Lesson: Right Hand Thumb Position

Video Lesson of the Week – Right hand thumb position and exercises for classical guitar. Here’s the Youtube Video Link if you’d like to watch it there.

I also cover a left hand exercise near the end of the video. The book I mention can be found on Amazon: The Bible of Classical Guitar Technique by Hubert Käppel which is an amazing 245 pages of exercises and text. When adjusting your hand and thumb position remember to also consider your guitar position, footstool height, and all the other variables. You can see more lesson videos at the lesson archive page or my list of technique books. Help support the site & free lessons by Sharing, Caring, and Subscribing.

Also see Gohar Vardanyan give a lesson on right hand thumb position and movement. Brought to you by Strings By Mail and their excellent YouTube channel. This is a great lesson for beginners and review for intermediates. As she outlines, make sure to start with posture and position first because there is not much you can do if your position is off. I like the disscussion on stability and not disturbing the position while playing different techniques.

Bradford Werner
Bradford Werner

Bradford Werner is a classical guitarist and music publisher from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He originally created this site for his students at the Victoria Conservatory of Music but now shares content worldwide. Curating guitar content helps students absorb the culture, musical ideas, and technique of the classical guitar. Bradford also has a YouTube channel with over 94,000 subscribers and 13 million views. He taught classical guitar at the Victoria Conservatory of Music for 16 years and freelanced in Greater Victoria for 20 years and now dedicates much of his time curating content online and helping connect the classical guitar community. See more at his personal website.

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  1. An even better exercise, is to play the first string with p and the 2nd or 3rd strings with i, m, and a. It develops great independence between the fingers and the thumb.