Standing and playing

Hey,
I learnt to play while sitting on a chair, I have an acoustic without a shoulder strap so I also practiced while sitting but recently I had an electric and it had a shoulder strap...when I tried to play it standing up

1. it felt kinda funny
2. my wrist was bent kinda funny
3. Trying to play barre chords was really difficult, I couldnt even change bar chords in tempo!

Is there any special way to stand to get used to playing like that or do you guys think I was doing standing in the wrong position or guitar too high/low etc
It certainly did not feel very comfortable :(

Playing the major/minor open chords or a few lead licks was no problem at all


advise?

Thanks!

Was it slung really low? If so, you may need to raise it up. The higher the guitar's position on your body, the easier it will be to play.

Yep, I kinda stumbled onto that...the more i raised the guitar the easier it was to play but I ended up having it real high, if I was a chick I'm sure guys would say it looked like it was glued to my t*ts :D

thats how it felt anyway...

I have been looking at different guitarists (Claption, Slash, Knopfler) on the net and most of them ahve their guitars pretty low with the fretboard slanted high...

Practice standing up.

Both methods seem really different in the beginning and should both be practiced, but it's really a small problem. Eventually it won't make a difference if you're sitting or standing. The key thing to do, though, is just make sure you're comfortable.

Cool, its just a practice thing.
I thought maybe something was wrong with my posture or wrist or something.
Thanks guys!

I had the same problem. Then a month later the screws to my strap locks pulled out and theres nothing left in there now to screw into. I need new gear!

Originally Posted by: LeedoggI had the same problem. Then a month later the screws to my strap locks pulled out and theres nothing left in there now to screw into. I need new gear!

Yep, sure sounds like you need some new gear...hope you get it soon. Thanks for link dude, helped me....happy to know I'm not the only one that felt strange standing and playing.

Cheers!

playing too low will give you caral tunnel after a while. ive had wrist problems from playing guitar and i always have to watch it if my wrists start to sting. bottom line, play low enough where you not only can play fine, but wehre youre wrists dont feel in pain. you may look like a dweeb with it up higher, but youll be a 40 year old "i used to play in a band back in the day until my wrists got arthritis" kindof guy if youre not careful.

Hey, ok well now you've got a strap and dont seem to be getting along with it standing up, ..this may sound lame, but try playing half standing and half resting..what I mean is; stand up and maybe put on leg up on a chair and rest the guitar like that, then maybe once you get used to that, you can then stand up properly. May sound stupid I know, but hey its worth a try. Let me know what you think?......

Kat ~xXx :cool:

when I first tried to play standing up it was very awkward. but you get used to it. in fact, I now play better standing up. my strap is 52" at it's maximum length, and I pretty much have it at like 48" or 49" so it's kinda low (there's more guitar below my waist then there is above it) and that's what works for me, I didn't start out that way though, I played for about 4 or 5 months before even buying a strap. and when I did try to play standing up, I had it pretty high, but gradually I lowered it some, and a little more, until it got to where it is now, which is comfortable, and also pretty good looking :D

I used to play sitting down all of the time and then discovered that I couldnt play well standing untill I saw the guitarist from Cynic (in the video from the Death "Human" album). Man, that guy and the bass player Steve DiGeorgio have their axes so high that the fretboard is directly onfront of the ribs or even an inch higher. A lot of jazz player hold their guitars up high too, anyway, I tried it and found that I could play as comfortably as sitting down, especially for techiniques such as 5 and 6 string sweep picking. It takes the stretch off the left wrist and allows for full range of movement. It may not look the coolest I don't care once it doesnt make difficult playing more difficult. Give it a go and see what you think.

I can recall a quote from the late Dimebag Darrell.... talking about how he writes all his riffs standing up... "You don't go to war sitting down"

I practice standing up a lot just to keep my muscles use to it... If you've ever watched Dream Theatre... you might notice how John Petrucci always puts his foot up on something when he goes into a fast run or a difficult passage... this is becuase he was classically trained and classical guitarists always sit down. This helps to stablize your whole body and allow you to concentrate on just playing guitar... I agree with Dimebag though...

Practice and get good playing sitting down. Then, take the strap and put it a little up, then as you get better, take it down alittle. I play some higher songs with my strap high, but not too high.

dont mean to take everyone off subject but ive got a somewhat related problem....

my guitar is equally heavy at the headstock and the body... so my guitar neck will slowly start to drop as i play standing up... and it makes it very hard to play when you headstock is a little below the body... anyone what i can do about this?