Posture & Practice

[Dr B]

I'd been having some really inconsistent practice sessions recently - some where everything was going well, and some where I felt I could not play s**t - kept taking ages to form chord shapes and struglled with clean soloing. I could not work it out and it bugged me for a while.

I then realised that i actually practice in different rooms of the house on different sofas and these affect my posture - which in turn, affects the mechanics of movement. It was like an AHA moment. Has anyone else noticed this? I do not play standing up yet - but posture has a big effect on playing at least from the sitting position.

Do you think it is bad to practice in a postural position that you would not use when standing or playing normally (i.e., being laid back in the chair) or do you think there are still benefits? Do you all concentrate as much on your posture as you do on other aspects of your playing?

[blargfromouterspace]

When I'm practicing I like to stand because my arm is in a slightly different position than when I'm seated. If I'm playing classical stuff I'll sit down of course, with the guitar on my left knee and the left foot raised (usually on the case). I play on the couch if the TV is on, but then it's more like mindless noodling than practice. Posture is important and while I haven't read books on the subject I always make sure I'm comfortable - that's why I don't sling my guitar down low, my wrists just don't bend like that.

[sirmyghin]

Posture is extremely important, you should be sitting up straight, it puts your joints in proper allignment. You want your joints in allignment as your body moves best when in the proper place.

That said, practicing in classical position is important. It takes some getting used to but stuff like picking is definitely a lot easier and more natural in that position opposed to the lazy, back leg position. Your wrist is just in a much more relaxed, not contorted position. The other benefit is this correlates very closely to playing while standing. You also have better access to the fretboard nad no weird angles and dangles to compensate for your torso being in the way (once again, less effort to do stuff). Your left hand technique can get pretty sloppy and odd angles fast playing in 'standard' seated position. It also prevents terrible habbits like resting your arm on your leg. You will find it easier to play with your finger tips due to the lightly bent wrist also.

[willross]

Better posture, less pain.


Cheers,

Will

[chedwerks]

What everyone else said..and yeah, the transition to standing was tough at first but seeing as I needed to play live at a certain point I figured it out. I sometimes will practice with the guitar on my left leg because it seems to be closer to how it will sit on a strap (not off of my right leg like when sitting in that way.) The couch that I am sitting on now is almost impossible to actually do any good playing on without feeling like you were at the gym doing improper back work outs for like 12 hours. I like my wooden bar stool well enough.
I guess your question also made me think about your post a little further and I was considering how precise playing guitar is. You are quickly (even still if you aren't playing fast) putting multiple fingers in between little frets while your picking hand is trying to coordinate this and keep a rhythm so I definitely think that even a minor change in where you are used to all of your body parts being can make a drastic difference. Even the different muscles you might use if say, your arm was at a different angle are going to be thrown off. Cool post, interesting to ponder how many things we use to play these pieces of wood with strings on 'em.

[GentlemanJim]

Very interesting post, made me think about how I've been playing. Mostly sitting these days and on occasions I use a 4x4 block of wood to rest my foot on, seems to allow my guitar to fit better and takes the stress off my right foot, since I'm a right hand player.
You should try this, it might help your posture while sitting, can say how that will help your picking, but you never know.