What are the Variations of an acoustic guitar?

Guitar Barre Chord technique help?

• I've been playing guitar for about a year and a half and I can play barre chords fine, but it's only till now I've gotten a guitar teacher who is teaching me grade 5. I can play all the chords fine but in different barre chord variations - for instance I can play Cmaj7 fine with my finger across the whole fret, however I find it easier and a lot more comfortable to play Cdim7 with my thumb over the top and barring the first two strings with my index finger. On the rhythm section of the grade 5 I struggle alot because I am comfortable in some barre chord positions than others, and I find it a lot more comfortable to play with my thumb over the top - however I have small hands so I cannot reach the lower strings. If I play with the fret barred, my wrist hurts after a while however I can reach the lower strings with minimal effort. I own a 2003 mex-strat and the strings are quite high so I'm considering going to the guitar shop and checking if they can lower the action so it's easier for me. If anyone has some sort of barre-chord technique they can explain to me it would help, or will I have to keep changing positions with my thumb when I come to a comfortable chord.

• Answer:

  Using the thumb does seem natural and comfortable but it's actually bad technique even if you have Jimi Hendrix fingers and can do it with ease. You should just really try hard to relearn and have proper technique with the thumb lower round the back. There's a reason for everything and I'd expect further down the line, if you kept using your thumb the way you said, you'd suddenly find yourself stuck on some advanced stuff later in your life because you got so used to using your thumb that way.