Unconventional sitting position
I probably shouldn't admit this, but most of my practice is done sitting on a sofa in our family room with the rest of the family watching TV (I think they just tune me out and I play a bit softer). Since it is impossible to sit up and maintain a traditional position that way, I rest the guitar body on the sofa to my right, like a sitar player does. I haven't really noticed any negative effect of this, so I'm wondering if others have tried unconventional sitting positions.
I wouldn't perform for people like this, by the way. But it allows me to play for hours at a time without much issue.
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Hello Rajesh, check Ricardo Gallen. His position is unconventional but his music is amazing... I sometimes practice on the sofa too but lately I am trying to practice less time but in a better position, I think it is helping me to focus more.
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Hi Rajesh, I do the same as you 90% of the time. Works well for me too. I find the position much more comfortable than the standard classical position.
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I’ve developed sciatica which is very uncomfortable. I can only sit and practice now for extended periods unless I find a perfect sitting position and even then it’s hit or miss. I’m convinced my sciatica is a result of sitting and holding the guitar in odd positions while teaching
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Glad I'm not the only one! Seems to be working thus far. Tonebase has introduced me to Carlevaro, whose philosophy seems to emphasize developing your own natural and comfortable techniques, so that's what I'll keep doing.
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I've been getting a little interested in other playing positions recently too. I've never found playing the guitar a particularly comfortable thing to do with my body, although the discomfort can be forgotten when it doesn't hurt.
I've pretty much abandoned foot stools and use a support. The position with the support is my favourite and the one I use to perform, but when practising or teaching I like to switch between that and a Ricardo Gallén-type position and for variety. I generally find any one posture can put strain somewhere that needs rest eventually.
I also like sitting on the sofa without a footstool because it's low enough. I noticed Judicael Perroy plays with too foot stools (one on each foot of course, not on top of each other
), which I imagine is for a similar reason. The sofas nice and chilled out too. Scott Tenant also plays a bit weird too, you should check him out too, if you haven't already.
Basically for me, the better you know your own body, the better your position will be, and it's all about finding a balance between all the details of the different things you want to do, and the minimum strain on the body.
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I generally play with the guitar over my right leg, 'folk' style. On a low seat (like a couch) this works well. On an ordinary chair, I need to sit with legs crossed. After a while, this becomes a little uncomfortable for me. So if I'm practicing for an extended period, I use a footstool to raise my right leg. I find this much more comfortable than the traditional 'classical' position, which I rarely adopt. However, I do find the classical position is preferable for playing in very high positions (particularly those above the 12th fret). So to some extent my playing position is dictated by the music I'm playing.
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First of all, I am not trying to reproach you, but what you call practice is not practice.
When it comes to music, you have to be very disciplined, try to find a place in your house where only you are and there are no distractions, concentrate and try to organize your time so that the practices are more productive, if it is difficult for you to concentrate, such as Many happen to them, try to find tutorial aids or videos on YouTube.
The posture depends a lot on your comfort, and on the style of music you play and even on the school, I also played with the guitar on my right leg for many years, when I started playing classical guitar I used the foot bench , and now I'm testing ergoplay and guitarlif stands -
I'm a home made sofa player also and I'm having to address the problems it's caused. Any repetetive action or sustained posture will cause physical adaptations. Prolonged trunk flexion has caused muscle imbalances mostly in my thoracic spine and I have pain in my left knee through misalignment. I can fix these with flexibility work but they could have been avoided if I'd been more aware.
