Playing Standing Up

John Curnew · #1 11-26-2009, 07:06 PM

I've never played guitar standing up. I'd like to sing at a music group, but everybody stands up to play, so I guess I should do the same. Anyway, are there any tips you can give me to get started right? Thank you. John.

Dr. Spivey · #2 11-26-2009, 07:37 PM

First you need a strap and some means to affix it to your guitar.

Seriously, does your guitar have a strap button? If not do you know how to install one or where you prefer it? Some folks have preferences as to strap material, width, flexibility etc. You may want to go to a shop and work all these details out.

I find I play better standing, when I sit I like a barstool that is fairly tall, so my left foot touches the floor and my right heel is on the braces of the stool, sort of semi standing. If I sit in a low chair I tend to get lazy and sloppy and my shoulder hurts.

Find out what works for you.

Tunes · #3 11-26-2009, 07:48 PM

There are also two basic different types of straps you can go with. They both affix to the end trap button on the bottom end of your guitar, but one style affixes to the headstock, just beyond the nut, and the other style affixes to another button usually installed where the neck meets the body.

Almost every guitar I have seen comes with an end button, but many do not have the other strap button.

The link below has several pictures showing where to install strap buttons.

Also, be sure to stand up nice and straight! Good posture is essentiall.
http://www.frets.com/FRETSpages/Musi...apbutton1.html

Joe F · #4 11-26-2009, 07:51 PM

It also helps when you're first starting out to adjust your strap so that the guitar is pretty much at the same height in relation to your body as it is when you are sitting down rather than being significantly higher or lower.

fitness1 · #5 11-26-2009, 07:56 PM

and if you want your guitar to sound it's best.....keep the back away from your belly. You mute the heck out of your guitars tone and volume when you press your abdomen against the back

billv · #6 11-26-2009, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe F

It also helps when you're first starting out to adjust your strap so that the guitar is pretty much at the same height in relation to your body as it is when you are sitting down rather than being significantly higher or lower.

What Joe said...

BoB/335 · #7 11-26-2009, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fitness1

and if you want your guitar to sound it's best.....keep the back away from your belly. You mute the heck out of your guitars tone and volume when you press your abdomen against the back

Never thought about that. How do you hold the guitar away from your body while holding the guitar with a strap?

Misifus · #8 11-26-2009, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoB/335

Never thought about that. How do you hold the guitar away from your body while holding the guitar with a strap?

While Fitness's comment has merit, there is no practical way to keep the back of a guitar free of your body while playing standing up. On the other hand, a lot of players do just that, and manage to produce good sound. Perhaps someone will come out with guitar equivalent of the Toneguards used on mandolins.

For me, there's little choice. I simply can't sing as well sitting down, so I have played standing for a long time now. At first, there was the temptation to try to see the strings and fretboard the same as I did while playing sitting down. That's awkward at best. With time, I've learned to play largely by feel, with glances at the edgemarkers on the fretboard at critical times. Like any other skill, practice is essential.

-Raf

DenverSteve · #9 11-26-2009, 10:27 PM

Playing standing up (I feel) is actually easier and freeing. When you sit you tend to grip the guitar if you're not playing with a strap. By using a strap you let the guitar hang and your hands only have to strum/pick and finger chords. This lets you move up and down the neck, I believe, faster and with less hand tension.

Get a good strap. Connect it securely to your guitar and walk around the house playing until you feel relaxed and loose. You will also (unless your sitting posture is perfect) breath better and consequently sing better when standing. Oh yeah, and have fun.

Bruce E · #10 11-27-2009, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fitness1

and if you want your guitar to sound it's best.....keep the back away from your belly. You mute the heck out of your guitars tone and volume when you press your abdomen against the back

Let me guess from your screen name that you work out a lot and perhaps have a nice flat stomach.

I - on the other hand - do not. I tell my wife that I have a "six pack." I just keep it in an insulated chest.

If I could somehow keep my guitar from touching my stomach it would be so far away from me that I couldn't reach the strings. Good advice, but not universally applicable.

GuyM · #11 11-27-2009, 09:40 AM

For me, I found that a good strap made all the difference in the world. I started with the cheap nylon straps and they just would not stay put. They slipped around and I had trouble controlling the neck of the guitar. When I went to a wider swede strap that solved the problem. I also found that when I attached the strap to the headstock the guitar felt much more stable in my hands. Of course, this was after I had installed strap buttons on the neck.

powerpopper · #12 11-27-2009, 01:28 PM

My guitar-playing life started in earnest when I learned to play (and sing) standing up. It forced me to play almost exclusively "by feel" which was a huge milestone in my playing. Don't get me wrong...I'm no Tommy Emmanuel as I'm mostly a strummer/singer but being able to deliver a song standing while looking your audience square in the eyes is the way to go.

topographic · #13 11-27-2009, 03:27 PM

This is interesting. I never stand when I play acoustic ata a gig because I can't get the tone I need, plus I like the fact that it makes us look diffferent onstage---almost everbody else stands up

On the other hand, I never play an electric sitting down, so I guess I'm normal in that regard.

I've always felt that if acoustics were made to be played standing up, they would come with two strap buttons. I realize that one could argue that they come with only one because people have different preferences about where the other button should go, but I don't know about that....if a someone who knew nothing about guitars were to look at Strat and a D-28 side by side, and then asked which guitar seems made to be played standing up, which one would that person pick?

The downside to playing an acoustic sitting down at a gig is that you lose a degree of performing energy; I definitely notice a difference in the crowd's interaction with us when I strap on my Strat for one of our "electric sets". It's an odd thing, and I'd love to be able to play an acoustic standing up, but I just don't like to; it simply doesn't feel natuarl to me at all.

FWIW, sitting down doesn't affect my singing in any perceived way.

http://www.myspace.com/howardgloria

Aiello1218 · #14 11-27-2009, 07:57 PM

I too agree with the comment about the guitar being the same height standing as when you sit. I never really liked the strap attached to the headstock. I did notice the difference between a fairly nice strap and something junky. Get something good, it is extremely more comfortable. I have an ok nylon strap but there is a wool one that is amazingly comfortable and soft. My two cents.

Fliss · #15 11-29-2009, 08:10 AM

I agree with the advice above about getting a strap that feels comfortable to you, and adjusting it so that the guitar will be in a similar position to the way you play sitting down. The one piece of advice I'd add is practice singing standing up at home before you go out and do it at the music group so that you will be comfortable and familiar with it.

Fliss