience this problem? Please help!


PS: I am NOT considering surgery!

Evvo

Yup i have that too. Whenever i barre my first finger on the 1st and 2nd strings, my thumb slides down the back of the neck, and my arm straightens out, making it damn near impossible to play. Hendrix had ginormous hands, and his thumb could fret the D string from over the top of the neck. Its one of those things that comes with practice. My technique with the thumb on the 6th string is pants, but i gotta work on it. If only I was Mike McCready...

harrisonmerwin

instead of barring 1 +2, place the index on 2, mute 1 and only use it when you have to, chances are you wont be playign all 6 strings in that position, its why it was invented to create dexterity on both the high and low sides of the frets.

ACF

Thanks for the advice... I suppose practice is the magic word... In general I've always felt like a clumsy guitar player, but maybe that's the drive one needs to go one practicing... It reminds me of the time when playing the chords of "Wild thing" or "Lola" were a real challenge! Luckily I've passed that stage by now. Getting new gear has also been a good drive to keep on playing!