Was reading a thread yesterday and an old comment within the thread which I can’t find for the life of me right now. But the poster said they started to hold the guitar in their left hand more similar to the way a violin is held. Does anyone else do this? Would like to learn more about this !
You mean this comment?
I do the same thing. My left hand is based off a multi-point support system derived from violin technique. It’s never truly parallel to the neck except in some cases.
Yes that was it! Where can I learn more about this? I watched the video he linked but it was very short and not much detail but I’d really like to try this
Cool. I would shoot @BlackInMind a message about that stuff. He’s an actual experienced teacher/phenomenal death metal player and he went through the ringer with his left hand. He’ll probably be able to guide you in a more appropriate direction for that stuff since he has actually worked with professionals on restructuring his technique.
edit: forgot I had this bookmarked
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Cool little read!
So for us Rock people with broken blue jeans, does it translate to:
Be aware that you can use both the “blues” and the “classical” positions, and everything in between?
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That’s my approach. I don’t make those insane rules for myself that you sometimes see in the classical world because I’m not interested in crippling my left hand so that I can be “right” in someone else’s book when I know what feels “wrong” for myself. Everyone has idiosyncrasies for their fretting hand and they have to find their own “rules” for whatever sequence it is they are trying to play. And in my book I think that involves trying every possibility for a phrase and choosing the best one… for that phrase… for you.
Same deal with the right hand. Give me alternate picking, sweep, downstroke, chicken picking… I need them all. They all have their places and trying to say one is the “best” is preposterous.
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Agreed!
Unfortunately I have some (ironically) bad habits with my left hand, due to too many years trying to enforce a classical posture even when it was not necessary (because teacher said so, and I was a good boy).
With the “thumb behind the neck at all times” approach, it’s very easy to squeeze the fretboard too hard during difficult passages (AKA the death grip).
So, doubly ironically, I’m now trying to bring that thumb over the neck as much as possible, so that I can be in the “wrong” (according to old school teachings) posture more often 
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This might be controversial for some, but I think the “thumb in the middle of the back of the neck at all times” is one of the worst pieces of guitar meme advice of all time, up there with “Stay at a speed for 5-10 minutes and then increase”. It just does not comport with reality and what we actually see people do.
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In the article you posted, for the 2 point contact image, isn’t the player’s thumb basically in the middle of the neck of the fiddle?
It does look that way, but I wouldn’t get too hung up on that. The fretting hand - no matter the instrument - is not always static. I think the main point is that you should really ensure you’re not tensing up to keep your thumb or fretting hand in a particular position, and I think that is what @tommo and I are getting at in our exchange. Trying to “bully” your hand into staying in one position isn’t very sensible to me.
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For what its worth, I was given a private lesson at college by Marija Temo, an artist doing a tour/masterclass circuit at the time. She was very trained, boasting a master’s degree in classical guitar performance from Peabody Conservatory. Her teacher was the great Manuel Barrueco. Her left hand advice to me was not that the thumb stay on the middle of the neck at all times. Rather, for each position required it should go where it needs to go. Which I think is the exact same advice as this:
She wouldn’t necessarily be putting her thumb where I was. We had different bodies, different sized hands etc.
I only bring this up because I feel there’s this misconception that classical guitarists always keep their thumbs on the middle of the neck at all times. Sure there are teacher’s (like Tommo’s) that incorrectly advise/require this. But in practice, it’s just not true, at least not of anyone who’s an awesome player 
They avoid excess tension and stress at all costs, and if anyone’s ever tackled a classical piece of even “moderate” difficulty, you’ll know why The requirements of the left hand are pretty brutal.
This piece was the most difficult I’ve ever learned, due to the left hand. Watching someone who makes it look pretty effortless, you’ll notice his left hand posture is in constant flux. The elbow pivots too, to make the most natural wrist and thumb positions possible:
Rant aside…this probably has almost nothing to do with “shred” left hand position lol!
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Why not? I think the general principle is to find the most comfortable way to fret things - whatever they are!
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I should have explained that a bit better, because you’re of course correct. Most comfortable = best. I was more summarizing that ‘good’ classical technique != good electric technique in all cases and vice versa because there are different needs between the 2 instruments.
One piece of classical guitar dogma that just has to stay is the need to get on the tips of the fingers when fretting. If the underside of the fretting fingers touch any strings positionally beneath them they dampen notes we need to hear as part of the melody or supporting harmony. A big part of the postures chosen are to facilitate this. The opposite is actually true in our electric single note playing. It helps with muting to touch the strings above/below the string we’re playing on a la MAB’s good advice.
So I guess what I meant is that plenty of the positions we see David Russell doing in that video would never need to happen during a rock solo. Also, at times, his wrist does flex a little, during huge stretches that also require a full barre be held…I think it has to to allow the tips-on-the-strings thing I mentioned above.
If we were doing a stretch that was the same fret distance in a rock lead, we could use an even more comfortable position. I think he’s making the best of a really bad situation haha (thanks, Barrios)! I can’t think of a nice comfy ‘straight wrist’ way to play a chord like that, cleanly, that doesn’t involve some other awkward body contortion of complete body posture change or shoulder rotation. He’s made a choice, for that moment, that’s the best way to play it. He immediately abandons that as soon as possible.
The bit about letting your thumb fall where it comfortable needs to for each individual’s unique needs is safe to apply to electric playing, for sure.
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This is right up my alley (and I was part of that original thread too!) Thanks to CtC I reexamined my whole technique. And just as my right hand was preventing me from playing what I wanted to play, so was the left hand!
I was forcing myself to play thumb-in-the-middle, fingers-parallel, one-finger-per-fret even when it made no sense at all. Just because it was “The Right Way To Play”. That was creating a lot of tension, impeding good hammer-on and pull-off technique and hampering my playing in general. I was fortunate to at least know about the “blues” position and I didn’t try bending with the thumb in the middle of the neck… that hurts!!!
I now play with a violin-esque position whenever needed, and place my hand in the most comfortable position all the time. The left hand is holding the neck in a neutral, “hand shake” position. Life is good.
Also, by playing the mandolin more, I started to pay attention to the points of contact mentioned above. I was really gripping the mandolin with my index finger, with painful contact where the index finger meets the palm (the reverse of the knuckle). I’m still correcting this but this is also filtering to guitar, in a good way.
I used to really grip the neck for something like a barre second fret A-chord. Not anymore!
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Do you have any resources you can share? Pics or videos? I’m in the process of re-evaluating my left hand position but if I watch a “How to hold a violin” video, I’m not sure I fully comprehend it since I’m still seeing the guitar neck and violin neck as two completely different things. Like the handshake grip?.. I’d need to see how that looks with just holding the neck vs. fingers over frets. I’m usually pretty good at thinking about this while I’m playing but I don’t always know the solution. Like last night at rehearsal we played a lot of pop tunes with funky rhythms and I could tell my thumb was taking too much tension/pressure while switching between all the chords. I could try thumb over the neck more but it would just take more practice nailing those chords in a different position, but I just don’t know if that’s correct. I appreciate you chiming in and any help you can offer.
I don’t have any resources to share. However, what I call the “handshake” grip is easy. Just extend your left forearm as if you were going to shake somebody’s hand. You can keep the upper arm next to your body. Then place the guitar neck in the hand.
Also, there’s no “correct” left hand position. The correct position is the one that allows you to play what you need to play without generating unneeded tension. Most of the time, in an electric guitar, that position is not with the thumb in the middle of the neck nor with the fingers parallel to the frets.
So like it’s okay to play chords or power chords with my fingers on a slant?
That’s not for me to say. Does it feel like a comfortable position for your hand? Does it allow you to play well? Does it feel relaxed without unnecessary tension? If the answer is yes, how could it be wrong?
Take a look at some videos by whoever your guitar heroes are. See how they position the arm and the hand. Try to find some shots where you see the back of the neck instead of the fretboard. That will give you some clues, I think.
yeah true, I guess im just trying to figure out or understand what the basis for left hand violin position is and how it translates to the guitar before I start modifying it
Here is a video of Bumblefoot demonstrating some Yngwie licks where you can see a great angle on how exactly he’s gripping the neck. There is a ton of index finger-base contact going on, even when he drops his thumb round back a bit to reach the lower strings, you can see he keeps this contact point on the lower bout.