Guitar held high or low?

[Li Shenron]

How high do you usually keep your guitar with the strap when you're playing in a standing position?

 

I have usually always kept it quite high, not to much but definitely higher than average. It makes me comfortable because I'm used to having the guitar in about the same position relative to my arms when I practice on a sitting position.

 

Does anyone feel more comfortable otherwise? In general I suspect that many like to keep it dangling at about feet height more for the look than for practical reasons

[Poparad]

I keep it the same level standing as it is when I'm sitting... although I don't know if that should be considered 'standard' or 'higher'' in the poll.

I think you'll find that if you see any guitarist will good skill, they have their guitars at a comfortable level just above the waist.

[lazaraga]

Originally posted by Poparad I think you'll find that if you see any guitarist will good skill, they have their guitars at a comfortable level just above the waist.

 

 

i have to wear mine considerably lower because of my arms are quite long. to wear it as high as you suggest i would have to bend my wrists at an uncomfortable angle. in order for my wrist and tendons to be as relaxed as possible i have to wear my guitar as low as my strap will allow.

 

peace

[NewSc2]

my guitar usually sits around my waist, probably 1-2" higher. kinda looks dorky, but it's more comfortable than playing down below my balls.

[Nickdel]

I'm on the I-Don't-Care-How-It-Looks side. I wear it pretty high. I have short arms, stubby fingers, and a big gut, so I have to have it higher to accomodate all those things.

[lakeoffire]

i set the length of my strap when i'm sitting down... i'll position my guitar like a classical spanish guitar player, and then raise it a little, so it doesn't touch my legs while sitting... it maintains the same position when i play standing up...

[Kubla4h]

if i tilt my strat completely horizontal and center it on my body, the highest point is about a half-inch lower than my belly button. i don't have really long arms or anything, i just find it FAR easier to play with my arms relaxed and hanging. my picking arm elbow is bent at about 135 degrees. when i look in the mirror, my fretting arm looks like im about a third of the way into a barbell curl.

[kcf]

I'm like Lakeoffire -- I always play with a strap, even when sitting. I follow the classical rule of having the peghead at about eye when the guitar is positioned and angled. That way, there is minimal difference between playing while sitting or standing.

[edeltorus]

I mostly play strat, and the middle pickup is at the same height as the belly-button.

I think it's higher than average (I do get comments that it looks dorky, but I don't care).

Btw, Over the last weeks I started to raise the angle of the guitar when I play below the 5th fret or play difficult stuff. The headstock is then at the same height as my nose.. Looks super dorky, but it plays a lot better.

[social]

I'm a higher than average I guess. Its whats most comfortable to me. Years back when I first started playing I was a "guitar at the knees" player, ugh, I hate to even remember it What I look like, is far, far less important than what I sound like.

[MorePaul]

I'm not sure what average would be - I would guess that average would probably be different if you are, say, a roack player, from another style

like poparod (and Stephen King for that matter) I try too keep my guitar in the same position as seated

I'm not quite undertanding how the long arm thing applyies to wearing the guitar low. My arms are extremely long , but have found that's really a matter of arm positinging and neck angle (we tend to play with our elbows out a little farther than our shorter-arms compatriots)....but a rock player that plays with a "baseball grip" ( as opposed to a Jazz/classic guitar background) may be positioned differently so that may be the difference there

[Brotherbuttcrac]

i usualy keep it like

my dick is touching the middle of the body

[IsildursBane]

The dorkier you look, the better your posture is likely to be, and thus the less likely you are to get some sort of RSI.

-Dan.

[thevoice]

I also like to keep mine at about the same height when standing as when sitting, which is just slightly higher hhan if it were resting on my leg. As far as holding it high, I don't think it's *that* dorky. In fact, I just watched part of a bootleg Audioslave DVD, and Tom Morello holds his guitar at almost chest level, like I've seen a lot of classical guitar players..

[Body Bomb]

Guitar centered over belly. Works for me.

[GMWIGGS]

I wear mine a little higher than average. It's just more comfortable to me that way.

[imai_h]

eww higher than average???? whats wrong with you ppl!

[Terje]

Originally posted by Li Shenron How high do you usually keep your guitar with the strap when you're playing in a standing position?

 

 

As high as it would be when I'm sitting down cause that's when I play the best technically speaking. Try it and see for yourself.

[Yngtchie Blacksteen]

Originally posted by imai_h eww higher than average???? whats wrong with you ppl!

More like putting playing comfort before image. I used to wear mine really high, but I've lowered it quite a bit after I started getting into a more bluesier type of playing with less acrobatic finger activity on the fretboard. However, if you're gonna play technical stuff with lots of stretches, you gotta have it high, or else you can damage the tendons in your hands by forcing your hands to do things that aren't natural.

Look at Shawn Lane, who used to do some ridiculously wide stretches when he played, and he did them faster than anyone. He kept it very high, and it enabled him to play all those things with ease.

I say that if you put image before playing ability, you're not a musician, simple as that.

[Bryant05]

i find if its around waist line its good, because you dont exactly want it so your arms are fully streched out or so your arms are gettin cramped up, so on the waist is the best. i found

[soc_monki]

mine is about where the cutout on the back meets my belly...since i have a gut, it kind of "locks" the guitar in right there...not too low, not too high...ever seen steve vai? thats about where it is i suppose. comfortable, in other words.

if i have any problems playing up high or whatever, i just rotate the guitar so my fingers are parallel to the frets and i can stretch better and keep good technique. i agree, playing the guitar high would help with hitting the high notes, but when playing on the low strings it would be a hindrance for me...as well as my picking hand. so there has to be a compromise.

with a classical or acoustic, you have a sort of shelf to put your arm on...on an electric, thats not really the case and my arm doesnt like being held that high for long periods of time...so i prefer to let it hang a little.

a lot of people say its a technique and a tendon issue...IMO if you are comfortable and dont have pain and dont have to strain (which means your tendons dont like what youre doing) then you are fine. i agree comfort and safety come before image, and thats why ive raised my guitar a couple inches over the years... but never chest height...that would be uncomfortable and unusable to me. different strokes for different folks!

[Auggie Doggie]

Originally posted by Poparad I keep it the same level standing as it is when I'm sitting... although I don't know if that should be considered 'standard' or 'higher'' in the poll.

 

 

What he said.