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[GrumpyOldDBA]

Congrats man!

I think maybe the best teacher doing totally free stuff is justin aka https://www.justinguitar.com

You have to remember to have fun and make sure that along with drills and basic practice time you build in a bunch of fun time.

Justin has some complete courses ( again free or you can support him if you wish ) for beginners doing both rock and blues stuff.

Best luck man. Dang this forum has so many adds ya ya I cant take it very long here ...

So I finally got my first guitar an epiphone sg standard in alpine white. Now I'm looking for recommendations on learning to play. First i will try some youtuber content. I am looking for any advice i can get. Much appreciated

 

[Browning]

Congrats man!

I think maybe the best teacher doing totally free stuff is justin aka https://www.justinguitar.com

You have to remember to have fun and make sure that along with drills and basic practice time you build in a bunch of fun time.

Justin has some complete courses ( again free or you can support him if you wish ) for beginners doing both rock and blues stuff.

Best luck man. Dang this forum has so many adds ya ya I cant take it very long here ...

Thank you, yes I am using justin guitars videos. Very clear instruction for a beginner like me.

 

[TChalms]

The key to any body mechanics is to work with the body to do a given task in the most comfortable and sustainable way. Sometimes hanging the thumb works just fine, and can be used to good effect. It can also be used to change things up in the course of a long show or practice session to give relief from repetitive motion fatigue.There are many cases however where keeping the thumb behind that neck is almost mandatory for many techniques, especially things that require a lot of speed and movement, Hooking the thumb can act as an anchor and slow you down or limit reach and dexterity.

The reason many teachers are so insistent on keeping the thumb behind the neck as opposed to hooked over in a "more comfortable way" has less to do with what you are doing at the time and everything to do with what you will want to do in a few years if you continue as a player. Hooking the thumb is comfortable and natural. Everyone will figure it out and do it. Thumb behind is less natural AT FIRST and requires building some muscles and coordination that many students might never learn if not instructed.

In short, a lot advanced techniques will require the thumb behinds the neck to be used to their full potential, and if you wait until you are ready to start working on those techniques to start building the strength and muscle memory to get that thumb behind the neck, it is really going to impede your progress.

I hook my thumb pretty often, but would always encourage beginner students to play with the thumb behind the neck, even when it was not necessary just to burn in the habits they will need long term. The student will hook their thumb on their own. The teacher's job is to teach, and if I am teaching it would be "thumb behind all the time". You know you aren't actually going to do it all the time, I know it, and I don't even do it all the time myself. I am however equally comfortable thumb behind or hooked, and I might not be as comfortable with the thumb behind if my beginning teachers had not insisted on it so slavishly. Most of the time I use thumb behind just because it works better, but I might not think so if it was an unfamiliar thumb position because I had never learned it early.

Excellent explanation !!