holding the guitar

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holding the guitar

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nogawyks

Posts: 21
Joined: Mar. 8 2006
From: Arizona, USA

holding the guitar

OK, I am fairly new to this so bear with me. I was initially taught to hold the guitar in the classical manner with the footstool and all. I have been experimenting with methods of holding the guitar that were more what I think of as flamenco like. Cross my legs and rest the guitar indent on my leg. It is more horizontal than I was playing but seems secure and fairly easy to play but when I get way up the fretboard to 10 or 12 position, it becomes fairly difficult for me to get a good spread between fingers 1 and 4. They kind of are at the wrong angle or something. I've looked at positions where you rest the lower bout on the leg and hold more vertical but it seems like I'm going to drop the guitar. Somebody point me to some clues, please? Thanks.
Wayne

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 15 2006 14:11:18

Ricardo

Posts: 14886
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: holding the guitar (in reply to nogawyks)

Notice Paco is sitting cross legged. The Down the neck camera angle shows exactly how he manages left hand baring up high on the neck with notes played above 12th fret. The first falseta.

Ricardo

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 15 2006 15:44:53

fevictor

Posts: 377
Joined: Nov. 22 2005
From: Quepos / Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

RE: holding the guitar (in reply to nogawyks)

I have a bit of a problem when doing tremolo and barr chords...I tend to move the guitar too much and find that I push down on the guitar with my right arm to keep it still, but in doing this I lose control over my right hand. I imagine that I need a bit more strength in my left hand so that I dont push too much on the fret board to do barr chords?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 16 2006 5:05:16

Doitsujin

Posts: 5078
Joined: Apr. 10 2005

RE: holding the guitar (in reply to nogawyks)

Just train your strenth. The position is a minor aspect of doing a good barree. Usually the right position comes from alone when you just do it often. Dont think too much. Playing is the medicine.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 16 2006 8:36:43

the_jamez

Posts: 15
Joined: Jun. 13 2006

RE: holding the guitar (in reply to nogawyks)

quote:

Notice Paco is sitting cross legged. The Down the neck camera angle shows exactly how he manages left hand baring up high on the neck with notes played above 12th fret. The first falseta.

That particular video corrected my posture a while ago. Perfect posture example.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 16 2006 11:21:31

Doitsujin

Posts: 5078
Joined: Apr. 10 2005

RE: holding the guitar (in reply to nogawyks)

quote:

Perfect posture example.

No, there are no perfect postures which fit on everybody. Everybody has a different anatomy. Some people have the same. Like Ricardos and Gerardos right hand. But in general I wouldnt try to copy postures of other players, coz its not natural. If you just play and seach your own position which are leisure for you, you will get the best results in your playing.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 16 2006 13:06:44

Ricardo

Posts: 14886
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: holding the guitar (in reply to Doitsujin)

quote:

No, there are no perfect postures which fit on everybody. Everybody has a different anatomy. Some people have the same. Like Ricardos and Gerardos right hand. But in general I wouldnt try to copy postures of other players, coz its not natural. If you just play and seach your own position which are leisure for you, you will get the best results in your playing.

Yeah that is right actually, do what makes you comfortable, we are all different.

But I think the other guy was refering to not that there IS a perfect posture, but rather that VIDEO was a perfect EXAMPLE of Paco's personal posture and shows how he does things awkward for some who try to sit like him. Just the wording is confusing.

Ricardo

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 16 2006 15:55:18

the_jamez

Posts: 15
Joined: Jun. 13 2006

RE: holding the guitar (in reply to nogawyks)

Doits, What i meant was that the camera angle in paco's video that showed at what angle he was holding the guitar worked as perfect posture for me and probably alot of other ppl. True that we're all different but certain things that work for some, may also work for others and it just so happened that holding the guitar in that particular angle stabilized the guitar better then any other way for me.

quote:

Just train your strength. The position is a minor aspect of doing a good barree. Usually the right position comes from alone when you just do it often. Dont think too much. Playing is the medicine.

I disagree. You need strength AND a good hold over the guitar. Mindless practicing isn't going to get you anywhere.

quote:

I tend to move the guitar too much and find that I push down on the guitar with my right arm to keep it still, but in doing this I lose control over my right hand. I imagine that I need a bit more strength in my left hand so that I dont push too much on the fret board to do barr chords?

IMO if your pushing down the guitar with you right arm to keep it still then you're just creating unneccessary tension in arm and thats the reason why you lose control over your right hand. You do need strength in your left hand, but no matter how trained you are, if you keep pulling the guitar's neck towards you, it will only wanna make you push down harder with your right arm. You need to balance the guitar in a certain way to enable you to play with the least amount of force to stablize it. Experiment and watch lots of vids of how players hold the guitar, and you might catch a nice angle or two that gives away their posture like in paco's solea. One of Javier Conde's vids also shows something similar.

J

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 16 2006 20:34:33

Doitsujin

Posts: 5078
Joined: Apr. 10 2005

RE: holding the guitar (in reply to nogawyks)

quote:

quote:

Just train your strength. The position is a minor aspect of doing a good barree. Usually the right position comes from alone when you just do it often. Dont think too much. Playing is the medicine.

I disagree. You need strength AND a good hold over the guitar. Mindless practicing isn't going to get you anywhere.

I play guitar now for around 20 years. Trust me, I made some experiences during this time. And with the barree I cant imagine why it is a so big problem for all beginners.. I never thought only one second about how to do it or what is more relaxing. I never had problems with it from the start. So for me the "just play much (but seriously)" works best.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 17 2006 11:05:03

nogawyks

Posts: 21
Joined: Mar. 8 2006
From: Arizona, USA

RE: holding the guitar (in reply to nogawyks)

Thanks, everybody. Especially the vid, Ricardo. I have recently noticed that contrary to some of the instruction I have received, and the vid is a good example, thatgood guitarists don't freeze their hands in one position. I have been trying to find the one hand position, left or right, that is perfect for all things and there doesn't seem to be one. My current instructor has pointed that out also. Any comments?

Wayne

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 18 2006 14:52:02

Miguel de Maria

Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ

RE: holding the guitar (in reply to nogawyks)

Wayne,
if you think about the different demands that different techniques make on your hands, then it would seem there is no way one position could be optimal for all of them.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 18 2006 17:01:38

Jazmin

Posts: 1
Joined: Aug. 26 2006

RE: holding the guitar (in reply to nogawyks)

I'm a newbie too, and have struggled with bar chords like you. Here are two suggestions that helped me out.

1. Focus on relaxing and using the weight of your hand and arm, instead of
pushing down into the fretboard.

2. Experiment with your left hand position. Try "hanging" your hand from thumb
and index with the thumb straight down and the palm of your hand inclined
to the right rather than remaining parallel to the fretboard.

Getting a good, moveable bar is a big challenge for me, but this orientation works fairly well and eliminates the tendency to pinch or clamp down on the strings. It doesn't require a lot of force - it's mainly getting the right position.

Try it and see if it works for you, too.

Jazmin

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 21 2006 3:28:55