Differences between standing and sitting (picking angle)

Playing Technique
#1

I’ve been practicing with my Strat over the past month or so and 99% of the time I’ve been sitting.

However I never play my strat in a band situation or jam I always use a Les Paul.

Normally I can pick my my Les Paul and find it more playable after playing the Strat. Standing or sitting. But today I went to my mates house for a jam first time for months and took the Les Paul. I was so embarrassed I just couldn’t play ! I was standing up of course.

Over the past 48 hours I’ve probably played 6 hours on my strat sitting down. This morning I was killing it with the Strat sitting down. I expected to be able to kill when I strapped on the LP but Jeez it was bad.

Now I should mention some other differences:

  1. I have been using Ultex XL JAZZ III picks when playing the strat. I grabbed an Ibanez medium sand grip to go jam. I think they are 0.8mm.
  2. My LP does have slightly heavier strings on the bottom end.

The main thing seemed to be the picking though.

The angle is just different I guess, as I do wear the LP quite low so my hand is at a different angle and maybe I’m even using different joints.

I know a lot of players like Troy wear their guitar quite high when standing. I just always thought wearing my guitar low looked cooler.

Also my fretting wrist was killing at the end of the jam.

What is others experience with this ?

Do I need to start practicing standing up all the time or should I bite the bullet and wear my guitar higher to simulate the same position I get sitting down ?

Of course I’ve always known it’s easier to play sitting down but this difference was drastic, I was missing strings and whole chunks of notes completely.

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#2

Personal preference for you. I like to vary my body positions and feel like I don’t have to adjust between them, so I have my strap extremely high. I’ve never really cared about the look / “cool factor”.

#3

I understand the cool perspective, tho honestly, When I look at Jason Becker, or Jeff Young (sift through the show yourself as it’s hard to find a timestamp but he has the guitar quite high, you can see by their elbow angle) I think they both look cool as F with the guitar high.

Without doubt having the guitar high let’s you play better.
And let’s be honest, who are we trying to impress? Go up to a girl after a show and ask her what she thought of your picking Technique… :rofl: Really…
She’ll be like, wot… Just do you man. It’s something I’m also learning, and honestly it’s hard to get over, looking cool, having long hair, cool looking technique, etc no one cares but us… Your stage presence will utterly overshadow any cool guitar affectations. And as I said, this is literally a battle I’ve been having with my technique for a few years now, and I’m slowly just starting to do what works, not what I think looks cool. I’m not Eddie Van Halen…

Also I played sitting down for a long time, 3 years, When I went to uni I couldn’t sit down any more, I had to stand, it took awhile, but you do get used to it. I now just have my strap high comfortably, and play, literally NO ONE cares, it’s a male competition anomaly in my opinion. I’d rather just play well.

#4

Good discussion.

I can remember my early days when playing standing up felt uncomfortable.
This just tells you that you have to stand up more often during your practice routines.

If you’re open for advice take this as a first reference:

Play new and complicated licks sitting first.
As you get smoother stand up and repeat. Also for jaming along.
Do this in every practice session and I promise you this wont take too long for you to improve.

The other thing is the position of the guitar.
While the resting position sitting is a kind of natural pre-defined position the guitar position standing can be varied quit drastically.

Back in the days I started hanging my down to my pants. Which might have looked cool because thats what most metal bands suggest - right? After all, if they are killing it on the guitar thats the way to go. Or is it?
Way later I found out that my technique improved as I adjusted the angle of my gutiar to my ellbow.
I still don’t like to see guys having their guitar directly beneath their chin but all I say is this:

Slowly adjust the strap height an see what happens.

#5

Hey @Flow, @Pepepicks66 and @WhammyStarScream,

Thanks dudes I think the main problem is because the angle of my picking hand changing between sitting and standing.

I’ve been playing for years and played in many bands, I’ve just never experienced this kind of disparity before.
I don’t have a band anymore but if I did I would play my Flying V and that has to be worn at a low level or it just looks stupid.

So, thinking back when I was gigging, I would play sitting down at home, maybe occasionally standing up if i was using a the V or a WahWah. But I would have band practice to play standing up two nights a week, so playing a gig standing up was no problem.

What I think I didn’t account for here was me spending hours sitting down and making huge progress with my picking skills but when I played standing up the picking angle was so different I just lost all of the skill that I had acquired.

I think I will first take your advice and start adjusting my LP strap so it’s a bit higher. But I also I will make sure I spend at least 30% of my practicing times standing up in the future.

The Flying V problem, well I just refuse to adjust it, i can only just pull off wearing it low let alone wearing it high. But I haven’t played it for years anyway. If I do start playing in a band again I’ll use it probably but will have to spend a lot of time at home playing it standing up (its hard to play Vs sitting down anyway).

The pick angle thing is the most worrying to me, as it’s essential to picking technique. I’m surprised no one has mentioned this in CTC before but maybe they all just wear their guitar high and their angle is the same when sitting and standing.

#6

I recall a few threads about this topic already. In fact I’m pretty sure I’ve provided similar feedback in them as well (strap length short enough that sitting and standing feels the same). It’s the main reason I play with a strap all the time now, even if I’m just sitting the whole time.

#7

Two seperate issues I see here.

One, unless you wear your guitar quite high, it’s going to be uite a bit lower on your body when you’re standing, as everyone is pointing out. Either raise your strap so it’s the same position for both, or spend a lot more time practicing standing up. I do the latter.

Two… unless your Strat has a non-recessed Floyd or something, a Les Paul will have a MUCH higher bridge, relative to the body, than a Strat, which itself causes some mechanical issues. You’ve been practicing almost exclusively on a Strat, which has strings nearly flush - probably less than a cm - from the body. A Les Paul is probably more than twice that. I struggle a bit with Tune-o-Matics or non-recessed Floyds for the same reason, unless I’m spending a lot of practice time on both.

In either case, the answer here (IMO) is practice standing up, and mix time between your Strat and your Les Paul.

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#8

I agree, practice is the main answer, Problem is ofcourse, I like sitting down :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

#9

To be honest @Drew when playing lead I don’t find the string height difference is a problem.

It’s more a problem when playing low end riffs, fast muted stuff I find.

Anyway today I had a bad day again, played the LP for an hour or so and struggled even with the strap adjusted up and then switched to the Strat sitting down while watching the football and things were better but I struggled with fast string changes again. I feel like I’m going backwards sometimes. Maybe I’ve just played for so long there is a bad habit or two in my picking hand that are just never gunna go now. Ill keep trying though.

I did decide to change the strings on my LP, because where I am struggling the most is on low end picking and even fretting because I have skinny top heavy bottoms on the LP (11 to 52) but standard light D’Addarios on the Strat (10 to 42).

I’m hoping that will help further.
I think I will also try to use the strap when sitting down.

And the answer is always - PRACTICE - I always say the more time you spend playing the better you will get, its as simple as that, but of course practicing smart can have a big impact and CTC and the forum members are certainly making a positive contribution to how people practice smart, with great advice and experience.

#10

I AM an advocate to practicing as close to in performance conditions as possible, though. If you generally perform on the Les Paul, with a raised TOM bridge, standing, then practicing on a Strat with a vintage style bridge seated is going to cause you some translation problems. Practice the way you perform, and those little mechanical differences you’re feeling will never materialize.

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#11

Yeh I know it deep down @Drew, I just love to play the Strat it’s neck and action is so nice but the LP and my Flying V have got the sound I love. That’s why I want something in between, a super strat with a Floyd Rose, when Ive got the money spare I will start cruising the music stores !

#12

Maybe try throwing a bridge humbucker in your Strat? IMO it’s just such a comfy guitar.

#13

I believe it is the easiest guitar to sit down with, and it stands in classical style. This guy explains it very well:

#14

I used to practice standing all the time. I got into some really bad habits that I couldn’t quite diagnose, until I sat down. When I sat down, it was obvious what was going wrong. So I practice sitting now and overall it feels much more comfortable.
I actually gave myself tendinitis a few years back (fretting arm) as I had the guitar slightly too low.
Anyway, I’d say it’s best to try and have the sitting position and standing position as close as possible height wise.
When sitting, I’d recommend having the guitar on your left leg (If right handed) as the angle of the guitar is a little closer to how it is when standing.

1 Like
#15

Well, Troy mentioned this in a video on his CTC series. He had a bouncing strap back in the days and this was horrible on stage. He also mentioned that he was practicing sitting (most of the time) so that at the contest he involved in, he had to sit on a stool.
Sounds somewhat familiar.

At the end of the day I think it all goes back to:
Getting used to the individual mechanics of the guitar.

For example, I’m still struggling to pick as fast on my start as I do on my LP-or Floyd Rose Guitars. I have to adapt my right hand mechanics better to the start.

Again I learned a lot of this discussion. Thanks everybody!

#16

I used to have one of those bouncy straps my guitar teacher had one and I thought it was so cool. But yeh it bounced all over the damn place every time I moved around so it went in the bin after a year or so.

#17

whaaaaat…? are you talking about the flexible straps? I love em!

#18

I’ve found some very nice 90’s guitars on ebay for cheap prices, sure, one time I got ripped off, but the other three times I got legit high quality guitars for under half the og price. I got a Washburn mg 70 for under £100! One of the best guitars I have :grin: You can get some real good deals with time n luck.

#19

I’m not sure if they are the same thing, but the ones we used to have in the 90s were the black rubbery ones.

#20

Well if you ever fancy looking at them again, I recommend the fender weighless straps. I personally like the feel of them, but even if you don’t, you can use them as a random training input, the more your angles and forces change, the more your brain becomes plastic to adapt. Apparently even being off balance can heighten your plasticity for whatever task you’re doing. Try balancing on one leg while playing, as far as I’m aware this will actually help your brain learn…