Thumb position question

[tinyd]

I have a question that some of the more experienced players round here might be able to help me with - I'm learning to play the melody of "Billie's Bounce" and there's a part when it goes to a high G for a single note (or two if you count the eight-note triplet). I have big hands so I can reach F# fine just by stretching. But to hit the G, I find myself just removing my thumb from under the fingerboard and just extending the little finger a bit further for the G.

My question is - should I instead work on using thumb position for this part of the passage. Or is it OK to just extend as I'm doing? Obviously, if there were more notes up there then I'd absolutely use thumb position. My intuition is that it doesn't seem 'worth it' for such a brief period but I'm also conscious that this kind of thinking is exactly how bad habits form....


Anyway, thanks as always for insights!

[2wheeler]

There can be exceptions to all the rules but ... you should be letting your thumb come around from the back of the neck to the side of the neck and hitting the G with your 3rd finger. When your hand starts to roll around the neck like this, the 4th finger doesn't really reach anything useful any more.

Ultimately, this should be the start of a nice smooth transition into thumb position but you don't need to play in thumb position if you are only going up to the G.

[tinyd]

Thanks @2wheeler - that's just the kind of info I was looking for, especially the tip about using the 3rd finger. Although, as you say, thumb position isn't necessary in this case, it has made me interested in working on the transition so I'll have to dig out some suitable exercises.

Thanks again!