Can I see your posture, sitting/standing?

[Lucretia]

Hi,

I'm having trouble with this, I had a few lessons and the tutor tried to get me to put it on my right thigh, but I just couldn't get it and I still can't. My wrist just doesn't seem right.

I'd love to see how other people hold this thing. It is a strange one, I think, and It'd be interesting to see.

Thanks,
Luke.

[BoogerRooger]

Are we talking about playing the guitar, or what?

[archervsgunman]

lol. thats terrible. lets keep this forum a weiner joke free zone.

im sure that you could check youtube to see how other people sit with the guitar and the position of their wrist.

[dijos]

sitting, pretty much classical position, and standing, the same thing except that the headstock is pointed away from me more, like a 45 degree angle.

[kyle1167]

Just go with what ever feels comfortable for you. There is no wrong or right way, everyone has their own way.

[mellecaster]

I'll Play

[Moonrider]

I'll play too . . .

[brewwagon]

johnny cash has it down kinda like shooting a daisy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_21p...eature=related

bw


...luther looks like he's enjoying this plenty

[surfco]

Originally Posted by BoogerRooger

Are we talking about playing the guitar, or what?

LOL!

[Lucretia]

Originally Posted by mellecaster

I'll Play

No matter what I do, I seem to end up with this kind of position of my wrist, which seems too much to me. Plus, my thumb ends up on it's side on the bcak of the neck, I just cannot sit the pad of my thumb on the back and have my fingers in front!

Luke.

[F6_FullMelt]

get classy and put it on your left leg.

[Slow Reflexes]

A lot of people will say that there's a particular position you have to sit in and a particular way you have to hold the guitar and if you move at all it's BAD, but they don't always explain specifically why. The important thing (as I see it) is to avoid a big kink in your wrist on the fretting side, and keep your strumming side as relaxed as possible.



As you can see, any number of positions can accomplish that, and it really depends on where you're playing (on the neck) a great deal.

This guy actually illustrates it pretty well...



Personally, I usually end up something like this, but without the talent...

[all_identaties_taken]

Sitting with your legs crossed like that will cut the circulation and give you varicose veins.

[Slow Reflexes]

I already have varicose veins - but the legs crossed wasn't really the point he was making

I usually prop my foot up on something - you could go all classical and use a nice foot stool, but I am cheap and use amps, piles of books, or sit on the edge of the couch with my left knee dropped.

[all_identaties_taken]

Sitting: I play classical style over my left knee with my left foot on a 100 cake of CD's (I really must get a footstool)
Standing: I have the guitar very low, in fact below the belt however this is partly due to me having long arms (I have a heck of a job buying shirts as well). I think being a finger picker makes me have the guitar even lower so I can get a nice arch, for me it's very comfortable down there. However I do have to keep up the maintenance on the six pack as a belly spilling over the top of the guitar just looks wrong.
Thing is none of us a cookie cutter people, just go in a clothing store and look at how many sizes there are. Play around and find what works best for you.
One little thing I've noticed all the guitar players I know with bad backs play archtops under their chins.

[shades]

A good friend used to bust my stones about being "sloppy"...he is trained in very classical style and is quite talented. He would comment "well, it works well for you" while being so precise about his posture and such. Everyone is built different and some are more flexible than others. Bottom line, do what works for you and is comfortable. You can't be anyone but you.
View my "sloppy" style avatar pic.

[Lucretia]

Slow, thanks, that Irish buy really showed how badly my wrist gets (before he changes to classical stylee). I hoiked the strap up and have the upper horn sitting on my right pec with the neck at 45ish angle, and left leg up on the amp, but better, think i just need to practice a spider walk until i get used to it.

Thanks,
Luke.

[mickeydean]

[/IMG]

[Starting 2 Old]

Big round belly and stiff left wrist. I started with the thing almost vertical, neck pointing to maybe 11:00. After a year of playing the bottom strap button is on my right inner thigh, and the neck points to about 9:30. I find the strap really important to let my left hand move freely.

[tiktok]

Finding the "best" playing position depends on a number of choices, and the order with which you make these choices will start to lock you into certain options until finally you don't really have any:

The guitar (size, shape, weight)
Strap length (looking like a cool rockin' dude, or short enough to optimize comfort)
Preferred picking hand technique (resting on the guitar? free floating? fingerstyle? downstrokes only?)
Preferred fretting hand technique (three fingers? four fingers? thumb over the back of the neck?)
String gauge

And so on. Personally, I find it very difficult to get much serious playing done sitting down. I don't like a lot of bend in my fretting-wrist hand, and my hand doesn't really allow me to do much of the cradle-the-neck-in-my-palm thing. Plus, sitting down with the guitar on a leg almost always leads to hunching over, which leads to pain, which leads to long breaks watching tv and not playing...

Regardless of what approach you end up taking, you'll almost inevitably find yourself in a conflict at some point between favoring your technique, and favoring your image/feel.

[Lucretia]

Originally Posted by tiktok

Finding the "best" playing position depends on a number of choices, and the order with which you make these choices will start to lock you into certain options until finally you don't really have any:

The guitar (size, shape, weight)

Tele copy.

Originally Posted by tiktok

Strap length (looking like a cool rockin' dude, or short enough to optimize comfort)

Dunno, but I've shortened it quite a lot, plus I've ordered a leather one with suede on the back to reduce slippage (the Levy one I have is nylon and slips).

And I'm trying the more classical position.

Originally Posted by tiktok

Preferred picking hand technique (resting on the guitar? free floating? fingerstyle? downstrokes only?)

Well, I'm following Mark Brennan's JamPlay.com series, so I spose it's free floating.

Originally Posted by tiktok

Preferred fretting hand technique (three fingers? four fingers? thumb over the back of the neck?)

Trying to do thumb behind neck.

Originally Posted by tiktok

String gauge

God knows, they came with the guitar. I've ordered a cheap affinity strat from ebay and a few sets of super slinky strings, so it might get changed.

Originally Posted by tiktok

And so on. Personally, I find it very difficult to get much serious playing done sitting down. I don't like a lot of bend in my fretting-wrist hand, and my hand doesn't really allow me to do much of the cradle-the-neck-in-my-palm thing. Plus, sitting down with the guitar on a leg almost always leads to hunching over, which leads to pain, which leads to long breaks watching tv and not playing...

Regardless of what approach you end up taking, you'll almost inevitably find yourself in a conflict at some point between favoring your technique, and favoring your image/feel.

In the position I'm trying, I can get my wrist fairly straight higher up on the neck (bridge end) and not so much at the lower end (head end).

(Think I got my terminology right re ends of neck).

Thanks,
Luke.

[hybridpicker]

I never play standing. I always sit in a chair or the floor when praticing. when i start getting gigs and get a band together I will always be sitting on a bar stool. I dont like standing

[all_identaties_taken]

Originally Posted by hybridpicker

I never play standing. I always sit in a chair or the floor when praticing. when i start getting gigs and get a band together I will always be sitting on a bar stool. I dont like standing

The new BB King?