[Lcjones]

**
I'm a sit down guitar player. In 30 years of playing, I have rarely had the occasion to stand and play. I'm sure this mode of playing has caused me to acquire certain habits in posturing my body and my guitar to accomodate comfort and playing ease.

When I stand to play I feel like I'm pretty much out of shape. I can't turn my chording wrist without a little effort and sometimes pain. I find myself in almost a hunt and peck mode for finding notes. Not all the time, but sometimes. As well, the guitar is obviously positioned differently. Even strumming is sometimes different.

I've always sat with my acoustic guitars soundhole angle more upward, toward my face. I hear the guitar much better. However, standing, I sometimes have to concentrate a little more to hear my guitar.

How about all you folks who stand and play? How does standing affect your playing vs sitting? Are you more comfortable standing or sitting? Is it easier to power your way through a song standing rather than sitting?

.... jezz wunderin'

[cayenne]

Originally Posted by CanuckTodd

I'm a sitter. Funny though, I remember watching rock concerts and being disappointed at how the guitarists in some bands didn't move around much on stage, jumping and flailing their arms around like Pete Townsend. Now that I know how tough it is to get those chords / notes right, I have to revisit my opinion! Standing is one thing, entertaining 60,000 in a stadium is a whole other animal!

I hear ya....I've always been a fan of Pete, and I also loved to watch Jimmy Page move around the stage during his heyday...

I've always wondered how Jimmy would play they way he did, with the guitar slung SO far down like that. It looks cool, but, man, that has got to be difficult to play like that I'd think.

It always makes me think of that line from the Paul McCartney song, Rockshow:
"What's That Man
Movin' Cross The Stage?
It Looks A Lot Like The One
Used By Jimmy Page

It is also fun to watch that Zeppelin DVD set...seeing him how he developed his stage presence from not moving around that much in '69 through the '70s when he was all over the place....but, all through it, that guitar was slung way down low.

How low/high do ya'll wear your guitar while standing?

[wjp01908]

I`ll sit or stand depending on how I feel at the time - it`s all pretty much the same playing wise. Something a bit rocky will usually get me up on my feet.

As for height, acoustic and electric with the bridge a little below waist height seems about right to me...

Will

[Rockerbob]

Originally Posted by wjp01908

As for height, acoustic and electric with the bridge a little below waist height seems about right to me...

Will

I find I need the guitar much higher than the bridge at my waist to play properly. I wear mine high enough that even when I sit the guitar is off my lap.

[Matty22]

Im the same as Will, but... i play slightly moreclassical style, with the neck sitting about half way between my shoulder and elbow. If that makes sense. but it gets moved around to suit what im trying to do

[wjp01908]

Originally Posted by Rockerbob

I find I need the guitar much higher than the bridge at my waist to play properly. I wear mine high enough that even when I sit the guitar is off my lap.

I do tend to have the neck up at an angle in this position which makes it fairly easy to fret. I find that if it`s much higher, that my "gut" doesn`t fit the countour on the back of my electric and it gets pushed out at an awkward angle away from me.

Could lose a bit of weight I suppose........

[-kieran-]

I've only just started playing and I've been playing sitting down but sometimes get a sore back so I've tried standing once or twice but just can't do anything I thought I'd learnt! Would it be best to practise half the time sitting and half the time standing?

[Chris C]

Originally Posted by -kieran-

I've only just started playing and I've been playing sitting down but sometimes get a sore back so I've tried standing once or twice but just can't do anything I thought I'd learnt! Would it be best to practise half the time sitting and half the time standing?

Hi Kieran,

You'll probably get a range of different opinions, but here's my 2c worth.

Firstly, it's well worth putting a bit of time into getting your posture right when you play. It's very easy to end up slumped or hunched over the guitar. You get so involved with the playing that you lose track of how badly you're sitting. Classical players often use a very deliberately chosen position with one foot raised on a small stool, but the rest of us tend to be a bit sloppy.

Jamie Andreas has some pictures that might give you some ideas about a few of the possibilities.

Posture pics at Jamie's site

I now use an ergonomic office chair, with the arms removed, that gives me a range of adjustment that helps me sit and play for a while without back pain. Some people also like a kind of 'bar stool' arrangement with a rail to stick your feet on.

As far as playing standing up goes, I'd say it's probably not a bad idea to add some to your practice routine. Just don't expect it to be easy right off the bat.

Newbies get lots of advice from experienced players that simply forgets how hard it all was at the start. So, you may get told (as I was) "Don't tilt the guitar towards you. Play with the body vertical"... and so on. Sure, that's great once you're a bit down the track, but when you start most of us do need to tilt the guitar some of the time, so that we can see where our fingers are going! And that's easier sitting down.

My guess is that it could be useful to do as much standing up playing as you feel comfortable with - especially as it would give you a good 'posture break' when you get locked into sitting for too long. But not to worry too much if it seems difficult at first. For instance, you could probably stand and strum a single chord without too much trouble, but it would take a bit of extra practice before you could do chord changes standing and/or walking around because: 1. Your view of the fretboard will probably have changed, and 2. You'll need to get used to a slighly different way of controlling how the neck stays in position when you move your fingers.

Good luck,

Chris

[Kevin_Ageeee]

I like standing! sitting is cool too.