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(Gitano posture) Cofortable too but it makes my back to curved forward and my neck too.If I rised up my neck my look will be ugly.
i would go with comfort over fear of ugliness! How do you know your look will be ugly? Has anyone actually said this to you? I say don't worry about it!
i use a guitar support, which might look "un-flamenco" but it puts the guitar approximately where it would be in the "PDL position" without having to cross one leg over the other (which causes me problems in my spine, neck, shoulders, wrists and fingers!).
El Saare, I took two sound advices respectively from
(i) Ricardo: to relax about the whole problem and fearlessly change position whne you feel like it and as you please –from PDL to traditional, from gitano to Sabicas –
(ii) Anders: when playing traditional, lay a rubber-pad across your leg to firmly secure the guitar and prevent any awkward sliding. By doing so, you may incline and tilt the instrument to nearly any angle you may find comfortably suitable. It works wonderfully.
I think I will try to constraint on finding some relaxing method with the same postures I like and see what I will get after about 1 month. Habits needs 21 to 30 days to be changed correctly.So there is nothing to do with the length of the chair ( what a stupid thought )
thanks again and Ahlan w Sahlan
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My favourite part is when I squeeze the tea bag with the spoon, but the hard part is where i am going to place it.
I'm shorter than you and play in the traditional position, but change the guitar neck angle around and move the lower bout's rest point on my thigh over time, as needed to be comfortable.
I've never tried Anders' suggestion to use a friction mat. I use a guitar strap to hold the guitar snug against my body.
Sometimes while playing I'll bring up one ankle and rest it on the opposite knee, but I've NEVER been comfortable playing in the modern "crossed legs" position for long. Maybe this is because I've only played full-size guitars, no narrow-body flamencos. More likely it's because I have short legs.
back again to the traditional way ... it is really tooo hard to me to play.I always try it from time to time.I tried also to lower the guitar neck angel but it is hard to keep the guitar from sliding from my right leg (thing if it is the right word to specify) you noteced that you use a strap maybe thats what does solve your problem. but I am not intrested in strap. also as I mentioned it is hard to control my left hand... feel too much easier with other postures.
quote:
but I've NEVER been comfortable playing in the modern "crossed legs" position for long.
Me too. so when I play (not practice) I play each piece in diffrent postuer or what I feel it is comfortble (I think you've got the idea).
About finding my solutions:
*First in practicing I am trying good posture I've never think to try it befor is to sit cross-legged on the floor ( or on one level , is it clear??) thats helped me much to play PDL posture on a chair.It make you play longer time than you are now.
*Playing on a chair. I am trying to focus on relaxing my seat while playing. and it is really works, But anyway I usualy stand up for 5 sec then sit down again evry 30 mins.I do so not just with playing guitar but also while working on PC or even in my classes it is really good....
there is a joke here told to people who can't sit down for a long time just like me, it is to say " is there something troubling you on the chair??"
and as I mentioned befor, I am not pro player still learning, so maybe it will poseble to play in traditional way one day.but anyway I dont have to.
hope I've wrote something good.
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My favourite part is when I squeeze the tea bag with the spoon, but the hard part is where i am going to place it.
Here in Spain there are lots of players in your size. Most of them simply sit on a chair with both feet on the ground and rest the waist of the guitar on the right leg. (you could call it stell string posture ) You need to adjust to all postures, so be patient. Most players have problems for years finding a good posture
After practicing in the 'leg crossed over' position for 18 months, gradually my posture has gone out of sync, and together with a lot of driving, i got to the point where I could barely sit down with neck and shoulder pain. My right shoulder is now higher and more forward than my left.
Visited 4 osteopaths (2 of whom refused to take my money as they couldn't do anything). Finally found a chiropractor who clicked the neck vertebrae back in, but within 48 hours, ingrained muscle memory and bad posture have knocked some of the vertebrae out again. Not as bad - I can sit down now :-)
So now I need to get clicked back in again (immediately pain relief) and correct my posture using exercises, which will take months.
Interestingly, even in my current state, I can still *reasonably* comfortably hold the guitar in the traditional position for a few minutes, with the body on my right leg, and the neck pointing up at an angle. (Wild horses wouldn't drag this addict away from his poison...) This keeps the spine straight, and the shoulders square. I'm 6'1. I check the mirror every time now.
I have three suggestions for you. 1) Try the traditional classical guitar position. It might not look flamenco, but neither does the cross legged position. 2) There is a position that is exactly halfway between the traditional classical and the traditional flamenco. In this position, the lower bout rests on your right thigh, just like traditional flamenco, but you use a footstool raising your left leg, and rest the upper bout on your left leg. This is really an excellent position. I have seen Sabicas use exactly that position, though sometimes the upper bout looked like it wasn't resting, which would make the footstool superfluous. The other guitarist who uses precisely this position is Pepe Romero. 3) After a lifetime of using the traditional flamenco position, one day I just sat down on my couch and started playing. I haven't stopped. (Well, I stopped playing, but I haven't stopped using this position.) I'm sure plenty of other people have used it as well. You just sit on the couch, and let the lower bout rest on the couch itself, immediately to your right and also resting on your right thigh. It gives you total support of the guitar, and more importantly you are completely relaxed. Another advantage I find is that it brings the fingerboard more to the right, and so you get less of a feeling of "reaching" out with your left hand. But again, most of all, you are entirely relaxed, and do not have to become on a first name basis with a chiropractor. Incidentally, on YouTube there is a video of Melchor playing sitting on a couch in exactly this positon. (Tanguillos de Cadiz)
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it is really good.... 
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