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I bring my thumb over the top of the fingerboard a lot to kill sympathetic vibrations. Does anyone else do this? If I keep my thumb on the back I get a lot of excess sym vib. Is it okay to bring the thumb over top?
What do you mean "sympathetic vibrations?" I generally like to keep my thumb in the middle of the neck because I don't like the looks of it protruding from above the neck or curling over the fretboard.
Sympathetic resonance is a harmonic phenomenon wherein a formerly passive string or vibratory body responds to external vibrations to which it has a harmonic likeness. The classic example is demonstrated with two similar tuning-forks of which one is mounted on a wooden box. If the other one is struck and then placed on the box, then muted, the un-struck mounted fork will be heard. In similar fashion will strings respond to the external vibrations of a tuning-fork when sufficient harmonic relations exists between the respective vibratory modes. A unison or octave will provoke the largest response as there is maximum likeness in vibratory motion. Other links through shared resonances occur at the fifth and third though with less effect. The principle of sympathetic resonanance has been applied in musical instruments from many cultures and times. Apart from the basic principle at work on instruments with many undamped strings, such as harps, lutes, guitars and pianos with the dampers raised, other instruments are fitted with extra choirs of sympathetic strings, which respond with a silvery halo to the tones played on the main strings.
String resonance in music instruments Main article: String resonance (music)
String resonance occurs on string instruments. Strings or parts of strings may resonate at their fundamental or overtone frequencies when other strings are sounded. For example, an A string at 440 Hz will cause an E string at 330 Hz to resonate, because they share an overtone of 1320 Hz (3rd overtone of A and 4th overtone of E).
It's bad form and it's unnecessary. You can use any of your other nine fingers for muting but the thumb should stay on the neck, centered underneath the fingers.
I've been taught that it is not correct in flamenco (I've never learnt any other sort of guitar) but that it is a technique used in rock or jazz? Mind you I've seen ToddK do it (oooh he's such a rebel! )
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