Thumb placement

  1. Ellsdemon
    Ellsdemon
    Hey everyone

    I've come out of the woods and have discovered something that has helped my playing a ton. I've always hated not getting clean notes and I've notice because my fingers are never in the right spot to get those notes.

    I started just moving my hands around with my eyes closed (there may have been a glass of wine or 3) But as I moved my hands around to get that clean note, I would then open to see where my fingers/hand was. And the thing I always notice was where my thumb was. I've added some photos to show you where my fingers where and what helped. What helped me was getting my fingers more horizontal, and less angled. When my fingers are angled they always get muted to a certain extent. I started noticing if I changed my thumb angle, or where I anchored it, it helped a great deal. Another note is I've always have been working on getting my thumb to move, I've always have trouble moving my thumb to help play, seemed to be in cement sometimes.
    Now, this isn't some kind of wonder trick, but if you're like me and something doesn't sound right, maybe this will help you.


    https://pix.sfly.com/234OPV
    Thumb over neck
    https://pix.sfly.com/oTdYM7
    Thumb over neck and fingers are more angled
    https://pix.sfly.com/V45PXg
    Thumb behind neck
    https://pix.sfly.com/HQK1bj
    Thumb behind neck and fingers are more horizontal

    ps; I have no idea how to post pics within the body with the forum
  2. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    My left hand makes contact with the mandolin at only two points, circled below:

    I have a callus on my thumb because it is really my anchor. I don't move it around unless I am going up the neck which is rare. Because it is pretty much fixed, it is my reference point which lets my brain know where to put my fingertips for the right notes.

    This shows my angle of attack with my fingers at 1st position.

    I do move my hand a bit to reach different frets and strings, but my thumb stays anchored. Using this photo as an example, I am fretting a B and a C# on the A string but the next note is an open E: I often get a thump instead of a note on the E due to either the index finger or middle finger tips (or both) kind of spreading out against the E strings. I find that this is eliminated or reduced by letting the neck ride a bit lower in the V of my thumb and index finger so I can arch my fingers more and come more directly down onto the fretboard.

    I hope this makes sense. And as always, we all have different anatomies and techniques, so FWIW and YMMV.
  3. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    The trick to photo posting in a social group is to post the photo somewhere in the main forum first, then copy a link to that photo in the main forum. There is a thread in the main forum just for posting photos. Here is a link to the last page of that thread where you will find the above two photos (scroll to bottom of that page):

    https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/s...posting/page10
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