Thumb Chords

ghodaddyyo

Yuck! I can't stand them! They are impossible for me to play! I have very small hands and really short thumbs that don't bend at the base joint like other people with graceful fingers. I'm cursed with the desire to play guitar and have come a long way with my technique, but I'm forever plagued with these dreaded thumb chords in every musical venture I wander into. Couldn't play those Hendrix thumb chords, can't play those Robert Johnson thumb chords, can't play jazz thumb chords, and now I've found that Gypsy style thumb chords are probably the hardest since many of them contain all six strings! Am I doomed to being denied this technique and developing a decent gypsy pump?

I can pull off a standard min7 thumb chord, but that's just about it and I've also learned that a standard min7 is rarely used in gypsy music. Aghhhhh!

NEvans

Luckily for you its not vital to playing gypsy jazz to be able to put your thumb over the neck to play chords. Not that it will help much if you have small hands, but if you're playing a chord like D6/9 where you play 5th fret on EA 4th on DG and 5th on B and e you can use your thumb for the E and A strings or fret E and A with your middle finger barre the D and G with your first finger and play B and e with your ring and pinky fingers respectively. Honestly though, you can always fudge a chord here and there and get similar quality out of it. Guys like Bireli may play those six string chords but I'm not sure if Django ever did. Correct me if I'm wrong, anyone.

Josh Hegg

ghodaddyyo,

Just think about how much work Django had to go through after his accident. You'll make your own way if you want it enough. Just keep going!

Cheers,
Josh

MichaelHorowitz

NEvans wrote:

Guys like Bireli may play those six string chords but I'm not sure if Django ever did. Correct me if I'm wrong, anyone.

Django definitely played six string chords....more often then not.

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mmaslan

I've found some of these really hard too--the ones at the beginning of the intro to Nuages in Unaccompanied Django, for example--and I'm wondering whether it gets easier with time. Is there a way to build up facility with these chords? Flexibility? Some of them HURT!

MichaelHorowitz

mmaslan wrote:

I've found some of these really hard too--the ones at the beginning of the intro to Nuages in Unaccompanied Django, for example--and I'm wondering whether it gets easier with time. Is there a way to build up facility with these chords? Flexibility? Some of them HURT!

I tell my students who are having trouble with this to spend about five minutes a day just doing a couple of the harder thumb chords (i.e., min6/9, 13 (b5 #9, etc.). Also, it really helps if you get the back of your hand right up against the neck so you have a "vice grip." Also ,the thumb just barely touches the 6th string. You sort of use the side of it....it's very subtle.

Ultimately, I think it's just a matter of muscle memory. So just practice them for a few minutes every day. Make sure each note is coming out clear and I think you'll eventually get it.

If it hurts stop right away! If you just can't get it to happen, it's not the end of the world. You can find other fingerings to approximate most of these chords.

Good luck!

'm

Jack

Michael Horowitz wrote:

Also, it really helps if you get the back of your hand right up against the neck so you have a "vice grip." Also ,the thumb just barely touches the 6th string. You sort of use the side of it....it's very subtle.

Michael,

Maybe you can post a few photos of your left hand chording a couple of common chords...I think many people have a hard time visualizing just where their thumb should be.

Best,
Jack.

MichaelHorowitz

I'll making a series of photos for the Gypsy Rhythm book! We'll be shooting those soon...

'm

Yann

Jack,

I have such pictures taken from different views on my site if that can help:

http://www.serendipity-band.com/misc/manouche/src/pince-en.htm

Pictures of different chords also:

http://www.serendipity-band.com/misc/manouche/src/accords-en.htm

Hope that helps...

Yann

ghodaddyyo

Well that's no good... your hands are twice the size of mine.

kimmo

ghodaddyyo wrote:

Well that's no good... your hands are twice the size of mine. (

Actually, size doesn't matter much in this particular task. Just forget ALL you've ever been taught about correct grip and press your palm firmly against the neck (opposite to any advice from any instructor) so your thumb is free and your hand is in a diagonal position in relation to the neck (as opposed to the "correct" horizontal position). Then reach your thumb over. As Michael wrote above, you need to have a "vice grip".

I repeat: press your palm against the neck.