the left hand holding of the guitar

Discussion in 'Beginner's Q&A Forum' started by theartfuldodger, Jan 27, 2005.

  1. theartfuldodger

    theartfuldodger New Member

    hey guys
    i have a very fundamental question for u guys.it concerns the left hand holding of the guitar.
    i wanna know if there is any clear advatage in playing with the "classical positon"(i.e the thumb at the centre of the back of the fingerboard) or the baseball bat style grip(thumb protruding out a little more).
    coz i strudied the grips of quite a few guitarists and i noticed many of them use the classical grip.i however use the baseball bat grip and i see no problems with it.howvere im concerned if it'll hamper my technique especially when it comes to playing extremely fast solos etc.
    plz do answer my problem.
    thanx newayz
     
  2. d_ist_urb_ed

    d_ist_urb_ed Genuflect b*tches!

    I use the "baseball bat style grip" as you call it, and i've played some pretty fast solos, never been a problem. As far as i'm concerned it shouldnt be a problem, however wait for someone more experienced than me to answer.
     
  3. bob-bobby

    bob-bobby Extinct or Banned!

    both the styles are correct , depend upon you which you can adapt and play more easily ...

    i use to play the classical style a lot before when i was learning , helps to know and stich chords more easily for begineers i guess ( well this is my assumption , i can be wrong also in this ) , so it really depends upon you which style suits you the best and accordingly you can adapt it !!!
     
  4. light_of_erindi

    light_of_erindi New Member

    No classical....My hands start aching....guess i'm a gung-ho baseball guitarist !!
     
  5. sayanakaharry

    sayanakaharry Forum Leader

    i find that certain things require a certain grip. if u play a piece, play it first using one grip, and then the other. you will know which one to use.
     
  6. shak

    shak Harrr!

    ^^i agree....when playing fast riffs..i find myself using the classic grip but when i paly the normal "bendY" solos i find myself using the baseball-grip..and i also use my thumb to play the power chords pretty often
     
  7. Bandbaaja

    Bandbaaja Pronounced Band Baaaa Ja

    try a simple test
    hold your hand in "your" baseball style position.
    play the F note in the first string first fret.
    NOW without moving your hand, try to reach for the FARTHEST note you can reach on the first string, however long your fingers are, i dont think it will stretch to more than 4th or MAXX 5th fret.

    Try the same thing with the thumb behind the fretboard "classic"
    u will see that u can use the thumb like an AXIS and sway your hand to even reach the 12th fret :) try it

    ALL SAID AND DONE, THE BASEBALL BAT position is what we all "unprofessional" "unlearnt" wannabe guitarists use dont we ;) ????
     
  8. death_metal_fan

    death_metal_fan oh goody, it's a woody!

    Playing guitar well needs you to be extremely relaxed and any tension in your body will be reflected in your playing. So you should use whatever you find comfortable.
     
  9. shak

    shak Harrr!

    ^^ not true!!..check out for yourself..
    jimi hendrix..
    https://members.aol.com/bowtwanger/pict7.jpg
    https://www.digischool.nl/kleioscoop/caleidoscoop/jaren 60/woodstock/jimi hendrix woodstock.jpg
    https://www.undercover.com.au/pics/jimihendrixssdcd1997.jpg

    eric clapton
    https://www.teencancer.org/z/pages/rah/acts/clapton/Eric-Clapton-49-a-s.jpg
    https://www.knightbilham.com/clap3.jpeg
    https://www.allposters.com/IMAGES/153/0929EricClapton.jpg

    joe satriani......
    https://www.guitarscanada.com/legends/satriani2_b.jpg

    yngwie malmsteen
    https://www.triadweb.com/music/swanson/images/malm.jpg

    van hallen
    https://www.triadweb.com/music/swanson/images/evh.jpg

    randy rhods
    https://www.triadweb.com/music/swanson/images/rhodes.jpg


    all of the above GREAT guitarists are using baseball-grip...so using this grip DOES NOT IMPLIES THAT YOU ARE UNLEARNT AND UNPROFESSIONAL..its just a matter of personal taste... :)
     
  10. Bandbaaja

    Bandbaaja Pronounced Band Baaaa Ja

    LOL
    well dude
    most of the guys you have mentioned above, did NOT go thru formal lessons :)
    LOL
     
  11. shak

    shak Harrr!

    hahahah...yeha i know what u mean there.. @bandbaja...good point..but look
    https://www.totalrockguide.com/ArtistPics/KirkHammett.jpg

    kirk hammet^^..he went thru a fromal training with joe satriani and other peopl!!...i think its entirely upto the "feel" i mean when doing bends your thumb automatically goes into baseball grip to provide more stability and a hard anchor for fingers!
     
  12. theartfuldodger

    theartfuldodger New Member

    ok this for bandbaaja
    dude u mentioned that u cant really reach beyond the 4th-5th fret keeping ur hand still at f.
    i just wanna correct u on that,i got this pic of robert fripp and he's sitting with the guitar in his han and his first finger is at the 1st fret and his little finger is at the 7th fret!!!!!!!!!!!
    whoah at that!!!lolz
    and thank u all u guys for sorting out my problem
     
  13. Bandbaaja

    Bandbaaja Pronounced Band Baaaa Ja

    i got your point shahrukh
    was just ;) pondering on the point.

    there is this freind of mine called Rajesh Hemrajani, who teaches professional guitar in Wadala, Mumbai.
    Now this guy is a total BOOK ADHERING dude, who has finished the 8 grades of MelBay, and is himself learning advanced techniques.
    I have seen that he HAMMERS THE BASICS onto his students, that is:
    holding the guitar correctly, strumming at the right place, NOT placing the right hand anywhere on the bridge. correct way of holding the pick.
    Now MY POINT IS
    what happens is if you're learning from scratch these things go hand in hand, but if youve already been playing for a year or more, it becomes difficult to unlearn.

    And you get so used to your playing position that you somehow manage to play the same things that were meant to be played some other way maybe.

    For instance, I do not actually have a specific holding style
    I DO NOT play BARRE CHORDS in HINDI so my right hand automatically get into the baseball (or CRICKET BAT for us) position during hindi strumming.
    The moment I play some rock stuff, my hand automatically comes into the CLASSIC behind the frets position.

    Same way, the right hand is hung loose when playing chords, and when switching to leads, it automatically places itself on the bridge.
    - which is WRONG, you need to be able to play leads also without resting your bottom palm on the bridge, or the little finger on the guitar scratch pad area.
    BUT then its too boring for me to try to unlearn, as long as i dont have a problem playing anything my way.

    Coming back to your point, most ROCK guitarists, never ever learnt formally initially.
    They only underwent advanced training maybe.
    Of course they already undergo SOME BASIC PIANO lessons during school anyway.

    AND ONE MUST ADMIT to the fact that the instrument is a WESTERN INSTRUMENT and they SOMEHOW take to it like a walk in the park. We actually DO NOT have 100% PRO MUSIC SCHOOLS HERE, so most of us learn in an informal way.

    I have never had formal lessons - all informal lessons
    no one gave a damn about my finger positioning, and pick holding etc :)
     
  14. Bandbaaja

    Bandbaaja Pronounced Band Baaaa Ja

    Hey I said u can't if youre in the clutching bat position.
    Its all on the THUMB
    The THUMB if placed correctly allows you to SWAY your hand.

    I would like to see Robert Fripps's Photo though.
    You mean he is holding an F chord position in the bat clutching style, and his little finger is on the 7th fret???

    by the way, off topic,
    listen to the track Discipline by KING CRIMSON
    its a super finger movement exercise.
    Robert Fripp also has a book teaching his guitar method.
     
  15. shak

    shak Harrr!

    @bandbaja....hmmm...yeah you are right..kirk etc. went thru advanced training with joe..so the style that he adopted in his youth stuck with him and he didn't bothered to change it and go by "what's in the book"......i am just curious @band, is it better to be a text book guitarist or should one let his/her style of playing be determined and lead by his own natural style??...cuz u have kept your natural style so have i ...and by the looks of it so have kirk, joe, yngwie etc. etc.....
     
  16. Bandbaaja

    Bandbaaja Pronounced Band Baaaa Ja

    dekho bhaiyya
    Jimmy Page is considered the most awful Lead guitar player amongst the elite guitar players circle. but he is also considered incomparable for his rhythm structures.
    See Eric Clapton play, he hardly uses his little finger.
    Jimi Hendrix !!! - WTF do you call that style of his???

    so no wonder if you search for books, you will never get an ERIC CLAPTON'S STYLE or JIMI HENDRIX STYLE - because these were technically incorrect styles of playing.
    of course you will get their songs tabs etc.

    But you will get a Robert Fripp method, you will get a Chet Atkins method, a Frank Gambale Method, a Steve Morse video, Paul Gilbert video and dozens more.
    BECAUSE these dudes invented their own style, and showed it to the world, while keeping the basics technically correct.

    Billy Cobham once said
    "There are 100 drummers in the town where Billy Cobham lives, and they can play 100% like Billy Cobham, but nobody knows them. One of them DID NOT play like Billy did and he became DAVE WECKL"
     
  17. theartfuldodger

    theartfuldodger New Member

    well band he's not holding an f chord his first finger is on the f note(on the gihg e string) and his little finger is ont he 7th fret of the low e string.i dont have his pic though.i only saw it in a book.he had a foreword in that.but i think he was holding it in the classical style.
    ill get u the name of the book and the page number .
    neways thanx a lot for the song.
    oh and now that i am writing this reply id like to go off topic too and ask ne1 here for some modern rock songs like Headstrong by Trapt.i mean ones which are not the toughest to play(by any standards) but are still really cool to listen to.
    some more examples wud be
    1.whats my age again-blink 182
    2.last resort-papa roach
    3.i miss you-blink 182
    4.mama i'm coming home-ozzy osbourne(i absolutely love the solo on the song.its not the toughest but i believe its better to have a solo that has a soul and takes the lyrics somewhere than just having it there coz its nearly impossible to play along with it!!!!lolz)
    neways thank u guys cya soon.
     
  18. fictional_real

    fictional_real Pyaasi Jawani

    @artful....when u have you thumb at the center back i.e classical postition its more advantages....bcoz ...it will help u to reach ur fingers to hit notes which are far frm each other. baseball technique helps u to put more grip or get more strength to hit the notes....when u learn a song u'll come to know which technique is more handy. its not dat u can only learn one technique...u can adopt both of them and implement them as and when required.

    if you seen dave mustaine or dimebag playing...they always play in classical style. however, i have seen kirk and slash playing the other way.
     
  19. guns n roses

    guns n roses Pro Guitarist

    many people in my school use the baseball grip for fast and blistering solos, i use both.
     

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