Learning how to hold the guitar neck can have a huge impact on how well you will be able to fret notes, chords and play scales on your guitar. The most important factor that will determine how easily and far you can reach with your fret hand is where you place your thumb.
The correct way to hold the guitar neck is with the thumb close to the center on the back side of the neck. See picture...
You might feel the temptation to grasp the neck with your thumb up high like so...
However this will make it harder to reach around the neck so try and refrain from developing this habit early on.
Placing your thumb to the middle allows your hand to act as a sort of clamp on the guitar neck and will prevent your hand from cramping up as quickly.
And from the front...
You will notice that the fingers lay on the fretboard much easier with your thumb towards the middle of the neck and they have plenty of freedom to move around. See picture...
Placing the thumb too high will cause you to choke the neck and there is less freedom for your fingers below the fretboard.
Hopefully you have found this information on how to hold the guitar neck helpful and are ready to move on to some actual playing. Just remember to apply the basic principles of playing guitar and in no time they will become second nature, without you even thinking about it.
Ready to Play?
Sign up to Ben's Free 6 part e-course and learn all the basics of playing guitar right now!
I usually agree w/ all the posts that have been put up but not so much w/ this one. I think by the info on your post you have forgotten a large group of players style out. Hence, many old school players also known as "greats" actually say the opposite of your post. In fact I believe howard even said the opposite my dear brother. I have spent much of my time in learning to incorporate my thumb over the top to have great access to bass notes while my other fingers pick up melody lines. And that is how the old school players play. More chord based instead of scale based. I do agree for shredding though your thumb position is crucial.... I simply didn't want you to leave out the info for players who may not be into the just the shredding aspect but who might want to explore the other options to the guitar. LOVE and not aggression. I know this is supposed to be a well rounded effort and I thought I could help.
Your friendly neighborhood Fro.
I would love it if you would put together an article about playing bass notes with your thumb for me to post on this blog. I am only one man and I do not Know it all.