JP72
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Basic Technique.
Recently I have had quite a few new students who say they don't like playing with a plectrum and prefer to just use their right hand thumb.
Now, I may be a bit pedantic, but as far as I am concerned right hand thumb ONLY as a way to get around scales and melodies is bad technique. Thumb and index would make more sense, or classical style i m alternation - any of those. I also remind the electric players that usually most electric stuff is played with a plectrum so they should persevere (unless they really like Knopfler and Beck but must of them have never heard of either.).
So, here's the question. If you let then do what they want and just establish their 'Thumb only' technique because it is personally more comfortable for them does it make you a bad teacher? Is it better to tell them it's a bad idea in the long run and then let them make their own decisions or is it better to tell them straight that it's not a good habit to get into and force them to play another way?
I can imagine that if I went to a piano lesson and told the teacher that it was just more comfortable for me to only use three fingers on each hand that the teacher would correct me and make sure I did it right because otherwise I'd be stuck even for pre-grade 1 pieces.
I get the opportunity to see lots of students from other teachers and I would say that 90% of the steel string acoustic guys that I see play scales with their thumbs only.
What do you guys think?
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12/21/2014, 2:21 pm
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njsteve
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Re: Basic Technique.
quote:
JP72 wrote:
Recently I have had quite a few new students who say they don't like playing with a plectrum and prefer to just use their right hand thumb.
Now, I may be a bit pedantic, but as far as I am concerned right hand thumb ONLY as a way to get around scales and melodies is bad technique. Thumb and index would make more sense, or classical style i m alternation - any of those. I also remind the electric players that usually most electric stuff is played with a plectrum so they should persevere (unless they really like Knopfler and Beck but must of them have never heard of either.).
So, here's the question. If you let then do what they want and just establish their 'Thumb only' technique because it is personally more comfortable for them does it make you a bad teacher? Is it better to tell them it's a bad idea in the long run and then let them make their own decisions or is it better to tell them straight that it's not a good habit to get into and force them to play another way?
I can imagine that if I went to a piano lesson and told the teacher that it was just more comfortable for me to only use three fingers on each hand that the teacher would correct me and make sure I did it right because otherwise I'd be stuck even for pre-grade 1 pieces.
I get the opportunity to see lots of students from other teachers and I would say that 90% of the steel string acoustic guys that I see play scales with their thumbs only.
What do you guys think?
I would have a hard time teaching someone with this technique. When I play without a pick I tend to use my thumb and index finger as if I am holding a pick. I think Jeff Beck plays this way. I read that he hurt his hand in a car accident and after that it hurt him to use a pick.
I'm sure if you hunt around you will probably find some very good guitarists that just use their thumb. What about Wes Montgomery?
Even though part of me feels that a good teacher should let their student play the way they want to play I have to be honest and say that if I had a young student playing like this I would be trying to get them to use a pick. If the student were older and more set in their way I would just let it go.
I once had a student that played with a pick and used only up strokes. It was impossible to break his habit because it was too deeply ingrained. So I just had to work with that.
Some of the younger kids I teach seem like they would be happy to play with the guitar in their lap.
Their are so many odd ways to play guitar and play it well.How about all the guys that play upside down lefty? Dick Dale,Albert King….
If you have tried getting them to use the pick and they reject it I would just work with the thumb technique and try to help them develop it well. They are paying the bill after all 
Steve
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12/22/2014, 3:24 am
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zen guitar
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Re: Basic Technique.
Even though I played using my thumb exclusively for about 15 years before even touching a pick, I insist that all my students learn to use a pick. I don't tell them they can't use their thumb or fingers or whatever, but I insist that they demonstrate to me basic pick technique. I also explain to them that if they want to be good at guitar they need to learn how to use a pick, period. Usually this constant reminder is enough for them to motivate themselves to practice with a pick.
I still sometimes use my thumb to pick single note lines, in addition to my normal fingerstyle playing, but I can tell you from experience it is quite impossible to get a good clean, even, & crisp tone with good volume using the thumb alone (not to mention speed). That's why I eventually forced myself to learn how to use a pick properly. Give your student a message from me, someone who used his thumb for 15 years before touching a pick: "I regret it!"
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12/29/2014, 10:24 pm
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