Nice one. Notice how SWs thumb disappears under the neck, in the pics, when he does a barre chord. Thumb placement in crucial. It needs to be under the middle of the neck. There are two lines of thought about thumb placement in relation to the index finger on the fret board. One is to place the thumb directly under the index finger like you were pinching your finger and thumb together. The second is that the thumb is under the second finger. See which feels best to you.
Remember that your thumb glides around the back of the neck according to how much of a stretch you need to achieve to grab various notes and chords. It is not static. That helps prevent thumb cramps.
Start with the barre chords that SW has shown you but, practice them further up the neck around the 5th fret. Much easier to start with. Work your way down to barre chords closer to the nut which is harder.
Don't practice holding a barre chord for more than a minute at a time. When your thumb starts to hurt, stop and shake your hand out.
You want to hold a clean barre chord with the least amount of pressure so try and avoid crushing the neck. You want as little hand fatigue as possible in your playing.
|