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Question: Guitar playing advice!? anyone please help!?
I've been playing for about 6 months now, and my teacher says i'm ahead of other kids with my experience, so that's not the problem!. The problem is, my friend who has been playing for 3 years told me that I'd better start learning to play standing up, if i ever wanna be in a band (which i do)!. So I tried it and it's mad difficult! Like I can still play, but not quite as fast, and if i wear it low like the people in the videos, I feel I'm setting myself up for carpal tunnel! Is it like an adjustment period I'm going through, or is it always like this!? Do you like get to a point where you can play just as fast as you do sitting on the couch!? Does the strap always kill your shoulder in the beginning!? Any advice on the subject would be VERY appreciated!. Thanks so much :)Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
I agree with the answer that tells you not to wear the guitar low, because it does force your wrist into a VERY unnatural angle so it makes technique difficult as well!. It may look cool, but it makes your playing suck!. I went through that phase back in the 70's!. but I soon learned to move it up!.
Your left arm should be bent(in my opinion) at about a 75-90 degree angle about like it is when you play sitting down!. Your wrist probably would be at a 45 degree angle to the neck!. That is much more comfortable!.
As far as fast goes, you'll probably be able to play faster after you get used to it and it will be easier to do string bends!.
I always get more "ooomph" in my playing when standing up!.
also your shoulder will get used to the weight of the guitar after a while!. Again, like the other guy said, get a nice strap!. The wider it is, the more comfortable it will be!. thinner straps will tend to dig into you a bit more!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Firstly, become confident with chords before you even try to stand up, you aren't going to be playing gigs any time soon so don't worry about it for now!. When you finally do stand up, keep your guitar up higher than those fools in the music videos until you get comfortable because it'll take a while to get used to!. Get a nice, soft leather strap too!Www@QuestionHome@Com
Just keep practicing!. Playing is one thing, but learning to play live is another thing!. I would always stress to my band mates to practice for live shows!. Don't worry about wearing your guitar too low right now!. Just keep up the repetition and you'll find it easy to play standing up!. Www@QuestionHome@Com