# Holding Acoustic Guitar for absolute beginner



## SmilingTiger (Feb 26, 2008)

Hi. I'm a very new beginner(a couple of months). Having read about techniques in holding the acoustic guitar leaves me somewhat puzzled. I think I'm supposed to keep my thumb on back of neck and leave space below neck so that my hand is not touching. The problem is that when I hold the guitar in this manner, the neck starts to move away from me whenever I change notes/chords. And if I don't leave a space under neck(my left hand is touching neck to keep it stable)then sometimes when I play the 1st string it is muted because my hand is touching the e string. Opinions please and thank-you.

Henry from Kitchener


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## Tricket (Jan 3, 2008)

well when i play my acoustic i keep my thumb either like this: ---- across the neck or like this: | depends on what i'm playing. don't try and crush the neck you can put your palm on the neck when your first learning i did, although it was frowned upon by the guy i bought the guitar from, i used my palm for added pressure when i was learning my first bar chord. anyway nothing else should be touching the neck in most instances other than your fingertips and thumb for added pressure/support. not sure how clear that is but if you need more clarification just ask.


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