Issues with my sitting position

If you ever end up playing in public, you'll probably be playing that Strat standing, using a strap. Invest in the strap now.

Since Strats are so thin, and the finish is slippery, the strap will help you keep it in position.

One more thing: you don't want the neck parallel to the floor... you want the peghead end raised somewhat - that will improve your reach.

Since Strats are so thin, and the finish is slippery, the strap will help you keep it in position.

And the wider the strap the better. 3" leather strap should do the trick just fine.

Those thinner nylon straps will slip all over the place on you.

Speaking for myself (and maybe others), I find if I learn how to play something sitting down, sometimes I'll have to re-learn it standing up. So making a point to stand up would be something to consider now as well.

Have fun,

Mike

Welcome to GN!

Maybe try raising your right leg a bit by placing your foot on something heavy, (so it won't slide away), about 6 - 8 inches off the floor? I know they make special risers for just this purpose, but you don't need anything fancy. Get yourself a strap too as already suggested.

Good luck,
Dan

I always found that a bar stool with the "foot rest" rungs worked for me. They would allow me to raise that right leg just enough to hold the guitar correctly. But, the guys are right! You're eventually going to be playing standing up and it wouldn't hurt a thing to start doing that now!

Thanks for all of the advice. I do own a strap that I bought with my old Ibanez, but when I took a lesson with an instructor a few years ago he took the strap off, and my whammy bar too (I stopped taking lessons from him after one lesson because I found out he didn't even teach me how to properly fret.) I'll just have to read up on how to connect that strap to my Strat. Does anyone find it easier, speaking from experience, to learn how to play the guitar while standing?

It's somewhat easier to learn standing in a few situations:

1. The guitar body is too big for you to properly position while seated (I've had 8 year olds show up for lessons with Dad's jumbo dreadnaught, and their picking elbow ends up at their chin when they're seated!)

2. Your guitar body won't allow for comfortable seating (think flying V style)

3. You find yourself keeping the neck too low when seated... practicing while standing can help you get a better feel for a good seated position.

You want to adjust your strap so the guitar is in more or less the same position against your body whether seated or standing. Many people adjust their strap too long for standing - if your picking hand is below waist level, it's too low... your fretting wrist is going to strain, particularly on barre chords and bass string runs.

For my first six weeks or so i learned to play while sitting and could not for the life of me play while standing. Then I decided I would only play standing. I find it much more comfortable and the guitar is in the same position every time. The only time I "play" while sitting is when I've tipped too many cold ones. Definitely try to play standing even if it's only 5 minutes a night.

I'm terrible. I sit in my office chair with guitar in my lap facing almost upward. I have one leg up on the computer to rock me back a bit so I can watch my picking (which is what I have been practicing). I just don't have a chair to sit in that would be at the right height. So once I get my picking under control and get a better feel for the strings, I'll shift it to standing here soon. I would also suggest a non-nylon strap. Maybe because it is new, but it seems to dig into my neck a little too much.

Sitting down I practice in an armless chair with the thumb of my fretting hand dead center of the neck. I use a 4 inch riser for my left leg and the tuners are almost at eye level as stated by someone previosly. Classical style is my favorite. If I'm playing an electric standing up, I have the guitar pretty high up on my chest with the strap and I try to stay as close to classical position as possible. For me, it's the easiest and most efficient way to play/practice.

Hello all, I am new to this forum as you can tell, and this is my first post. My name is Andrew and I am a beginning, but aspired guitarist. I am currrently practicing my sitting position while playing the guitar, and things are not going smoothly. I know a picture would speak louder than my wordy explanation, but getting a picture on here would take some time. Anyways, so heres how I set myself up. I sit straight back in my armless straight chair, I rest the waist of the guitar on my right leg (it's really more on my right thigh), I make sure the neck of the guitar is running parallel to the floor, I lean slightly forward, but just as when I attempt to rest my forearm on the top edge of the guitar, the guitar slides a little and the neck is now forming an inverse slope in relation to the floor if you were viewing from above. After analyzing the situation I realized I'm getting absolutely no leverage on the guitar with my forearm, because everytime I try to do so thats when the guitar slides out of place. I also notice that I'm bordering on slouching, and it causes pain in my lower back. There are many issues here with my positioning, but I kept on experimenting. My newest guitar that I've recently bought (Fender Stratocaster) has a very thin shaped body, and theres a little slope in the frame on the top edge where my forearm is suppose to rest. So I tried everything on my old guitar which has a more thicker body and a straight top edge, but I still experienced the same issues. An issue that I like to call now the 'sliding' effect. I'm sorry in advance for being too wordy, but I wanted to explain my process in as much detail as possible to see if anyone has any remedies to my positioning issues. All help would be very appreciated, and again it's nice meeting all of you. Have a good night!

i have the same problems...i just play on my bed and it hurts whether i slouch or try to sit up straight.