Thumb Placement & Legato lines

elusivelight

Legato playing is one of my weakest aspects as a player, especially on the lower frets, I have fewer problems up at the higher end of the guitar. I was wondering how much thumb placement impacts this?

For example the legato run from 4-2-0 down the strings in the Crazy Train intro. I am having a really tough time getting this to any sort of speed. Looking at my thumb placement I am nearly fretting the F# when I am doing it.

Do I need to change my thumb position?

Roland

Don’t think about your thumb. Think about your wrist. If it’s bent back, where it often is if your thumb is over the neck, then your fingers won’t move as quickly. Dropping your thumb down the curve of the neck will allow your fingers to move more easily,

bencowling81

What @Roland said is spot on. You want a straight line running down the back of your hand to your forearm. So where you should place the thumb (for most economic technique) depends on where on the neck you are playing. 

elusivelight

Thanks guys, that makes sense. Have to really think about wrist position now when I am playing!