Hi Justin/Everyone,
Thought i would join as i have a question and thought i might be able to get some advice/help hopefully.
I've been playing guitar for around 5/6 years, i've always used the technique of playing the third of the chord way rather than playing a chord with the root note on the A string (basically how it is shown in hendrix rythym guitar 1), however i've never used the thumb as the root note before or to mute the a string whilst playing the root note with the thumb. I've seen people like Hendrix use it before but the past few months i've really been getting into Mayer and saw him live, never realised how much he used this thumb technique and what a difference it can make to the possibilites with chords.
So i have a couple of questions,
1. I've been attempting it recently and i'm finding it hard to do yet i've played for around 5 years, is this normal?
2. Whenever i do seem to get it right, my thumb isn't straight, it's more the left of it is leaning onto the E string and it's just below the fold between the top of the thumb and the middle which is playing the root note, is this the right way to go about it/normal or should i attempt to make my thumb more straight?
3. I'm going to keep practicing it although i'm getting a slight bit of pain in my finger when i do it, is the pain normal? it usually goes around 15 minutes after i stop playing.
4. Could it be that my guitar is affecting how good it sounds or should this not matter? The reason why i ask is because i play a Gibson Les Paul Standard, the neck is quite fat compared to thin fender necks, etc...
If you could help Justin/anyone that would be great!
Thanks!