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Old 02-03-2016, 05:04 AM   #42
brainwreck
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 20,859
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EvilDragon View Post
Thumb can be helpful in doing some chords otherwise not possible. Ever watched Hendrix play?
Oh, that is what he is talking about - holding notes with your thumb. I do that for some chords, probably because I'm not right... For example, for this chord:

-
5 first
5 first
5 first
-
5 thumb

Most people will play that with their middle finger on the bass and ring finger barring the higher notes. I use my thumb on the bass and first finger barring the higher notes, which leaves my ring finger and pinky free for playing embellishments. Also, I like the way that Hendrix did a root sixth string barre chord on The Wind Cries Mary, using the thumb on the bass, skipping the chord's fifth on the A string, and playing the rest of the chord as would normally be played using the ring, middle, and first fingers like this:

3 first
3 first
4 middle
5 ring
-
3 thumb

It just sounds different. I use my thumb for some alternate tuning stuff, too.

I can't say that I ever saw any metalheads using their thumb, though.
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