Posture and guitar position while seated

[vibrolucky]

I'm 47, been playing for about 25 years. I'm self-taught with a few bad habits here and there, but I'm a pretty good strummer. Play mostly folk/alt rock. Since I don't play Electric anymore, and not in a band situation, I play Acoustic guitar now seated about 90 minutes everyday.

The more I observe others playing seated, the more I notice that they are able to keep the guitar neck flat and perpendicular 90 degrees from their body. I tend to cant the neck at a 25-30 angle and keeping the guitar body flush with my stomach feels odd. When I hold the guitar seated the 'proper' way the first couple of frets seem too far away and its painful doing bar chords around the first few frets. Not a problem when capo'd up to 3 or 4, but I'd like to start using 'proper' posture and seating position. For the record I play full scale Martin D size guitars.

Anyone else struggling with this issue when seated?

[TBman]

If my stomach was flatter my fretboards would probably be more perpendicular than they are

Even though I play seated I wear a strap to help keep the neck up and the guitar secure so I'm not holding it in place while trying to play.

As long as its comfortable for you, doesn't cause any other issues and helps your playing, then you're fine. If it isn't broken, don't fix it.

[BernebeM50]

I play classical guitar and the neck is pretty much at a 45 degree angle. This allows my left hand to fall naturally on the frets without having to bend my wrist left or right. I do arch my hand over the neck and place my thumb near the middle of the neck so that the my fingers fall straight down on the strings. The guitar body is also not flat on my stomach so that I can see my left hand fingering better but that is probably not so good technically. I also should be bending my right hand wrist more as well so that the corner of my fingernails and not so much the center plucks the strings but it is hard to break old habits.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by BernebeM50

I play classical guitar and the neck is pretty much at a 45 degree angle. This allows my left hand to fall naturally on the frets without having to bend my wrist left or right. I do arch my hand over the neck and place my thumb near the middle of the neck so that the my fingers fall straight down on the strings. The guitar body is also not flat on my stomach so that I can see my left hand fingering better but that is probably not so good technically. I also should be bending my right hand wrist more as well so that the corner of my fingernails and not so much the center plucks the strings but it is hard to break old habits.

Oops never.mind.

[Guitar Slim II]

Originally Posted by BernebeM50

I play classical guitar and the neck is pretty much at a 45 degree angle. This allows my left hand to fall naturally on the frets without having to bend my wrist left or right.

I think this is true for most kinds of guitar. I don't think 90 degrees straight out from the body, as the OP mentioned, is necessarily ideal for any style. Picture an electric player with a strap (who doesn't play with the guitar around his knees). The neck is usually tilted up -- from just a little to quite a bit.

I'm a classical player too, and sometimes I use the footstool even if I'm flatpicking on a steel string or even on electric. As the previous post notes, it encourages better hand position.

When I'm not "assuming the position" with a footstool, I adopt a kind of casual posture I've seen both country and latin players use: right leg crossed over left, with the waist of the guitar resting on my right thigh. The neck is slightly tilted up, and angled slightly away from my body. When seated this way it's definitely a good idea to angle the neck out from the body a bit. This gives the arm and shoulder greater freedom of movement. It might also feel more comfortable than pressing the whole back of the guitar against your chest.

The flamenco folks do it way different, and a couple of different ways also. Talk to an expert, flamenco is mysterious to me...

[rick-slo]

Neck fairly level, elbow tucked towards body, guitar on right leg. Can do that all day long without a problem. More or less like in the photo below:

[SprintBob]

No doubt a tilted neck is more comfortable and for most of us makes it easier to reach the fretboard with less tension. Check out the Neck-Up guitar support, better IMO than a footstool at getting the neck up while being kind to your lower back and shoulders.

Good luck.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by vibrolucky

I'm 47, been playing for about 25 years. I'm self-taught with a few bad habits here and there, but I'm a pretty good strummer. Play mostly folk/alt rock. Since I don't play Electric anymore, and not in a band situation, I play Acoustic guitar now seated about 90 minutes everyday.

The more I observe others playing seated, the more I notice that they are able to keep the guitar neck flat and perpendicular 90 degrees from their body. I tend to cant the neck at a 25-30 angle and keeping the guitar body flush with my stomach feels odd. When I hold the guitar seated the 'proper' way the first couple of frets seem too far away and its painful doing bar chords around the first few frets. Not a problem when capo'd up to 3 or 4, but I'd like to start using 'proper' posture and seating position. For the record I play full scale Martin D size guitars.

Anyone else struggling with this issue when seated?

The issue is the angle of the left wrist.
With the guitar on the right leg, the neck can be near horizontal - because the low frets are not too far away - although angled up slightly is better.
Ideally, the waist of the guitar should sit flush on the thigh, and be tucked back as far as it will comfortably go, secured in place by the right arm. (Think of directing the soundhole out to an audience, not up to the ceiling, and definitely not up to your face!)
When you barre around 5th-7th frets, your index should be parallel to the frets and pointed at your eye. The principle is to have all frets (from 1 to 12-14 anyway) within easy reach, so that 5-7 central position should feel central. It should certainly be easy enough to barre fret 1 and keep the index parallel with the fret, without extending the arm or bending the wrist too much.
A good rule is always to keep the fret arm elbow at 90 degrees or less. Find a position which allows you to do that, as well as keeping your wrist relaxed and more or less straight. That will probably determine the position described above.

Even so, for simple strumming, with simple chords, it may well be easier with the neck more horizontal, because that's a better angle for the strumming arm, as the elbow can be lower down (nearer the strap button). So it depends on the tasks each hand is having to do. If the fret work is tricky (and you're playing fingerstyle), bring the neck up and back. Make it easy on that left wrist. If you're just strumming cowboy chords (or higher position barres), horizontal is better.

[Todd Tipton]

I too adapt the classical position, at least as a default position. A little trick I learned was to take a couple of thin hardback books, or a thin piece of wood. Place them (or it) under the back legs of the chair. This takes a tremendous amount of pressure of off your back!

[islandguitar]

Originally Posted by SprintBob

No doubt a tilted neck is more comfortable and for most of us makes it easier to reach the fretboard with less tension. Check out the Neck-Up guitar support, better IMO than a footstool at getting the neck up while being kind to your lower back and shoulders.

Good luck.

Yes, I like these supports, especially when I'm more serious about attack and not being lazy! (which means I'm just setting the guitar on the right thigh and crossing my legs). I use a "Guitarest" via Deoromusic.com . I believe I found this through a posting from Larry Pattis some time ago on AGF. He had tried many varieties and landed on this one as his choice.

[SprintBob]

Originally Posted by islandguitar

Yes, I like these supports, especially when I'm more serious about attack and not being lazy! (which means I'm just setting the guitar on the right thigh and crossing my legs). I use a "Guitarest" via Deoromusic.com . I believe I found this through a posting from Larry Pattis some time ago on AGF. He had tried many varieties and landed on this one as his choice.

I got both the Guitarest and the Neckup. Both work as advertised and my take comparing the two is the Neckup is a bit more comfortable and the Guitarest is a bit more stable.