I know theres a lot of variables with people being different sizes and stuff but are we going to get a section on how to hold and sit with the guitar?. I think it would be good to have a section that discuses different aspects of this and how it all affects the alignment of your pick and approach angles and all that jazz.
2 Likes
Definitely a huge topic but might be hard to boil it down to āone size fits allā. Especially since posture will change depending on guitar, strap, chair, etc, and thatās before getting to individual preferences / health.
Yeah, everything sort of fits together into one system, and you canāt necessarily use the picking motion of someone with the guitar under their chin and adopt it with the guitar hanging around your kneesā¦
If youāre playing with the leading edge of your guitar pick (i.e. the most common way) and picking from your wrist, with a lightly supinated anchor, I think this is how it goes:
- Move guitar Down ā steeper shallow approach angle ā More edge picking
- Move guitar to the right across the body ā steeper approach angle ā More edge picking
- Tilt the neck toward the ceiling ā More edge picking
When standing Iāve been putting the guitar as high as possible (to make life easier for the left hand) but not so high that I have to use any muscles to keep my picking hand in the right position. This actually puts the guitar so low that I also want to tilt the neck up toward the ceiling for left-hand comfort.
If your look at guitar players on youtube youāll see a lot of people with a right shoulder thatās either raised or constantly working to pull back. Iām sure itāll eventually calcify to relieve the strain, and itāll feel OK, but thatās not something I want 
My back has been killing me lately due to bad posture, or maybe just too long sitting in the same positionā¦
Thought Iād relate a bit of recent personal experience. Iām left-handed but play guitar righty and work at a computer all day. Additionally, the vertebrae in my neck arenāt aligned in a gently sloping curve; theyāre closer to a straight line. Itās actually not that uncommon. One of the names for it is āmilitary neckā.
About three months ago I noticed a tingling in my left hand after a practice session so naturally I ignored it. However it happened again the next day and seemed a bit worse. I decided to ignore it. After four days of this I started to freak out. It was impacting my work and threatening my ability to enjoy or possibly play guitar. To make a much longer story short what ended up being the cause was a pinched nerve on the left side of my neck. Hereās a pic for anyone interested in anatomy:
The curve along the cervical vertebrae in that pic mean thereās more space towards the front of each vertebrae where the nerve roots shoot out to either side. When the vertebrae are in a straight line thereās less room and if you add in things like poor posture and the natural aging process your nerves can get angry at you.
A good family friend heard about what I was going through and it reminded them of a past similar experience of their own. They ended up being treated by a chiropractor (shout out to Dr. Ken Lowey of Newton Center Chiropractic) who successfully employed the use of active release therapy. In my case itās been a combination of:
-
ART and a device called an actuator
-
making my workstation setup more ergonomic
-
being more aware of my posture
-
stretches that specifically target the problematic area
-
learning to use my right-hand as my dominant hand for work
All I can say is that itās brought me tremendous relief and if all of that helps someone here: great!
One interesting fact that I learned is how the relative weight of our head changes in regards to the neck support needed. When our posture is good and our head and neck are in alignment the average adult head weighs between 10-12lbs/4.5-5.4kg but that increases dramatically in the following way:
- 15 degrees = 27lbs/12.24kg
- 30 degrees = 40lbs/18.1kg
- 45 degrees = 49lbs/20.4kg
- 60 degrees = 60lbs/27.21kg
Cheers,
Dave
1 Like
I find that posture is just like different picks and guitars, you adapt to whatever you do regularly, so in a way itās a non issue with practice. But no doubt there are more efficient and healthy ways to hold the guitar.
I think if you have your strap up high you are in a good place to preform and in terms of your health. But many people think is looks goofy and not as cool as low. I think having the guitar excessively low is trying too hard to project an image. But I guess thats half of being an entertainer. The visual is important. Seen some great players have a high guitar tho, Jeff Young, Jason Becker ectā¦
Having the guitar up high stops you from having to curve your spine to play well. It follows your upper torso and you donāt have to bend around the guitar to play it well.
Iāve said it before, but Iām glad I never really bought into this in my āformative yearsā. I think many modern bands have made it cool to have it high now!
Something to consider is arm length. I have a decent āape indexā (climber term for max reach vs height; Iām +3, since Iām 70 inches tall and 73 inches fingertip fingertip, arms wide), so I can have my guitar where it looks moderate / high. Someone like Paul Gilbert (who looks like he can slap his knees while standing straight) had the guitar looking lower than most, but Iām guessing his arm length evens it out.
1 Like
Yeah, you see a lot of technical metal bands have their guitars up quite high and looks pretty awesome to me 
1 Like
It would be cool to see it spelled out. Most of us have an intuitive sense of whats correct, but the clear videos Troy does on physical technique really solidify it. I know it takes an excessive ammount of work to be sure of what youāre saying though and itās like pc video games, everyoneās got a different system and to state facts can be a difficult line to balance on.
I do think there are clear facts about strap hight and posture that can be made into a video tho.
1 Like