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Playing in Different Positions

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(@blueline)
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Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 1704
Topic starter  

A short while ago, I participated in a very long jam session. Was great. One of the things that I learned during that session was the fact that I need to practice guitar while standing more often. We played a song that had B7 in it. No problem right?

I can hit that chord on my acoustic with no issues. I practice 95% of the time on my acoustic while sitting in my living room or den while staring at the drool tube. Turns out that playing my electric while standing gave me issue when I went to play that chord. Not sure if it was standing and playing or I simply need to practice on my electric more often. It's got a thinner neck. If I think about it, I'm sure I came to the same conlusion after the jam session but never followed up.

Anyways, just thought I'd share my little "lessons learned". (Never play a song with a B7 in it!) :lol: :lol: Just kidding. :wink:

Teamwork- A few harmless flakes working together can unleash an avalanche of destruction.


   
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(@jeffster1)
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If you have small hands it's worse. My hands are small and playing standing up is definitely harder. You have to forget trying to look like slash and wear your guitar up higher.

On a side note, if you practice with your guitar on your left leg instead of your right leg it really helps to simulate the position the guitar is in when you're standing.


   
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(@jwmartin)
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Joined: 17 years ago
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I try to practice while standing every so often, but I'm a lazy person at heart, so most of my practice is done sitting on the couch. I've noticed several issues when playing standing up, I usually have to keep the neck angled up more. My posture while playing and sitting would make a formal guitar teacher have a heart attack, so I'm sure if I sat right, there wouldn't be as many issues when standing.

When I get real lazy, I lay back against the arm of the couch, prop my feet up and play with the guitar laying on top of me with the headstock resting on the back of the couch. :D

Bass player for Undercover


   
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(@jeffster1)
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When I get real lazy, I lay back against the arm of the couch, prop my feet up and play with the guitar laying on top of me with the headstock resting on the back of the couch. :D

I do that exact thing, haha.


   
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(@jwmartin)
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Joined: 17 years ago
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When I get real lazy, I lay back against the arm of the couch, prop my feet up and play with the guitar laying on top of me with the headstock resting on the back of the couch. :D

I do that exact thing, haha.

Must be a Jeff thing :D

Bass player for Undercover


   
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(@dogbite)
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Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 6348
 

I have four manners of playing guitar....
coach potato=where I don't have a spine and I am practically prone. really bad posture, legs on the hassock, chin buried in chest.
sitting...I am bent over the guitar. ususally I am practicing and concentrating. my foot keeps time. sometimes when I get into it my foot really goes;I raise carpet dust and then I get the major sneeze attacts. I have to stop because this goes on for a while. soon I have to wipe my nose and guitar. eewww/
sitting and recording....high concentration posture. I am focused on my fingers and computer screen. my ears attuned to the monitors and my guitar. I don't tap the foot, I don't head bang. it is all about precision and acuracy.
standing... I am jamming or gigging. I rarely stand to practice. it doesn't take l;ong to realize that standing is very different than sitting. the fretboard is more difficult to see. no dropped low slung guitar here. I keep the neck upwards. in dark rooms my face is plastered to the neck. I still can't see. the right hand picking...I miss strings because they all look like one. what happened to the spaces betweem them??
after a few moments of adjusting and the jam or song gets too good, I forget all about how weird it is to stand and get into it. I usually play my best when standing. haven't figured that out.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=644552
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(@slejhamer)
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Joined: 19 years ago
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LOL, based on the thread's title, I thought it was going to be about soloing up and down the neck (e.g., shifting between "positions.") :oops:

But on topic, something I read a while ago, probably here, is to adjust your strap so that the guitar is at the same height whether you are sitting or standing. Works for me.

"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."


   
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(@jeffster1)
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Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 231
 

I play a lot of metal too, so there's a good amount of palm muting. The "feeling" of where your hand rests and pick works is completely off when standing too. If I angle the neck up, it's much easier for my fretting hand, but harder for my picking hand and vice versa.


   
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(@ricochet)
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Joined: 21 years ago
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Kurt Abell used to play his banjo while being lowered on a wire from the ceiling, upside down, dressed in a vampire suit and billed as "Count Banjola" on The Gong Show.

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@jeffster1)
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Kurt Abell used to play his banjo while being lowered on a wire from the ceiling, upside down, dressed in a vampire suit and billed as "Count Banjola" on The Gong Show.

LOL!

The closest I come to that is when I'm back from the bar and it FEELS like I'm playing while hanging from the ceiling.


   
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 cnev
(@cnev)
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I noticed the difference when I first started playing and only played while seated. The first time I tried standing and playing I was in for a big suprise..I couldn't do it. So i started forcing mnyself to play standing up. I don't have a problem with that much now but when I practice it's almost always sitting at the edge of the bed watching TV. But I have a unique situation, all of my gear, amp, pedals etc. are not where I live and I only have access to them on Friday nights when we jam and for a little while on Saturdays.

Even now I'll work out a song during the week sitting down and it always takes me one or two times to feel comfortable with it when i finally play it standing up.

Sometimes when I'm bored I will try playing in weird/awkward positions just for practice, you never know when I might need to be able to do that.

"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!


   
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(@rparker)
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Joined: 20 years ago
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I'm horrible. I have three set-ups. Two are beside recliners and one is beside a reclining office chair with a desk on which I prop my feet.

Funny thing is that I stood all the time when I started.

Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin


   
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(@billyboy)
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Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 91
 

On a side note, if you practice with your guitar on your left leg instead of your right leg it really helps to simulate the position the guitar is in when you're standing.

:shock: I just tried it and your right. It makes you stretch your fret arm more and sit up a little straighter. It's alot closer to standing then hunched over with my chin resting on the body :) Even though I play almost all the time standing, great tip.

"In my dreams your blowin' me... some kisses" - Lets Duet - Dewford Randolph Cox


   
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(@ricochet)
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Anybody want to try being "Count Stratula?"

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@wes-inman)
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Posts: 5582
 

I am the opposite, I am so used to standing that that is the way I prefer to play and practice. At home I will sit on the edge of my bed and play, but I try to sit so my guitar hangs just like when standing.

Standing is like anything else, the more you do it, the easier it gets. :D

I myself do not place my guitar in front of me because it makes my elbow on my fretting arm extend out, feels unnatural. I like to place the guitar on my right hip and play, with the neck in front of me. Very comfortable.

I do not hang the guitar too low, makes playing, especially barre chords difficult, decreases your reach. But I don't like it too high either, limits movement. You can't see the fretboard easy when standing, I look at the fret markers on the side of the neck.

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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