Teaching question

alexmitchell17 · May 2018

Hi, not sure if I'm asking this in the right place. I have my first "propper", eg i dont know them and they are paying, student starting soon and I was just after some advice.. I've got a lesson plan in mind which I'm quite happy with but I was watching myself play and I realised that my thumb is always above the e string when I play. I've never really given a second thought about it until I thought back to my early guitar lessons and being told that was incorrect technique.. my question is do I force myself to play correctly and put my thumb behind the neck to teach the student, play normally and just tell them to put their thumb behind the neck or just tell them to do what's comfortable? I do put my thumb behind the neck for bar chords so I wasn't sure if I should force the correct technique to avoid confusion later..

If anyone has any other tips for teaching I'd love to hear them also as I've never taught a non family member before, the fact I'm being paid makes me worry lol!

Lestratcaster · May 2018

Alright there, I've been a tutor for 10 years now and always see this dilemma.

I always tell my beginners not to put their thumb over the neck when learning chords. This restricts the fretting fingers ability to stay upright and actually reach round to fret the notes. They do soon notice after a few lessons I put mine over only to mute the bottom strings though but I tell them to stick with it for now. For barre chords you definitely have to tell them to put it behind and also drop the wrist to do the shape right.

Good luck and any other questions let me know.

octatonic · May 2018

Teach techniques as techniques, not dogma.
No one approach is 'right' in all situations, it depends on what you are doing.

For instance I teach thumb behind unless you are bending strings, thumb over to support the fingers and reduce finger strain when bending strings.

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