Guitar slipping
- Thread starter Rebecca Brotherston
- Start date
Play standing up.
It sounds like a joke, but I’m being 100% serious. I never do any serious practice sitting down. You don’t gig sitting down, so if you practice that way, then gigging is different and you’re not used to it. People who practice sitting down wind up being people who gig with the guitar strap holding their axe up by their necks. It makes the audience uncomfortable, because it LOOKS uncomfortable.
Practice standing up, with the strap letting the guitar hang over your lower abdomen, touching the tops of your legs. If you ever start gigging, you’ll thank me
.
It sounds like a joke, but I’m being 100% serious. I never do any serious practice sitting down. You don’t gig sitting down, so if you practice that way, then gigging is different and you’re not used to it. People who practice sitting down wind up being people who gig with the guitar strap holding their axe up by their necks. It makes the audience uncomfortable, because it LOOKS uncomfortable.
Practice standing up, with the strap letting the guitar hang over your lower abdomen, touching the tops of your legs. If you ever start gigging, you’ll thank me
.
When I sit, I sit in a seat that puts my legs at a perfectly flat angle. That keeps it from slipping. But I try to practice standing whenever possible. Crossing my legs can also help level the guitar. Judging by your profile pic, you have a Les Paul? I’ve got a larger sized leg, and it’s thicker than the cutout on mine, so sometimes it slips while sitting because of that. I definitely find I adjust it more than my other guitars. Which forces me to stand more, which is good!
You can find a good position for the guitar if you find the position of the guitar in your lap where it stays without your hands holding it. Find the position everytime before you start playing.
I had the same problem when I bought my electric guitar. I was only playing a acoustic at that time. It was a chair issue. Now I keep my leg a bit steeper than the flat angle.
I had the same problem when I bought my electric guitar. I was only playing a acoustic at that time. It was a chair issue. Now I keep my leg a bit steeper than the flat angle.
J
Jak Angelescu
Guest
There are a lot of different factors that can cause guitar slipping. We can practice standing up for sure, but if we’re taking something seriously for several hours and we have to look at the fretboard, it’s highly straining on the neck to do this for long periods of time especially if you’re having a guitar’s weight hanging on your neck or if you’re trying to follow sheet music, tabs or chord charts or even the school lessons. You don’t want to be leaning over doing that with the weight around your neck. All of this would be very inconvenient to follow when standing up. Sometimes we like to sit down so we can focus on stuff.
Some of the factors can (I hate to say it for us girls) big thighs. I’m a chunky girl and the curve of my thighs makes the guitar slip so badly if I rest it on my right leg. This is why I play classical style by putting my left foot on a footstool and resting my guitar on my left leg. Another one is the fabric of your pants. Things like leggings or workout pants, loose fitting pj pants can make the guitar slip badly because of the thin/slick fabric. If you’re playing on a guitar with a larger body like an acoustic, they can also be prone to slipping.
Another factor is if your chair is too high. It will make your thigh slant downwards too much which will cause slippage.
All in all, my advice would be to get a foot stool. If you don’t have one you can use something like your guitar case laying flat. I do agree it’s crucial to spend practice time standing up but I like to do that after I’ve gotten something down a little better. Hopefully this helps!
Some of the factors can (I hate to say it for us girls) big thighs. I’m a chunky girl and the curve of my thighs makes the guitar slip so badly if I rest it on my right leg. This is why I play classical style by putting my left foot on a footstool and resting my guitar on my left leg. Another one is the fabric of your pants. Things like leggings or workout pants, loose fitting pj pants can make the guitar slip badly because of the thin/slick fabric. If you’re playing on a guitar with a larger body like an acoustic, they can also be prone to slipping.
Another factor is if your chair is too high. It will make your thigh slant downwards too much which will cause slippage.
All in all, my advice would be to get a foot stool. If you don’t have one you can use something like your guitar case laying flat. I do agree it’s crucial to spend practice time standing up but I like to do that after I’ve gotten something down a little better. Hopefully this helps!
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