I wrote sitting down and decent guitarists. Jimi Hendrix was playing standing up and wearing a strap. The other guy is completely crooked.

Moral of story: If you're not Jimi Hendrix and you value your spine just do it the right way

hahaha. i don't even know what this means!!

 

When you use your index for barring instead of your thumb, it hurts at first until you develop an awesome muscle in between your thumb and index (like i did) and now it does not hurt at all and is deeefinitely easier and more maneuverable than using my thumb would be.

I mean, think about it-- in order to play really complicated shit you have to anchor your thumb pretty low behind the neck so your fingers can press down perpendicularly on the strings (which they cant do if you have your thumb high enough to hold the low E of the bar chord).

<edit> is that REALLY RHCP?  Anthony K sounds so amateur-- he is singing all sorts of off key.

<edit edit> also i guess they are both valid techniques.  i can see some uses for puttin your thumb back there, IE wanting to finger 5 notes, but for general playing i still recommend barring with your index.

When you use your index for barring instead of your thumb, it hurts at first until you develop an awesome muscle in between your thumb and index (like i did) and now it does not hurt at all and is deeefinitely easier and more maneuverable than using my thumb would be.

I mean, think about it-- in order to play really complicated shit you have to anchor your thumb pretty low behind the neck so your fingers can press down perpendicularly on the strings (which they cant do if you have your thumb high enough to hold the low E of the bar chord).

<edit> is that REALLY RHCP?  Anthony K sounds so amateur-- he is singing all sorts of off key.

the point of using your thumb for the low e is so you can (like in the video) do little fills and shit while keeping the barre form. it's tons more difficult to do it while playing barre chords the classical way! also it's not as if i can't play barre chords the normal way. I do it sometimes depending on the song. if you get good enough at playing barre chords like in the video your fingers are strong enough on their own to play the "complicated shit." you don't even need to press down on the back of the neck with your thumb!

as i said getting good at playing barre chords the non-traditional way is much more difficult than it is the normal way, but it's worth it imo!

also yeah it is rhcp that was just when anthony was using heroin

the point of using your thumb for the low e is so you can (like in the video) do little fills and shit while keeping the barre form. it's tons more difficult to do it while playing barre chords the classical way! also it's not as if i can't play barre chords the normal way. I do it sometimes depending on the song. if you get good enough at playing barre chords like in the video your fingers are strong enough on their own to play the "complicated shit." you don't even need to press down on the back of the neck with your thumb!

as i said getting good at playing barre chords the non-traditional way is much more difficult than it is the normal way, but it's worth it imo!

also yeah it is rhcp that was just when anthony was using heroin

Well, no, I'm not even sure what you are saying there about not needing to press down with your thumb.  You would need riiiiidiculous strength to not use your thumb at all as an anchor and even then youd have no fulcrum or w/e so it would not work playing from behind the neck.  And if you ARE using your thumb, you ARE pressing down.

Anchoring lower absolutely makes it easier to play the "complicated shit" just because it gives your fingers more freedom, lets you reach further.  I'd bet you all the money in the world that I have a further reach anchoring low than you do with your thumb up behind the neck.

I will grant though that your bit about being abel to play fills while barring that way makes sense-- I thought about that but havent really messed with it much.   They are both useful techniques-- I guess it depends on what you are trying to do.  There are some bar chord shapes that would be pretty impossible to get while playing with your thumb up top.

Well, no, I'm not even sure what you are saying there about not needing to press down with your thumb.  You would need riiiiidiculous strength to not use your thumb at all as an anchor and even then youd have no fulcrum or w/e so it would not work playing from behind the neck.  And if you ARE using your thumb, you ARE pressing down.

Anchoring lower absolutely makes it easier to play the "complicated shit" just because it gives your fingers more freedom, lets you reach further.  I'd bet you all the money in the world that I have a further reach anchoring low than you do with your thumb up behind the neck.

it all depends on what i'm playing. if you mean like shredding or something or like a pretty large stretch than yeah i use my thumb

it's kind of hard explaining this on the internet

I barealy know what you guys are talking abotu anymroe

1- 2 different ways of the barre chord, one is whole index finger over the neck, the other is by using the thumb on the lower E string.

2- Couch is talking about how placing your thumb on the center of the back side of the neck helps a lot for finger mobility and stretch.

ah! i have the solution! turn the gain up until full chords are useless anyway!

now we can all get along

Riiight, because gain filled power chords sound anywhere near as clean and deep as full chords.

1- 2 different ways of the barre chord, one is whole index finger over the neck, the other is by using the thumb on the lower E string.

I don't think so, I'm not saying nobody should ever fret anything at all with their thumbs but it's not good to do BARRE CHORDS with them when the right way is so much easier

I don't think so, I'm not saying nobody should ever fret anything at all with their thumbs but it's not good to do BARRE CHORDS with them when the right way is so much easier

please get out of this topic.

you obviously haven't read nor understand the point to this discussion

when the right way is so much easier

your first problem is that you think there is a right way.
There isn't one way more righteous than the other, both get the same job done, when strung both get the same sound.
There isn't some MAN who simply decided what is more right. Being a technocrat doesn't give anybody any legitimacy. Therefore both are just as right.

However, I prefer using the thumb.

that's where your second problem lies.
You simply state that index barre chord is easier while knowing that this is not true when you have concrete examples of people who find the thumb version much more comfortable and easier, in addition to Ryan's veritable comment about fill ins.

::sigh:: and the fighting continues

Not really. Mine was an actual fact wheras the other debate can just be summed up with "to each his own".

your first problem is that you think there is a right way.
There isn't one way more righteous than the other, both get the same job done, when strung both get the same sound.
There isn't some MAN who simply decided what is more right. Being a technocrat doesn't give anybody any legitimacy. Therefore both are just as right.

Well... there is a right way and a wrong way to do things if you look at it this way:

a) The right way: the way that wont fuck your muscles up
b) the wrong way: the way that will cause you to become injured and thus unable to continue performing in the middle of a gig or forever

this may not apply to guitar nearly as much, though guitar does require some intensely fine muscle control in several parts of the body.. but for drummers technique is the most important part of playing because if you use the drumsticks and your legs incorrectly and in a manner that is too tense you can pop tendons and tear shit the same way that athletes with bad technique do. You really do need to play the correct way to avoid getting hurt.

WC, I am aware of that. However that's not the case here. If anything, excessive use of index barre chords end up hurting my wrist, while the thumb version doesn't.

Well... there is a right way and a wrong way to do things if you look at it this way:

a) The right way: the way that wont fuck your muscles up
b) the wrong way: the way that will cause you to become injured and thus unable to continue performing in the middle of a gig or forever

this may not apply to guitar nearly as much, though guitar does require some intensely fine muscle control in several parts of the body.. but for drummers technique is the most important part of playing because if you use the drumsticks and your legs incorrectly and in a manner that is too tense you can pop tendons and tear shit the same way that athletes with bad technique do. You really do need to play the correct way to avoid getting hurt.

yeah if anything the thumb way for barre chords is less stressful on the wrist. it's a more natural position of the hand as opposed to the rather rigid index way.

a power chord uses only a root and a 5th. a root 3rd 5th would make it a major triad.