How to Play Guitar Standing Up

If you’ve got any questions, we at Guitar Noise are always happy to answer them. Just send any of your questions to David at [email protected]. He (or another Guitar Noise contributor) may not answer immediately but he will definitely answer!

I thought we could deal with a performance specific question this week.

I have been playing Guitar for about 3-4 months now. Because I already have knowledge of music (I have been playing piano for a few years), I picked it up quite well and I can pretty much play all the songs I want to play; to the speed of the CD. My friends and I are just starting a band, and all this time I have been playing the guitar sitting down. I try to play standing (because I will need to come the gigs) and find it very hard, especially when I have to do chords right down the fingerboard at about the 9th fret onwards. Please could you help me out!

Thanks for writing. The first thing that I would ask is where is the guitar (should I assume it’s an electric?) in relationship to your body? Most people tend to play their guitars really low because that how they see it in videos and I guess it’s really cool but it’s harder than anything to play well like that. Worse, you can develop serious wrist problems by doing that for long periods of time.

If you will watch the really good guitarists (those more interested in playing well rather than showing off) you will notice that they tend to have their guitars strapped higher on their bodies. Ideally you want your hand that’s fretting the neck to be about the same height as your chest.

Secondly, if you’re playing and singing at the same time, don’t be surprised if you find yourself taking a look every now and then to see where your fingers are. EVERYONE does this and if you carefully watch people playing on stage you will catch them doing it. This is especially true the higher up on the fretboard you go. I hope this helps.

Thank you again for the email. Maybe one day I’ll be lucky enough to have the pleasure of hearing you perform.