This Jimi Hendrix-Style Technique is AWESOME!

Many guitarists struggle with using their thumb to play the bass note of chords, and I did, too - for a long time. It's a great technique, but it isn't easy. I love Jimi Hendrix, and he constantly used his thumb in chords and riffs, so I wanted to copy him! It took me at least two years to figure out a way, but I persisted, and with some practice, you'll get there too. :)

🚨 Don't try this if you're a beginner. Nitsuj tried it, and it was simply impossible. It's also detrimental to your guitar development - learn Barre Chords first to develop the muscle between your thumb and index finger, then come back here. :)

Let's start with a simple open grip: D/F#.

The D/F# Guitar Chord With Thumb On Bass Note

When playing open chords like D, you'll find your thumb either stay behind the neck or comes up enough to mute the thickest string.

To play the F# bass note (at fret 2 of string 6) over the D, bring it further up and squeeze the thickest string at fret 2 with the flat part. You pull it down and towards you to pinch string 6. It's a good idea to lightly touch it against the A string to avoid the muddy sound of several bass notes.

You'll often find D/F# between G and Em. Once this grip feels comfortable, try playing the super-common sequence G, D/F#, Em, D/F#.

Let's move on to E Shape Barre Chords.

E Shape Major & Minor Barre Chords With Thumb On Bass

It's super common to play E Shape Barre Chords with the thumb. The technique differs from the D/F#, where you can only see part of the thumb. In the E Shape Major and minor grips, you can see all of it and part of my palm. You grip the guitar like a bat - I can lift it with my fretting hand!

E Shape Major Chord: Step by Step

Let's check out how to play a G Major barre chord, starting with fingers 1-4. Finger 1 barres 1:3 (string 1, fret 3) and 2:3, finger 2 frets 3:4, and finger 3 go down on 4:5 and mutes string 5 (XX5433). Make sure the fingers sit at an angle and touch one another. Grab this mini version first, then get the thumb involved.

You should be able to wrap your hand around the neck and place your thumb on the bass note at 6:3, just behind the fret. Press the string down with the side rather than the flat part. The final grip is 3X5433.

I grip the neck and can lift the guitar and play it mid-air! It's a different technique from the D/F#. :)

Grip Options

The most common grip is the one we learned above, but other options exist. You can fret two notes at once with Finger 3 - 4:5 and 5:5 - if you place it between strings 4 and 5. This gives you 355433, which is the full E Major shape.

🧐 Another Option: If you move finger 3 to 5:5, your pinkie can play 4:5. This is another way of getting the full Major grip.

E Shape Minor Chord with Thumb on Bass Note

Once you've nailed the Major grip, it's time to look at the trickier Em Shape Barre Chord.

Let's look at playing Am this way. Finger 1 barres strings 1, 2, and 3 at fret 5, finger 3 frets 4:7, and the thumb wrap around to play string 6 at fret 5 (5X7555).

To play the full shape (577555), use the pinkie or play two notes with finger 3, as we did above.

Why Use These Alternate E Shape Barre Chords?

You might think these grips are unnecessary. After all, we can play the simple barre grips instead, right? Not so fast - there are some excellent reasons for having these alternate grips in your arsenal!

General Guitar Playing

A great reason for using these grips is to relax your hand during songs with lots of barre chords. After two or three minutes, the muscle between the thumb and finger 1 gets tired. Switching to these alternate versions gets you the same sound while letting that muscle relax.

This grip also frees up your pinkie, meaning you can add melody notes two frets above the root note. Over G, for example, we can easily play 3:5, 2:5, and 1:5 with the pinkie.

💡 The Pinkie: this finger can go down on several scale degrees: the 4th (string 3), 6th (string 2) and 9th (string 1), which are super cool Major Pentatonic notes. Maybe you can even see Major Pentatonic Pattern 1 under the grip. ;)

The thumb can also reach bass notes that are impossible to fret with ordinary barre grips. Over G, you might play A (6:5) to get G/A, a common funk chord.

And it can be easier to change to this grip than the regular barre - once you're used to it! For example, if you switch from open C to the standard F Barre Chord, your whole hand needs to change shape. But to switch to F with the thumb, you move fingers 2 and 3 down a string and wrap the thumb over the top. It's loads easier!

Hendrix Fills For Rhythm Guitar

We can adapt the Major grip to mimic Jimi Hendrix's awesome rhythm fills. Put finger 1 down at 3:2 (the 2nd scale degree of G) and finger 2 on 2:3 (the 5th of G), with the thumb grabbing 6:3. This is your basic shape - you can add extra notes with fingers 3 and 4 at 2:5, 3:4, 3:5, and 4:5.

Hendrix created a lot of riffs with these notes - experiment and saw what you can find. :)

💡 Play Like Jimi: His riffs are so cool that I made a mini series full of Hendrix fills. :)

John Mayer

If you want to get into fancy stuff, John Mayer is the guy to check out. Neon is an excellent example. He has unbelievable thumb skills and can play flexible voicings that I'm physically incapable of reaching!

► Free John Mayer Song Lessons! John Mayer's songs are full of awesome riffs, cool rhythms, and interesting voicings.

The key is to experiment and see what you can do. I've given you a general method, but everyone's hands are different, and you might play these grips differently.

It'll probably feel uncomfortable when you start, but it's a matter of practice. It took me a couple of years to figure out a way, so be patient and expect it to take some time. Half an hour a day for a few weeks should get you there. :)

🔥 Check out my Advanced Guitar Lessons and master your instrument!