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Holding the guitar
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Miguel de Maria
Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
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Holding the guitar
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I'm looking for advice on finding a comfortable way to hold the guitar. Sounds pretty basic, but I come back to this every couple of years for some reason. Recently, I've tried Paco style (2 yrs), classical (1 yr), and right leg on the footrest (6 months). For some reason, I just can't get a comfortable position that lets me play a long time without fatigue. The classical came closest, but you can't really strum in it, and it looks dorky. I used to drape the forearm, making contact near the elbow, with a leg crossed, but I got pains in my deltoid (front shoulder) area. Then I started resting the bicep on the guitar, which helped that, but I get a little tired in the lat area. This is frustrating! Maybe I am expecting too much, but I am looking for a way to play without using any muscle to elevate or lift the arm. Trying to let it hang naturally from a shoulder with good posture, rest it lightly on the guitar and not use lots of shoulder or back muscles to hold it up. I am starting to dread practicing because it makes me tired! Anyone have any ideas?
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Mar. 9 2006 20:49:18
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rick
Posts: 56
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
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RE: Holding the guitar (in reply to Miguel de Maria)
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you know im not an expert, and we have talked about this (sortof) before. It does seem as if you have some problems in that area. I had shoulder pain a long time ago when I played and I have known several people who hung up guitar because of shoulder pain. I still maintain that if yo practice in front of a mirror you might be able to see whatever imbalance is causing the discomfort. because it seems to travel would indicate to me that is might be, not because of lack of strength, but rather you are holding to long in one posture. most classical/ flamenco dudes never try a strap, but you might, one of those a frames that actually suppor the thing might help, the only other idea is to go to the gym and work not only on strenght issues for that area, (one function of the gym - strenght) but work on the core, holistic issues in that shoulder, back etc. if there is a strenght imbalance in one muscle group it might be felt in the other muscle group that is called on to take over.(sounds very physican like) there is also a little bicycle type maching in my gym that you propel (dont know how else to put it) with your arms. like a upside down bicycle. I thought it was some kind of hokey stuff, until I had shoulder pain from benching and one of the power lifter guys turned me on to it. it was designed for baseball player, primarliy pitchers to warm up the shoulder, upper back etc for pitching. If you have acces to one of those, great if not try shoulder rotations with no weight prior to playing to loosen everything up. good luck and pardon my attempts at 1600 mile+ diagnosis
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Mar. 9 2006 21:44:31
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Francisco
Posts: 879
Joined: Jun. 13 2005
From: SW USA
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RE: Holding the guitar (in reply to Miguel de Maria)
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Wow, just three replies, and it's pretty much covered everything I was going to say. quote:
Gerundino63 The best thing to do for me is to use all different positions. Yup, me too. quote:
Duende I play mainly paco style but i change between a footrest under the left foot and trad flamenco style as well. it works fairly well. Same here. quote:
rick if there is a strenght imbalance in one muscle group it might be felt in the other muscle group that is called on to take over Opposing muscle groups. Ex. Tricep v. Bicep. If one is overdeveloped, there may be a problem if the opposing muscle group does not provide adequate support. For example, people w/ big bellies (usually little abdominal muscle) usually end up with some sort of lower back pain due to the lack of support from opposing muscle group. This may not apply, but something to think about. One more thing to think about is diet. This may not apply to you, Miguel, because I know you adhere to a fairly healthy diet. However, people consume things that get converted into toxins in the body. Aspartame for example, gets converted to methanol (which is horrible for your), then later converted to formaldehyde (this is bad too). It has also been linked to autoimmune diseases as well as fibromyalgia which has been known to result in nonspecific muscle pain usually related to fatigue. I don't know that you're ingesting aspartame, but there are things in our diet that produce symptoms, and we never consider them as potential causes. You probably already know all this, but something to also consider besides posture. Anyway, the position that seems to work for me is the one Oscar Herrero uses. It is sort of between the classical and flamenco positions. Left foot up on foot rest, but the recessed part of the guitar that normally rests on the left knee (classical position) is actually resting between the knees. This position is good for my left wrist (recent injury to my left wrist), and still allows my right hand technique for flamenco.
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Mar. 10 2006 0:37:26
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